ST. LOUIS — Tony Caleca knows what his ideal office would look like.
The managing partner at Brown Smith Wallace, Caleca prefers a space that's big on natural light and thin on decorative furniture.
"I have my laptop and I have two monitors. That's all I need to do my job now," he said.
In the coming months, he and others at the St. Louis-based accounting firm will decide on what the workplace will be like in a post-COVID world. There's still a lot to be determined when it comes to the physical appearance of the office, as well as how its employees intend to use the space.
"What we do know is that we have the opportunity to create a destination place for employees," Caleca said.
Brown Smith Wallace is one of many St. Louis companies beginning discussions of how the office should function once the pandemic is over. The firm will have some real-world examples to look at for inspiration, such as software startup company Curate and architecture firm Arcturis.
Here is how those companies have approached their returns to the workplace and how Brown Smith Wallace is tackling it now.
CURATE
The business: An events software company
Location: Kirkwood
How its footprint changed: Downsized to 1,000 square feet from 2,000 square feet in its move from LaSalle Park to Kirkwood.
Why it made the change: Half of its 17 employees continue to work remotely so the company did not need as much space.
What the work week is like: The software startup adopted a flexible remote work policy during the pandemic and transitioned its in-person meetings to virtual. Some of its employees travel to the office every day, some work 100% remotely, while others take a hybrid approach, company officials said.
ARCTURIS
The business: An architecture and design firm
Location: Downtown St. Louis
How its footprint changed: Reduced its footprint by half to 14,000 square feet when it moved from 720 Olive St. to Peabody Plaza, two blocks away in downtown St. Louis.
Why it made the change: Even though its headcount of 45 employees remained the same, Arcturis decided it did not need as much space and opted to not renew its prior lease.
How its layout is different: The pandemic enabled the company to rethink how it uses its space. Previously, Arcturis had tightly grouped work pods. Now it is has open, collaborative space that can accommodate social distancing, and it has individual focus rooms where employees can have privacy and as Shelly Beckemeier, Arcturis' director of workplace strategy says, "a place to work and take your mask off."
Click here for the full story.
