3. Sustainable Urbanism: Hanging out in our third place!
The ongoing pandemic led to a shift in designerly thinking in the built environment sector. The need for adaptable and resillient spaces have become a major design problem. The ‘Third Place’ is a response to such problems.
The concept of third place was coined by urban sociologist Ray Olderburg in 1980’s. He asserted the need for informal public spaces and their importance in our communities and societies. Moreover, Oldenburg stressed on the idea of third places as economic boosters and community builders.
In the current scenario, this idea of a third place is found to be ideal by employers. They took this idea as an opportunity to create workplaces as community spaces to attract more efficient workers. The dynamics of workplaces have evolved into diverse styles inspired from the community centers and even from the first places such a homes. The reason for this shift is that the landowners see their tenant’s employers as their own clients and would want to reflect on their needs by making the building active. It is most likely to be their long term investment.
Another reason is that many people travel for hours to get to work. However, this pandemic gave an opportunity for people to work from home. To be more active and efficient people seek for informal places such as cafes to work productively and with more freedom. All they need is a plug in for their laptop and a hot cup of coffee or tea to compliment with it. They are more likely to spend their time in such spaces where they have food nearby and even can interact with people within the proximity. This safe distancing informal spaces can be the third places that people are looking for. These indirect places can connect communities and even help in urban planning.
Employers can take this idea and build such third places at a radius forming a network of small remote offices nearby for their worker’s convenience. Such a transformation can help people to stay where they are and work with a lot of comfort. Communication can happen anywhere as long as you have the right infrastructure to go with it. This idea of third place work stations can work wonders in the future.
One such example is located in 1 Martin Place, Sydney. The Third place is designed by Siren Design and Adriano Pupili Architects with Graphite Design. The building serves a commercial office purpose that forms a community space encouraging people to work, communicate and relax. The functionality of this third place has a work lounge, food section and a lot amenities such as mobile furniture to support the work culture. Biophilic elements were also used keeping worker’s well-being in mind by bringing the outdoor natural features inside. A space for art gallery to motivate people to be creative is another interesting feature.
This emerging trend in office space looks promising and here to stay and slay.
