February 2023
Coworking Comes to the Public Sector
GSA Launches Workplace Innovation Lab
Coworking spaces have caught on in the pandemic era.
Consider that, in 2017, there were around 4,000 available co-working spaces in the United States. Last year, there were more than 6,200 co-working spaces in the U.S., accounting for a roughly 55% increase over that five-year span.
According to that same data, there are now more than 900,000 individuals in the U.S. using coworking spaces, where workers from different companies share office space to work independently, relying on common infrastructures such as equipment and utilities, for example.
Such arrangements are typically associated with freelancers, remote workers, startups or even enterprise corporate teams looking for collaborative spaces. But it looks like coworking is coming to the public sector.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently opened its Workplace Innovation Lab, a 25,000-square-foot space offering shared collaboration spaces, conference rooms and office space divided into six suites on the second floor of the organization’s Washington, D.C. headquarters.
Part of the Workplace 2030 Initiative, the lab features new types of layouts and furniture designed to support both individuals and teams, as well as technology that enhances connectivity and effectiveness. The GSA partnered with a handful of vendors such as Allsteel, Cisco and Miller-Knoll for this first iteration of the lab, which also features sustainable technology solutions ranging from power-over-ethernet cabling to solar-powered light fixtures “that support GSA’s drive toward net zero carbon facilities,” according to a GSA statement.
“The future of the office workplace is now,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “This is a space where agency decision makers and their teams can experience the latest technologies, equipment and furniture that’s designed to empower federal employees to deliver even more effectively.”
The Future of the Federal Workplace
As The Federal Times noted, federal employees can book reservations for private conference rooms or spaces within the lab via the Lab’s website, at no cost throughout 2023, as the organization pilots the lab as a coworking space and showroom for agencies that wish to procure new furniture and equipment for their offices.
“The office appears similar to many commercial shared working spaces in major cities across the country, with kitchens that offer a range of snacks and beverages, comfortable sofas and reclining chairs, state-of-the-art web conferencing technology and advanced climate control functions,” wrote The Federal Times’ Molly Weisner.
The new lab is operating as a pilot federal coworking space, and federal workers are able to use the space for periods from a single hour to multiple weeks, while visitors from federal agencies can take tours by request, and can sign up for notifications when online reservations become available. The GSA will gather anonymous user feedback and data from the lab to improve its offerings and solutions.
Speaking at the lab’s grand opening, Nina Albert, the commissioner of the GSA’s public buildings service, outlined the organization’s goal of providing federal employees with workspaces that were more people-friendly, as federal agencies bring more workers back to the office.
“The biggest trend of why people are coming back into the workplace is to be with other people,” said Albert. “The future for the federal portfolio is fewer buildings, but better buildings.”
01 February 2023
Category
HR News Article