The
increased focus on health and safety prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic
kicked the people-first mindset extolled by standards, such as WELL into
high gear. There is strong agreement that workplaces need to be
designed with deep commitment not only to occupant satisfaction but to
health, well-being and social connection.
At the same time, there
is growing conviction amongst the architectural and design community
that these goals must be achieved through concern with “equity”—and
applied to “real-world” needs—rather than via amenities such as pool
tables, private chefs, and other perks; in other words, they are more a
matter of how employees are treated than what they are treated to.¹