JLL’s 2022 Office Fit Out Guide report provides benchmark costs to build out a range of office types across major markets in the United States and Canada. The cost benchmarks are built on the data from thousands of real-world projects, supported by detailed cost estimating models, and confirmed by local experts working across the country.
Additional variants of the COVID-19 virus delayed a mass return to the office in 2021, frustrating expectations for a timely return to normal. At the end the first quarter of 2022, hybrid work remains prevalent and the role of the office remains in flux, with firms navigating increased scrutiny around employee work-life balance in a tight labor market. The office must evolve in response to the lessons learned in the pandemic.
Where Are We Now?
The guide offers high-level guidance on what offices ready for the post-pandemic world might entail and cost.
- Supporting mobility and changing work cadences: With an estimated 64% of workers stating that they would or have considered quitting if asked to return to the office full time and no marked decline in productivity noted due to work-from-home, hybrid schedules remain a part of office worker life and a critical evaluation of how the office can best support work is underway. As a result, future office designs will place a greater emphasis on custom collaboration and community spaces, enhancing in person communication.
- Technology-centric design to support new ways of working: A workplace designed for a mobility-focused and partly remote workforce will include a greater share of conference rooms, huddle rooms, and flexibility collaboration spaces that allow for video calls and presentations designed for a virtual-first environment. Audio visual and other supportive tech infrastructure once limited to higher-end build outs is now a baseline requirement for a post-pandemic office.
- Sustainable design and new measures of costs: As almost 90 percent of the global economy is attached to a net-zero carbon goal, sustainability in the built environment has become a first-class measure of value. In order for both occupiers and landlords to achieve science based target initiatives for emissions, fit outs must support long-term sustainability goals.
- Employee wellness supported by the built environment: Part of redefining the office in a post-pandemic work is navigating the impact the built environment has on employee health. From preventing the spread of viral transmission to increasing cognitive function in the office by up to 26 percent, wellness focused design is critical to facilitating return to office at any scale and supporting productivity.
Related Stories
| May 31, 2013
Nation's first retrofitted zero-energy building opens in California
The new training facility for IBEW/NECA is the first commercial building retrofit designed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirements for a net-zero energy building.
| May 29, 2013
Realtors report positive trends in commercial real estate market
Realtors who practice commercial real estate have reported an increase in annual gross income for the third year in a row, signaling the market is on the road to recovery.
| May 24, 2013
First look: Revised plan for Amazon's Seattle HQ and 'biodome'
NBBJ has released renderings of a revised plan for Amazon's new three-block headquarters in Seattle. The proposal would replace a previously approved six-story office building with a three-unit "biodome."
| May 20, 2013
Jones Lang LaSalle: All U.S. real estate sectors to post gains in 2013—even retail
With healthier job growth numbers and construction volumes at near-historic lows, real estate experts at Jones Lang LaSalle see a rosy year for U.S. commercial construction.
| May 3, 2013
'LEED for all GSA buildings,' says GSA Green Building Advisory Committee
The Green Building Advisory Committee established by the General Services Administration, officially recommended to GSA that the LEED green building certification system be used for all GSA buildings as the best measure of building efficiency.
| May 2, 2013
A snapshot of the world's amazing construction feats (in one flashy infographic)
From the Great Pyramids of Giza to the U.S. Interstate Highway System, this infographic outlines interesting facts about some of the world's most notable construction projects.
| May 1, 2013
Groups urge Congress: Keep energy conservation requirements for government buildings
More than 350 companies urge rejection of special interest efforts to gut key parts of Energy Independence and Security Act
| Apr 30, 2013
Tips for designing with fire rated glass - AIA/CES course
Kate Steel of Steel Consulting Services offers tips and advice for choosing the correct code-compliant glazing product for every fire-rated application. This BD+C University class is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
| Apr 26, 2013
Apple scales back Campus 2 plans to reduce price tag
Apple will delay the construction of a secondary research and development building on its "spaceship" campus in an attempt to drive down the cost of developing its new headquarters.
| Apr 24, 2013
North Carolina bill would ban green rating systems that put state lumber industry at disadvantage
North Carolina lawmakers have introduced state legislation that would restrict the use of national green building rating programs, including LEED, on public projects.
