3 min read May 2023 — In an interview with Invest:, Reetika Vijay, managing director of IA Interior Architects, shared her perspective on the latest trends in the workplace environment, how her team is positioned to grow and Boston’s sustainability initiatives. “Everyone in the real estate industry agrees that the office sector is a bit bumpy in 2023. We feel optimistic that it will stabilize in 2024,” says Vijay.
What role do IA Interior Architects play in the Greater Boston market?
IA Interior Architects is an interior architecture firm that focuses largely on workplace and corporate commercial. As you know, in the last couple of years the corporate commercial office space has been plunged into a whirlwind of craziness due to impacts from the pandemic. Never before have we seen such a dramatic shift in workplace design practices. Our team has had to pivot in order to provide thought leadership and expertise to our clients on how best to leverage workplace as an organizational tool to support their evolving philosophies on where staff will be working. IA has been fortunate to have proven ourselves as market leaders guiding our clients on their workplace journeys. Through the last few years, we have built much data through real-time exploration with our clients. We have also had a few post-pandemic workplaces built and are very excited to see them being successful in drawing staff back into the office.
How are clients viewing the workplace nowadays?
First and foremost, our clients have recognized that there is no crystal ball to predict the future. Many are still grappling with what the workplace meant to them. However, as we navigate each client, there are three workplace pillars that guide our discussions. The first is high-performance workplace. In order to create a meaningful experience that will bring staff back into the office, workplace should enable individuals to do their best work. This includes a palette of different work environments that supports how individuals want to work. Collaboration settings have also pivoted based on the need for in-person vs hybrid vs fully virtual. Lighting, acoustics and audio-visual are paramount to collaboration success. The second pillar is cultural glue — designing a place where employees can come to to feel connected not only to the organizational mission, but to each other, socially and professionally. Finally, workplace needs to be supportive and intuitive. Employees should feel healthy and safe. A place of hospitality that inspires surprise and delight. These three pillars of high-performance workplace, cultural glue and human-centric focus supports a destination that brings success to any current workplace environment.
Which industries do you see driving demand for services?
IA plays in the space of workplace: technology, financial services, insurance, consulting wealth management, consumer brands, etc both locally and globally. We’ve seen a vast reduction in technology – many who took space pre-pandemic are trying to sublease and reduce square footage. Wealth management continues to be strong. Right now there is so much sublease space on the market that many organizations are looking for pre-built space vs first-generation. We’re also seeing a lot of restacks- organizations who are locked into leases or own property are consolidating their footprint and subletting the remaining space.
What are the key challenges facing the firm and its clients?
The design and real estate industry is so heavily tied to the state of the greater world, from the politics to economics to climate to social unrest. The uncertainty drives caution where tenants feel uneasy about the future and therefore limit spend. We have seen many tenants in the market take large swaths of space, only to sublease them once ready to occupy. Growth projections are challenging for clients who do not know if their workforce will continue to grow and where the organization will support growth.
How is Boston and the firm staying ahead of the curve on sustainability?
IA has made a strong commitment to sustainability through several programs. At a base level, when making decisions in the design process, we choose responsibility. These are the easy decisions that everyone should just incorporate: existing condition reuse, zero VOC paint, minimal lighting power density, to name a few. IA has our ECOS Studio that provides guidance and awareness to clients who are seeking traditional certifications such as LEED, carbon neutrality, or those clients who may want to develop their own sustainability charter to guide project and corporate behavior. In addition, we also have a grassroots sustainability committee that looks at our internal processes, creates educational programs for staff and puts in guidelines for how we operate studio to studio. IA is proud to have committed to the AIA 2030 challenge focused on a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the building sector.
What are some of the key regulations that the firm is monitoring in Boston?
Mayor Wu has large plans in the space of sustainability. She has crafted a new climate-friendly state building code that would discourage the use of fossil fuels in new construction in Boston. Her Green New Deal plan aims to run the city on renewable energy by 2030 and achieve city-wide carbon neutrality by 2040. It will be a large effort but we all have to band together to support climate control.
What’s your outlook for the Greater Boston region in terms of office space?
I feel optimistic about the future of the workplace. IA believes in the power of workplace. There is no substitution for bringing teams together under one roof to innovate, to collaborate, to socialize and connect to the organizational mission. Over the past several months, more and more organizations are pushing forward requirements for their staff to come back into the office. We have heard leadership tell their staff there are no growth opportunities working from home. Some organizations have discussed docking salaries for those who stay working from home. I do think 2023 into 2024 will be a bumpy ride, but the power of workplace will prevail.
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