For more than 22 years, John Sadlon has shaped the way people work in the most important office market in the world. With 13 years as managing principal of workplace at Perkins+Will in New York, he understands and has experienced first hand the dynamic shifts taking place in the office perhaps better than anyone.
He was recently promoted to Global Workplace Practice Leader at Perkins+Will where he will interface with design and management at each of the companies 32 offices around the world, setting business strategy, client engagement and service excellence for one of the industry’s most important design firms.
We sat down with Sadlon to discuss his new role and the ever changing office landscape.
With 22 years working on office projects in New York, do you feel the market is a good example of what is happening in the workplace around the world or is it an outlier — a different world when it comes to workspace?
Sadlon: “That’s a really good question. What I will say is that New York has, I would say, the most diverse and robust client types represented within the industry. And New York is fortunate in that we’re one of the cities in North America that has the highest rate of return to the office. And so there’s a great deal of movement activity. All of our clients are analyzing, evaluating and exploring new solutions that can be applied in a variety of different ways. We see the greatest amount of momentum, quite frankly, in the New York and the London marketplaces, just given the proclivity of the Fortune 500 companies that are based in those two cities. But I’ll also say that we have very robust activity in Chicago and down in Texas. We have offices in Houston and Austin and Dallas, and each of those are very, very strong. So it really depends across the U.S. in terms of the demands that are happening (regarding) commercial interiors. I would say that the representation that we have in New York is one of the strongest.”
Could you describe how the office is changing and adapting to what’s happening right now in the workplace?
Sadlon: “Well, I think it probably goes without saying that a lot of what’s driving the workplace right now is a focus on employee experience, the accommodation of the hybrid and the remote work (models). It’s also heavily influenced by AI and sustainability. And so the companies that we’re working with understand that they need to embrace each of these different components and look at their real estate investments in a different way. It’s a reshaping of the way that we work. We interact, we experience these workspaces and there’s historically always been an emphasis from the real estate side in terms of efficiency and productivity, but now we’re seeing even greater emphasis on sustainability and community. We have a term: It’s more about persuasive placemaking and creating a craveable space.”
As you’ve seen people rethink the office, especially in recent years, what are people getting wrong?
Sadlon: “That’s interesting. I think an assumption that we can take solutions from the past and shoehorn them into a solution that will work for the long-term future. That’s a falsehood that I would say many companies that, for whatever reasons, are just trying to make minor changes or adjustments to the space that they had pre pandemic are finding that it’s not really addressing the needs of today’s employees. This segues into influences of multi-generational employees in the office. Again, it goes back to the integration of technology. We find that clients that are investing in transforming the workspaces, quite frankly, are having a more tangible impact on recruiting and retention. One of the things I say to my clients is that those that choose not to invest in their real estate will not have the most valued asset returning to the workforce. Those companies that understand that their workplace is a tool to support their business, but also to reinforce their brand and their culture, those companies are winning the talent war. And ultimately, regardless of business sector right now, it’s really about the war for talent, the best of the bright.”
We have quite a few readers of our magazine who are on the manufacturing side of the industry. What would you say to them in terms of what you need to help create these kinds of spaces? What do you need that you don’t have or do you feel like they’re providing what you need to create these spaces that we’re talking about?
Sadlon: “That’s a great question. So I would respond in this way: As a firm, Perkins+Will is less distracted by chasing trends. The focus that I always instill in my teams is a focus on quality and intentionality in the work that we do. Whether it’s our manufacturers or owners reps or product designers, those that invest in the research in terms of not just ergonomics, but also the materiality of the pieces that they’re creating, the effect on the environment and on indoor air quality and on human health and wellness, these products that have more intentionality in the design and enduring quality in their fabrication, those by and large are the partnerships that we’re looking to strengthen. We understand that our design concept is only as good and is only successful if we have strong partnerships with the manufacturing and the supplier industries.
“Perkins+Will actually has an in-house research group that is funding independent research with Perkins+Will employees that looks at various aspects of the built environments that we’re creating. As part of that and as a result of our research, at times we partner up with an MIT or a Harvard, and that thought leadership piece is then published and shared publicly. We aren’t holding this tight to our chest. We’re trying to elevate the practice of architecture and design across the entire industry, but we place a very high value on original research and a data-driven problem solving mindset. Many manufacturers are thankfully of a similar mindset. They’re investing in understanding the impacts of their products, not just from the manufacturing standpoint or the carbon footprint standpoint, but in terms of the lifecycle of those products. And when manufacturers or suppliers come to Perkins+Will with that data, that research, and they can demonstrate the tangible benefits of their products, that’s the type of partnership that really, I think elevates what we all do collectively.”
How important is sustainability to Perkins+Will?
Sadlon: Perkins+Will has been at the forefront of sustainable design for more than 15 years before it was a buzzword, and our research is published and available for anyone to access in terms of material health. There was a period in time when many companies were trying to jump on the bandwagon, and of course there was greenwashing, there were claims that their product was better for the environment, but it didn’t have the data to back it up, and they were just trying to get on specification lists for various projects. So that greenwashing, I think is a little bit less today than it was maybe six to eight years ago. But again, it’s about the integrity of the work that we’re doing, and that has a direct impact on the lives of the people in the spaces that we’re creating.”
Are there certain trends that are emerging that we should keep our eye on for the longer term?
Sadlon: “So the benefit of my global position is I really get to tap into the brain trust, if you will, from each of our studios. We have 32 offices around the world. So right now we have roughly two dozen studios in the U.S. plus Canada, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. I can bring together and culminate the best practices from each of those studios around the world. Then we advise our clients in terms of the things that they should be thinking about. Our approach is not to be dictatorial because it’s never about one solution that’s going to work for all people, but at a very high level, I would say the answer to your question is about, No. 1, a recognition that there’s been a major shift in the last century. Work was previously a place to go to, and nowadays it is something that is done, and whether that occurs at your office or at your home or a coffee shop or while you’re on the train work, it is the activity, not the place of where it happens with all workplaces around the world.
“The one exception may be the financial sector, because in finance, they are still heavily bringing employees back into the office on a daily basis, but outside of the financial sector, there’s a number of new models. They’re evolving, and you can categorize that into the central office and then the hybrid or the fully remote employees. We’ve broken it down into different categories. In terms of things to look out for, obviously flexibility and choice, we’ve been talking about that for a while, but I think that the ways that can be articulated are continuing to evolve. Actually that’s the most exciting thing about the work that I get to do is being at the cutting edge of how choice can be integrated within the design solutions. That choice is about the scheduling of the hours where you are physically and located and or plugged in, but it’s also about choice in the furnishings and the products.
“It’s also about choice in terms of the way that the architecture adapts to different users’ needs. So the ability to modify your individual environment to come into a workspace and choose the area where you will work based on the nature of the activity or the task that’s at hand. Once you make that choice to then go into that environment and to be able to modify it, whether that’s lighting, temperature, furnishings or configuration of the footprint of the room. That type of choice is going to be increasingly required and frankly expected by the workforce. There is an underscoring expectation of creating spaces that are secure, that are healthy, that are convenient. That’s just par for the course in today’s world, especially in a post pandemic environment, that people are not going to leave the safety of their home and go through a commute unless the space that they’re going into offers something that’s dramatically better than what they have in any other location.
“So flexibility and choice is obviously going to be key, but it’s also about collaboration and community engagement. That’s the other piece that I think is really important to the future of workplace. It’s about collaboration and engagement with your fellow colleagues to create whatever that work product is that you are focusing on, but then also understanding the tangible impact that that has on the larger communities that you serve. So to be more granular about it, in the architectural and design industry, we’re looking at creating solutions that benefit our clients’ business needs or other factors that we may be designing for. In other businesses, they may be designing a product or an experience or perhaps an interface that then streamlines communication or the sharing of information that improves someone’s daily life. The point I’m trying to make is that the understanding, the impact that the work you’re doing is somehow improving the quality of life or experience of the constituents you serve. That’s so critically important, especially with the new generation of people that are coming into the workforce. This is how we get them engaged, and this is how we motivate them to contribute.”
Is there anything we’ve missed? Anything that you’d like to add that we haven’t asked you about?
Sadlon: “I mentioned a term a little while ago about persuasive placemaking, and I may just underscore that point a little bit. I think it’s really, really important. So we’ve talked a little bit about the employee experience being at the center of the modern workplace design. And so it’s about seamless access to tools, to technology, to amenities especially that create the environment where community building and collaboration are fostered. It’s nurtured by the physical environment. The spaces that we’re designing are fully intended to draw people into those spaces. A lot of people focus on the amenities, and there’s lots of different ways you could look at amenities, whether it’s within the physical space, whether it’s within the building or whether it’s within the community, but ultimately, it’s about connecting employees. And so the strongest thing to bring your employees together consistently is the brand and the mission of the organization. You’ve got to have those on display. You’ve got to be communicating with your workforce the values of your organization and ensure that they feel engaged and frankly proud to be a part of the mission of the bigger organization. So that’s what I mean by persuasive. It’s about, again, being intentional about the design solutions that we’re bringing to our clients. The other thing to underscore is the future workplaces. Frankly, it’s about connection.”