Developers give new meaning to ‘working from home’
Designers are creating dedicated workspaces in high-end residences that allow apartment owners to work outside their flats
‘Working from home’ is taking on a whole new meaning. Developers of high-end residential buildings are tapping into the need for dedicated spaces to work that go beyond the standard spare room or, more likely in Hong Kong, a corner in your flat.
“It’s hard to incorporate a home office in a bedroom,” said Julie Quigley, sales director of Power Play Destination Properties, a Vancouver-based real estate developer. “Somehow neither objective is achieved.”
Developers are taking that to heart by creating dedicated work spaces within the footprint of the building – but not in the actual flat. It could be as part of a communal work-share space off a lobby, or a setup similar to a hotel’s business centre. Some are even adding facilities designed for specific professions – for example, a studio with audiovisual equipment where a resident who is a filmmaker can edit a movie he made, and then host a screening of it.
“It’s a space that is suited to the generation and demographic of our buyers – young professionals, lots of first-time home buyers, who need a place to work and also have some social interaction,” said Nick Vanderboom, senior vice-president of development for Howard Hughes Corp, which is behind the Ward Village project. In addition to the standard amenities – fitness centre, playground, catering kitchen – Ke Kilohana will also have an open-space setup with tables and chairs in different configurations, including a high-top counter with stools, to allow for formal and informal business meetings or solitary work time.
If you’re going to have people come see you for business, they shouldn’t have to come to your home with your family there
“It’s not a corporate feeling,” said Vanderboom. “It’s a modern high rise but it needs to feel like it’s part of someone’s home.”