Futurespace presents the Workopolis, an installation that represents the workplace of the future. Designed as just one aspect of a Utopian society where technology provides increasing connectivity between communities and the boundaries of work and life are more blurred than ever, the Workopolis will be unveiled for the inaugural Design Sector: Workplace at designEX 2014.

Futurespace worked with partners Design Sauce, Eye Tonic, JSB Lighting, Laminex, Maneto Architectural Joinery and Woven Image to create the exhibit. The installation is a series of stylistic vignettes across a 60m² area that depict scenarios of how people will be productive in the future.

Gavin Harris, Design Director – Futurespace explains Workopolis explores a future workplace where technology and space support an integrated work/life balance and the customisation of everything that is around.

In addition to technology, generational differences and expectations will dramatically change the landscape of the workplace. The year 2020 will see the ratio of Millennials (the generation born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s) making up nearly 50% of all workers. According to Jenna Goudreau of Forbes Magazine the Millennials are both ‘the most educated and culturally diverse of any generation’ and ‘notorious job-hoppers who dislike bureaucracy and distrust traditional hierarchies’. A personalised workplace will be an absolute necessity when this generation enters the workforce.

Challenges facing businesses in Australia include increased competition, heightened regulation and accountability to shareholders, the attraction and retention of talented staff, blending traditional work methods with newer, more modern technologies and workstyles, and marrying the need for privacy and confidentiality with the need for collaboration and mentoring.

According to Futurespace Managing Director Angela Ferguson, many organisations are only too aware of these challenges and are just beginning to explore how the workplace can address some of the issues. Workopolis underscores these considerations and helps organisations move closer to understanding how they might implement their own workplace of the future.

Workopolis can be seen at designEX 2014 Sydney Exhibition Centre Glebe Island 28-30 May.

Futurespace is a specialist interior design practice ranked amongst the top tier of firms in Australia.