Beyond the cubicle: A glimpse into the future landscape of sustainable workscapes

The ongoing technological advancements, coupled with the effects of digitalization and the ascent of knowledge-based work, have promoted the integration of remote and flexible work solutions. Simultaneously, myriad forces, ranging from megatrends like urbanization to wild cards such as the profound global impact of COVID-19, have accelerated shifts in lifestyles and work practices. Thus, hybrid work has emerged as a dominating way of work among knowledge workers.
This transition entails significant environmental, social, and societal consequences, ranging from a lack of social connectedness, ergonomic issues, decreased work-life balance, and increased commercial real estate vacancies to potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. New office buildings are being constantly built even though demand for office space in the future grows more uncertain. Despite acknowledging these issues, a deeper understanding of hybrid work's effects on spatial settings is needed. One recognised solution to add flexibility in corporate space usage, address remote work impacts, and increase space occupancy for reaching strategic goals, such as environmental targets, is the concept of coworking.
The aim of our study is to cultivate an understanding of the future potential of coworking spaces in hybrid work. We showcase seven coworking spaces in Australia, which can be seen as one of the pioneering contexts due to the autonomy and power that employees hold in the knowledge work job market. We focus on various tangible and intangible aspects, such as location and space characteristics, on-site services, user preferences, and emerging trends. Our results aim to provide insights for academic discussion of work futures and to assist workplace managers in reevaluating traditional workplace strategies to effectively harness the role of physical spaces and their capabilities in this shift to foster an environmentally and socially sustainable transformation towards the future landscape of work.