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In 2025, Gensler’s Christian Lehmkuhl challenges you to think about the workplace as a service. Will this new design perspective help the office remain relevant?
There’s a story we tell ourselves about the modern office. It begins with the Industrial Revolution, where work was physical, repetitive and rooted in a single place. Over the decades, the office adapted to accommodate a shifting economy: the rise of knowledge work, globalization and, most recently, a pandemic that upended everything we thought we knew about where and how work happens.
But adaptation doesn’t always equal evolution. Today, the office feels like a relic—an artifact of a simpler time trying and often failing, to meet the demands of a complex, multigenerational workforce.
Each generation brings its own expectations to work. Gen X, pragmatic and self-reliant, thrives in focused, independent environments. Millennials, raised in a culture of collaboration, demand purpose, well-being, and spaces that foster connection. Gen Z, digital natives with an activist streak, expects workplaces that prioritize inclusivity, sustainability, and tech-savvy solutions. And looming on the horizon is Gen Alpha, for whom hyper-personalized, adaptive digital ecosystems are the norm.
The traditional office—static, inflexible, one-size-fits-all—wasn’t built for this. It was built to contain workers, not to empower them. Younger generations, in particular, have grown intolerant of spaces that feel out of sync with their values and ambitions. And yet, the workplace isn’t going anywhere.
The question is: can it transform fast enough to keep up?
What if we stopped thinking of the office as a place? What if we began to imagine it as a service—a system designed to evolve alongside its people?
The Case for “Workplace as a Service”
Consider the shift from ownership to access that defines so much of modern life. We no longer buy CDs, we stream music. We don’t own cars; we hail rides on demand. The office, however, remains stubbornly fixed designed as a product to be consumed in one way, regardless of who is using it or why. The concept of Workplace as a Service (WaaS) challenges this paradigm. It’s not about adding more amenities like coffee bars and yoga studios, it’s about rethinking the office as a dynamic, responsive system.
Imagine Sarah, a product manager leading a high-stakes project. On Monday morning, she opens her workplace app and selects her team’s needs for the week: a brainstorming hub for ideation, quiet pods for focus work, and hybrid meeting rooms for collaborating with remote colleagues. The system configures these spaces and sends her team an interactive map.
When Sarah arrives, her badge activates the settings—lighting, temperature, and even desk height adjustments to her preferences. Mid-week, the team enters “launch prep mode,” and the system reconfigures the brainstorming hub into a war room with larger displays and collaborative whiteboards. Post-launch, Sarah schedules wellness activities for her team, booking on-demand massage pods and mindfulness rooms for recovery.
This seamless adaptability turns the office into a tool—not just a location.
This isn’t just about architecture or interior design, it’s a philosophy of work.
WaaS empowers individuals to craft their own experiences while fostering a shared sense of purpose. It combines flexibility with community—a balance that traditional offices rarely achieve.
The Numbers Behind the Vision
The data tell a compelling story. According to Gallup research, 70% of workers value flexibility in how and where they work. Companies that embrace adaptable workspaces see 25% higher employee satisfaction and a 20% boost in productivity. WaaS capitalizes on this momentum, aligning environments with evolving needs to drive engagement and performance.
But flexibility isn’t just about modular furniture or hybrid policies. It’s about trust. WaaS demands a cultural shift: organizations must move from micromanagement to autonomy, valuing outcomes over rigid schedules. This cultural alignment, paired with adaptive physical spaces, creates a workplace that evolves in real time—personalized workstations, on-demand wellness rooms, and meeting areas tailored for specific tasks. It’s less about making the office aesthetically pleasing and more about making it work.
Flexibility Meets Community
What makes WaaS revolutionary isn’t just its adaptability but its ability to balance individual needs with collective goals. Employees shape their own experiences—choosing spaces, tools and services—while connecting to the broader mission of their team.
Personal ownership and shared energy coexist, creating a workplace that feels both deeply personal and inherently collaborative.
This vision extends to services beyond the physical. Imagine a subscription-based office model with companies scaling environments dynamically. Need a brainstorming hub for a week? Subscribe to one. Once the project wraps, reallocate the space for quiet, focused work. Every square foot becomes purposeful, every feature fluid, aligning with the rhythms of its users.
Wellness programs, professional development and even childcare could operate on similar principles, offering personalized, on-demand options. The result is an office that doesn’t just react to change but anticipates it.
The Role of Technology
At the heart of WaaS lies technology. Advanced AI and IoT systems turn the workplace into a responsive ecosystem. They adjust lighting, temperature, and acoustics to individual preferences while offering simple interfaces for those less tech-savvy. Collaboration tools bridge generational divides, making hybrid work seamless for everyone.
Even training becomes personalized. Platforms create learning paths tailored to each employee’s goals, meeting them where they are and building confidence at their own pace. This isn’t just about catering to digital natives, it’s about creating a workplace where generational differences enrich, rather than hinder, collaboration.
The Future Is Fluid
The office of the future isn’t about desks or walls, it’s about experiences. It’s about creating environments that evolve alongside the people who use them—spaces that reflect the values of a multigenerational workforce, bridging divides, fostering innovation, and supporting well-being.
WaaS isn’t a thought experiment, it’s a roadmap.
And as the workforce continues to demand more—more flexibility, more purpose, more humanity—it’s the only way forward. The workplace isn’t going away. But how do we define it? That’s about to change forever.
Want more insight from Christian? Check out:
The Shift to Extremes: Rethinking Office Design
