Nowadays offices, shared workplaces and other public premises are not just rooms with tables and chairs, where everyone has personal few square meters. Companies divide the space in such a way that employees have a choice to choose where to work: in a café, chill zone or main hall. This is done for a reason: business owners look at any café or office not only in terms of personal profit, but on the part of the customers and what they can get. Employees are interested not only in good salary, they also look for comfort at the workplace, motivation to go to the office every day. In addition, more and more people prefer to work remotely, thus saying they need a quiet corner.

Changes in public spaces

10 years ago, public spaces were supposed to correspond to business. Nowadays, various services are gathered under one roof: from educational to entertaining. Companies rethink the purpose of coworking and offices, focus on flexibility. A seminar, exhibition or expo can be held in one place without changing the layout of the building. A factory or a café can be combined with coworking and entertainment areas. Companies are investing not only in "generic public space", they are willing to complement it with emotions, comfort.

Modern public spaces are multifunctional. They provide a place where you can work and spend some free time. People find their motivation there, desire to work, and they return to coworking or café again and again. One place can combine various components that may seem at a first sight incompatible.

Features of modern public spaces:

• complexity;
• openness;
• focus on different audiences;
• multifunctionality.

From general to specific

1. How libraries have changed

Previously there was one study-room, but this has changed in modern libraries. There are zones for independent and group work, for exhibitions and lectures, a zone of silence, etc.  Books of fiction and humanities literature are laid out on the "streets" of the shelves, more serious books are exhibited on "the yards" with tables, newspapers and magazines are proposed to be read in open spaces.

2. How offices have changed

10 years ago, the owner of the company was only interested in how many people can be placed in one room. Nowadays, every manager thinks about how comfortable the room is, what needs to be improved, and what employees already like. The offices do not expand in space, but the number of square meters per one person increases. This is due to the fact that in addition to the working zone the space is expanded by chill areas, self-catering, gym and so on.

3. How cafés and restaurants have changed

Café owners add to the interior bookshelves and neat displays for magazines and flowers, shelves for souvenirs and small decorative items, wall baskets and so on. In addition, the premises are complemented by all kinds of bars [salad bar, omelet bar] and shops of ready-made food, museums, creameries and other. Food courts in shopping centers, stores and even markets are still popular. A vivid example of a city food court may be Kyiv Food Market. It will house a culinary school, a pop-up restaurant and 26 corners.

What are they like — modern public spaces

The office of Boston Consulting Group in Manhattan includes not only conference rooms, rooms for meeting and negotiations, but a café too. Employees can choose where they prefer to work. Staff members at Orion Worldwide Agency also have a choice. They can work or even meet clients on a treadmill. The main thing is not to sit on the same place every day.

Jonathan Sandler, Office Space Development Director in Gensler, identified a pattern: the company's profit depends on whether the employee is happy or not. Creating a comfortable environment in the office is more efficient than cutting square meters.  

Kharkov Literary Museum management plans to make an open-air library, office space for employees, an educational center for children and adults. Modern thought-out infrastructure will attract new visitors, restore interest in the cultural life of the city.

Copernicus Science Centre’s design was fulfilled in calm tones, there were introduced theme areas, a blue pavilion for exhibits, a space for recreation and a library.

Environmental awareness encourages to devote more time to gardening, choosing materials for the production of equipment. Employees of the architectural bureau Drozdov&Partners have developed a project of a green corridor in Kharkov. They proposed to create 20 parks along the rivers, to connect all the quays into one, to complement the landscape with cafés, shops, squares. It will be possible to walk or ride a bike along this corridor and get from one part of the city to another.  

Conclusion

Our team produces not only shelving for shop owners, but also make constructions for public spaces. Such premises play an important role in the city’s life. They not only attract visitors, but also stimulate the development of the economy, improve the quality of life. Offices, coworking spaces, cafes can be liked or not, bring a sense of comfort or cause distrust. General atmosphere of the city depends on what feelings provoke such public spaces. As they are visited by tourists, locals spend there their time every day, so it is important to be in trend and respond quickly to changes.