Not done yet

How technology is transforming suburban office parks to thriving, mixed-use spaces

By Kevin Clinger & Michael Westerfield

The mid-20th Century saw the explosion of suburban office parks construction with a peak in occupancy levels in the 1990s. Built to cluster white-collar workers out of urban areas and closer to their homes in the suburbs, these complexes were perceived to be a solution to urban congestion. However, their relevance has declined rapidly in the past 20 years.

The isolated nature of these closed-off office parks, their dependency on singleoccupancy cars and the distance from dining and retail, caused new generations of employees to grow disenchanted with the concept. They were designed with only work in mind, and barely had space for cafeterias, let alone the many amenities we think of in modern workplaces.

Globalization, aging infrastructure and an evolution in work styles shifted employers away from these monuments to worker centralization. The pandemic accelerated the change to remote work, reducing the need for large employee facilities—and now millions of office spaces sit empty or are vastly underutilized. But the story is not as simple as that. While many structures built in the heyday of suburban office construction are struggling to keep occupancy, there is a growing realization of their potential. And while some office centers have returned to the urban centers, 67% of all office space built in the last 20 years is happening in America’s suburbs. Work still hinges on collaboration and structure, and this transformation of the workplace offers new possibilities for communities.

Many large corporations have long understood the value of designing their corporate environments around the rhythms of life, rather than solely for work. Corporate campuses like Apple and Facebook run like mini-cities, with close integration of childcare, dining, retail, and personal care services like hair salons, massage therapy and yoga.

Their landscapes include running trails, ponds and green zones—rolling meadows and orchards that pay homage to Silicon Valley’s agricultural past. These work campuses are ringed by housing, so employees can easily get into the office while accessing essential amenities throughout the work day.

As office park building use evolves, developers and property owners are integrating new technologies to update infrastructure and help them manage fluctuating occupancy levels and diverse activities. Software and hardware that work in union can compile continuous data and create solutions to changing environments. This enables office park structures to operate as highly adaptive mixed-use spaces that provide value for both owners and occupants.

Transforming formerly static built environments into living spaces that react to occupants and changing conditions starts with understanding how people interact with that particular environment. Collecting information is the first step as it helps facility managers create targeted resource planning; continuous analysis expands the data’s accuracy and predictability and in turn the platform increasingly can respond to ever-changing conditions.

For example, digital solutions can help workers see who is in the office and when, which aids in planning collaboration sessions. Building control solutions can also help facilities managers lower costs by metering energy when buildings are at low occupancy. Lighting can be managed much more effectively when it is connected to software that understands where people are congregating in a space.

Sensor-equipped HVAC systems can detect changes in internal environments and anticipate changing external weather in order to maintain comfortable indoor conditions. Advanced technology that tracks and analyzes building energy use provides the data to switch to renewable energy at optimum times.

Because buildings are responsible for more than 40% of all US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative operators look for ways to lower energy consumption and reduce emissions. Buildings equipped with hardware and software that “speaks” to each other can adjust utility consumption and monitor equipment to detect problems will have a significant environmental impact.

Suburban office parks could be viewed as relics from the past, but with the integration of smart building systems, they hold the seeds of a reimagined worklife balance. Retrofitting older buildings with technology that can improve energy use and give occupants an modern experience is often less costly than erecting new buildings.

Updating older infrastructure also avoids the heavy carbon load of the construction process, and as corporations integrate sustainability into their missions, decarbonization is key.

Reactive buildings that can sense, think and act with autonomy can increase efficiencies in energy use, comfort and personnel allocation. A retrofit is all that is needed to bring new life to these suburban spaces and smart technologies are allowing developers and facility managers an opportunity to reimagine the suburban office park into a richer and more dynamic space. CCR

Kevin Clinger, Director, Global Enterprise, Distech Controls™, is an accomplished sales, marketing executive in the Connected Buildings & Energy Management space with emphasis on connected devices and systems. He has a proven track record of success in accelerating brand growth, cultivating and developing new markets, and obtaining optimal levels of brand awareness in highly competitive market segments.