(article previously published in June 2020)
Have you ever felt like Michael Douglas in the traffic jam scene in “A Day of Rage”?
I’m sure you do, especially if you live in a big city.
All of us, especially those of you who suffer from it every day, have found this approach to life incomprehensible.
Your company, for different reasons, decided to settle in the center of the city. Perhaps the services it offers do not link it to this need. But, of course, the company’s image demands it: “How can we not be in the center!” In other words, “being in the center” is an entelechy. By being at the center, you are NOT at the center of your customer’s attention. It doesn’t matter: we must and we have to be in the center.
In other words, the company has assumed (at least until now) that the brutal cost of having hundreds of square meters in the center was necessary.
That the workers who work there EVERY DAY, even if they don’t live in the center because they can’t afford it, is secondary. That if they, or even the bosses, in order to escape from the center, decide to live in the suburbs (looking for more meters at a better price) they have to pay the price of losing several hours to go from home to work and vice versa.
This pandemic is providing some objective data. One of them is the brutal reduction of pollution, derived, obviously, from the absence of cars. Well, thank goodness, something positive!
Moreover, if this virus, or those that may come, force us to distance ourselves so as not to fall ill (or die),
what immediate conclusion do companies reach?
The first one is obvious:
we cannot pay the same for square meters where, at the moment, only half of the people can work. If the landlord does not reduce his expectations by half, either we go out of the center or we close the business. I am talking mainly about offices, but the concept can be extended to stores, restaurants, bars, small businesses, etc. The difference is that, in these latter businesses, the need for their location in the center is justified.
In short, whenever possible, …
TELEWORK IS HERE TO STAY
Many companies have been promoting it for years. They realized, without the need for a limiting virus, that it was a much more reasonable approach.
The advantages are obvious and many of us have discovered them in recent months:
- Time is no longer wasted on commuting.
- We save on fuel and on the useful life of the vehicles.
- We contribute to maintaining a better planet.
- You perform better with fewer interruptions.
- We don’t have to put up with that annoying office jerk.
…
There are also drawbacks:
- We are human, we like to interact face to face.
- The agility of face-to-face meetings cannot be replaced by video conferencing.
- It is not easy to keep your mind in order to know when the workday is over. You are overexposed to it not ending.
- If you have small children…then it’s a different matter.
And you, after confinement, do you prefer teleworking? What advantages and disadvantages would you highlight? Would you like to continue teleworking?
CONSEQUENCES IN THE CITY
One of the problems between Urbanism and Politics is the timing. Our dear politicians make decisions according to electoral periods. Urban planning is governed by other intervals. However, the former decide on the latter.
Our cities have been accommodating, as far as possible, to the measures of the users. I don’t want to play urban planner, but it seems obvious that in view of the desolate streets, if work habits change, the city will be oversized.
There will no longer be a need for so many lanes. This fact opens the door for urban planners to design and rehabilitate the city.
Can you imagine the main roads of your city turned into linear parks?
HOUSING CONSEQUENCES
All of us who have had the option to start teleworking, have used our imagination. We have converted some space in our home into our new office. We have done it thinking that it was going to be something temporary. But what if it is not? If from now on, because the company or we ourselves decide that we like it, that it is more effective, is it worth the change?
Well, dear developer, if this trend is confirmed (everything points to it), you will have to provide a new housing solution.
I recommend the recent article by Javier Molowny architect with which I can not agree more: “The change of mentality” when it comes to choosing where to live after COVID-19
Now, people are going to ask for apartments with two things :
a good work area and outdoor space.
The second condition is more difficult to meet, but the first is not.
Another demographic trend that influences the distribution of a dwelling is the number of children. That is to say, it is no excuse to think that a work area is a superficial supplement (in terms of surface area, I mean). What is not valid either, dear developer, is to think that a bedroom of 8-10 m2 will be the new “work space”.
That would be a solution for the present. But, if you want to be innovative, you will have to rethink with your architect what that new space should look like. Obviously, legislators will also have to do their work on regulatory issues. This change affects us all.
As Javier Molowny rightly comments in his article, housing must be flexible. If they are, we will have made progress. Think about the “housing history” of your parents. Yes, houses also have a history. In their day, it was more common to have more children. When they grow up and leave home, the house is oversized.
If they are flexible in their conception, they can allow lonely parents to enlarge their living room to receive friends, since it will be more and more difficult for them to go out as when they were young. This is just one example, but there are many more.
WHAT WILL THIS NEW HOUSING + WORK MODEL BE LIKE?
That study or office will be well lit, probably closer to the sleeping area than to the living room and kitchen. Why? Because he needs silence and, in addition, to understand that when he leaves the study, he returns home. Those meters of distance will do the job of disconnection that the car used to do, etc, etc, etc, etc.
In addition, you will not have to use Chinese extension cords (one day I will talk about the convenience of not buying anything that can be plugged into a Chinese store) as most of us have had to do when we had to install at home urgently. You will have the best and multiple connections.
I even think it would be advisable to have extra acoustic insulation in that room. We don’t want to be disturbed by the family, but we don’t want to disturb them either.
An architect and a clerk do not have the same space, work plan or storage needs.
Good lighting and ventilation conditions are assumed, but should not be overemphasized.
If it also has good views to the outside, all the better.
If we propose, even if not incorporated in the house, a proposal of convertible furniture to make the use of the study, etc. more flexible.
When your customer sees that you have thought about their needs, you will start to gain their trust. Don’t miss this post by Javier Consuegra about the sales process in a sports store. If you ask the right questions to your customer, you have a much better chance of closing the sale. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pair of sneakers or an apartment.
You should discuss all aspects of your new proposal with your architect.
But, when you are clear about your real and effective proposal…
HOW WILL YOU EXPLAIN ALL THESE NEW DEVELOPMENTS ADEQUATELY?
If it is not always easy to show an apartment, imagine if what you offer is something new.
You know: you have to transmit confidence. Although it will change, it is normal that your client, for a certain period of time, will continue to look for an apartment with X number of bedrooms.
Your obligation is to make it easy for them. Explain the advantages of your proposal. It will not be enough to tell him that this bedroom is really a study for him. You will have to convince him because you have thought about his needs.
You can start by describing all the features and virtues of the new space, but until you get your customer to imagine it, they won’t believe you.
You have to show it to him.
Who sees it > who believes it. > who wants it > who wants you to sell it to him > who buys it from you
And this is where we come in 😉
Through IMAGES y VIDEOS you will get your client to “relocate” to his new studio. Due to the confinement, he has already had the opportunity to experiment with his “attempt” at a workspace in his current home. Now he knows better what he needs, what he has been lacking.
Seeing it finished gives you confidence. He imagines it because he sees it. He sees that this is what he was looking for and he wants it.
The 360º IMAGES are very likely to strengthen your conviction. Interact with them, move in space. There is less and less doubt. He gets excited. He already sees himself working there and doing it beautifully.
We are done.
We’ve helped you convince him with the visual tools you needed.
Is it possible to do it without this help? Yes, of course, but at a different pace and with less certain results.
If our clients count on our collaboration, it is because it is efficient and profitable for them, because they speed up the process. In short, they sell better and sooner. Which translates into calm, happiness and money.
What else?