From offices to homes and neighbourhoods: the impact of hybrid work on spatial design 

Editie: 32 - Inner City Restructuring

Published on: 11 juni 2025

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Organisations have widely adopted hybrid work over time in the aftermath of the pandemic. Studies have shown that remote working can provide various benefits to individuals, including reduced commuting costs, greater comfort, improved work-life balance, and more time with family or providing care for elderly relatives ​(Hopkins & Bardoel, 2023; Ipsen et al., 2021; Srivastava et al., 2024)​. However, some drawbacks of remote working, particularly in fully remote work arrangements, have been identified, such as reduced social interaction with colleagues, a weakening of corporate identity, and increased feelings of loneliness ​(Oppong Peprah, 2024; Rubin et al., 2020; Šmite et al., 2023)​. Yet, in-person collaboration in the office environment remains important as it enhances networking, innovation, and team cohesion ​(Hertting et al., 2020; Nummenmaa et al., 2015; Wu & Zhang, 2024)​. Nevertheless, employees increasingly prefer the flexibility to alternate between in-office and remote work rather than returning to a traditional five-day office workweek or working exclusively remotely ​(Fukumura et al., 2021; Šmite et al., 2023)​.  

Hybrid work is likely to remain long-term. Organisations continue to embrace hybrid models, and workplace culture is evolving with the rise of hybrid work and remote-friendly policies, changing how we work and use office spaces. Employers are rethinking how they support their employees within hybrid work settings, including how they design office environments, foster collaboration, and adapt to the demands of this new way of working across office and remote workplace settings (e.g. home, co-working spaces). Given that home is the most preferred remote workplace compared to other remote workplace alternatives ​(Li et al., 2024)​, it is important to explore how both office and home workplace environments are used and evolving within hybrid work settings. This exploration would be essential to assess how hybrid work may impact the broader urban context, including homes and inner-city areas, in the long term.  

To explore this further, we introduce three environment zones for office and home workplaces within the urban context, building on ​Hall’s (1982)​ concept of proxemics (Figure 1). In our study on hybrid workplace preference, conducted with employees of the municipalities of Almere, Amsterdam and Eindhoven, we used these zones to explore hybrid workplace behaviour:    

• Core workplace (Environment-1): primary work area, where the desk and main workspace are located. 

• Secondary spaces (Environment-2): adjacent areas designated for ancillary activities. At home, this includes spaces such as the balcony or kitchen; at the office, it refers to break-out areas, kitchenettes, or informal zones where employees may encounter others. 

• Public space (Environment-3): broader environmental context outside the building, including proximity to public transport, cafes, parks, and other nearby amenities.

 

Figure 1. Environmental Levels of Office and Home Workplaces (based on Tuzcuoglu et al., 2025, under review) 

 

All these environmental zones seem to play a significant role in shaping employees’ preferences within the hybrid working culture (Tuzcuoglu et al., 2025, under review). Hence, it would be important to reconsider how these zones may be transformed in light of ongoing changes in how we work and use our workplaces. This reconsideration applies not only to office design but also to home design and urban planning, which may need to adapt to the evolving dynamics of hybrid working. 

 

Evolving Office Design 

Workplace design has long responded to shifting user needs, technological developments, and evolving work concepts. With the rise of hybrid work, changing work-life dynamics are reshaping how offices are used and what employees expect from them. Our study also shows that office preferences may shift depending on whether employees are required to be at the office or have the flexibility to choose where to work (Tuzcuoglu et al., 2025, under review). While overall office use may decline due to increased remote working days, expectations for office environments seem to change. Employees now expect their office environments to be more than just place for desks, they see them as hubs for interaction with their colleagues that facilitiates activities and support communication and well-being ​(Hampel & Hampel, 2023; Srivastava et al., 2024)​.  

In hybrid working, organised events (social, wellness) or engaging secondary spaces (e.g., comfortable break-out zones, gaming areas) make the office environment more attractive to employees, supporting informal interaction and making time spent in the office more enjoyable (Tuzcuoglu et al., 2025, under review). At the same time, hybrid work practices have facilitated the use of new spatial elements, such as video conferencing setups and small call or meeting pods, to support seamless online collaboration and accommodate frequent virtual meetings.   

Reflecting hybrid working dynamics, office designs are likely to evolve into more adaptable, social, and eventful environments, with changes in layout, configuration, and use potentially impacting not only interior design but also the broader spatial organisation of inner-city areas, such as how buildings are shared, accessed, or repurposed. 

 

Residential Spaces: Emerging home-workplaces 

Advances in digital tools and virtual meeting platforms have made remote work more seamless, prompting individuals to redesign their residential spaces to adapt their homes for remote working. As hybrid working becomes more common, employees increasingly use their remote working days at home, requiring spatial, functional and layout adjustments within the home environment. What was once considered a luxury, having a dedicated home office or space, has become necessary, even in smaller apartments with limited space. Employees tend to prefer working from home when they have a functional, ergonomic home-workplace (Tuzcuoglu et., al. 2025) that supports comfort and productivity ​(Gerding et al., 2021; Janneck et al., 2018; Maria Barrero Nicholas Bloom Steven Davis et al., 2021)​. This preference highlights the importance of the core workplace design at home, a defined and well-equipped area where primary work activities can take place.  

In response to these evolving needs, hybrid working appears to drive new demands for housing design to support remote work at home when needed. Designers, developers, and architects should consider integrating home-workplace areas as standard features in future residential developments.  

 

Neighbourhoods, urban planning, and mobility 

Hybrid work is shifting daily routines as people work remotely from home one or more days a week. As a result, people now spend more time in their local neighbourhoods instead of commuting to offices or central business districts ​(Al-Habaibeh et al., 2021; Appel-Meulenbroek et al., 2022)​. This increased presence in neighbourhoods may change how people interact with and navigate their surroundings, contributing to the need for broader changes in urban space.  

While most people prefer working from home on flexible (remote) days, some still favour other locations like cafes and co-working spaces (Li et al., 2024). This reflects the need for urban environments to better support a range of remote working preferences. At the same time, as traditional office buildings are expected to be used less frequently, they may be repurposed into other multifunctional spaces, indicating a broader transformation in how workspaces are used and prompting a rethink of urban plans in inner-city areas. Furthermore, spending more time in local neighbourhoods rather than commuting may also continue to shift urban mobility patterns, easing pressure on transportation systems during peak hours. Overall, hybrid work culture seems to influence how neighbourhoods may evolve, not only as places to live but also as spaces for work, socialising, and leisure. 

 

Conclusion 

Hybrid work will continue to reshape not only how we work but also how we live and engage with our communities, transforming the physical and social fabric of cities. With hybrid working, office environments are becoming more flexible and collaboration-focused, home designs are expected to support both work and daily life, and urban planning will evolve to accommodate these shifts. Thus, designers and planners should understand the emerging needs of home and office environments across different environmental zones to create spaces that align with evolving work-life patterns and support well-being in both individual and social contexts. 

About the author: Deniz Tuzcuolglu

Deniz Tuzcuoglu is a lecturer and PhD researcher at the Department of the Built Environment at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Her PhD research, based in the Urban Systems & Real Estate (USRE) group, focuses on hybrid and smart workplace preferences and user behaviour, in collaboration with the municipalities of Almere, Amsterdam, and Eindhoven. She teaches in both the AUDE (Architecture, Urban Design and Engineering) and the Psychology & Technology bachelor program at the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS). Her interests include environmental psychology, digitalisation, cloud technologies, and the use of virtual environments in design and research.

 

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