Clerkenwell Design Week 2016: Work to live

London – The workplace of the future will provide the tools to work anywhere, says Airbnb environments design lead Aaron Taylor Harvey.

• Environments team combines design research with the core values of the company to produce unique workspaces for Airbnb employees
• Speaking to LS:N Global at Clerkenwell Design Week 2016, Harvey explained the design behind the company’s new office space

Hot desking has become the way to work in the 21st century, while the office is no longer just a place to get things done but increasingly open to the public as an extension of the brand. Although mobile working has become the aspiration of Bleisurites everywhere, the workplace still has to meet some fundamental needs.

‘First we tore down cubicles and that felt liberating at one point,’ Harvey tells LS:N Global. ‘Now there is a narrative that true liberation is working at a café or in an office that feels like a café, but what we really see is that people need monitors and ergonomic chairs. They need tools, they just don’t need them all the time.’