For a long time, the value of an office building was measured by its location, technical performance and the quality of its amenities. A strong asset naturally attracted occupiers. The office was simply taken for granted. That certainty has disappeared.

Covid did not bring about the end of the office; it challenged its position as the sole place of work. Today, every journey has to be justified. Every square metre must create value that cannot be found at home or behind a screen.

For Marie Le Gohebel and Adrian Strittmatter, this shift goes far beyond hybrid working. It is fundamentally changing the way office assets are designed, positioned and brought to life. The market is gradually moving from a product-led model to a destination-led one, where experience, brand and use become the true drivers of value.

Six years on from Covid, where do we really stand? How do you view the evolution of the office and the commercial real estate market today?

Adrian Strittmatter
Covid did not create this transformation. It accelerated it. Digitalisation, collaborative tools and the ability to work from anywhere already existed. But within a matter of months, the office lost its monopoly. The number and variety of workplaces expanded, forcing the traditional office to redefine its role.

Marie Le Gohebel
I completely agree. The good news is that the office has not disappeared. It has, however, become less automatic. Companies have reconsidered how they invest in their workplaces, while employees have begun to question why they still come into the office.

That question has fundamentally reshaped the market. We can now see two distinct categories of assets: those that have understood this shift and become highly desirable, and those that remain tied to a legacy model whose proposition is increasingly out of step with expectations.

The office is no longer simply a tool for production. It is becoming a place for learning, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and decision-making. Its value is increasingly collective. That is also why it is now fully embedded within employer-brand and ESG strategies.

Adrian Strittmatter
At times, I wonder whether the office is really reinventing itself, or simply reminding us of something we had begun to forget: the importance of being together.

Why are companies seeking to bring people back? Because they have seen a loss of culture, training, knowledge-sharing and collaboration. What the office provides today is no longer simply a workstation. It is the ability to connect people.

What creates value in a workplace today? Which criteria genuinely drive preference?

Adrian Strittmatter
For a long time, the value of an office building was based on its intrinsic characteristics. Centrality still matters. Technical and environmental performance matter too. But these are increasingly becoming baseline expectations. Differentiation now happens elsewhere.

We often speak of “excellence over excess”. The objective is no longer to accumulate amenities and services simply to tick boxes, but to provide a comfortable building, intuitive journeys, coherent uses and services that are genuinely useful.

There has been a great deal of experimentation, and the sector is now capable of developing a much wider range of building models.

Marie Le Gohebel
I would almost describe it as an element of aspiration.

Employees come to the office in search of an experience they cannot have at home: outdoor spaces, services, moments to pause, but above all, places designed around the way they actually use them.

The mistake would be to assume that there is a universal formula. A building in a central business district cannot offer the same services as one on the outskirts of a city or within a mixed-use neighbourhood. Uses must always be shaped by the expectations of the people who occupy the building and by its local context. That relevance is what creates preference today.

Is the office becoming a destination? If so, what defines a successful one?

Marie Le Gohebel
Yes, but a destination cannot simply be declared. It has to be built, and that process begins very early on.

Before designing spaces or services, it is essential to understand the user journey: people’s expectations, habits and the key moments in their day. This work around the customer journey has become critical to creating a place that feels alive.

That is where our real strength lies when we have the opportunity to support clients during the initial study phase. Once the guiding principle has been clearly defined, every subsequent decision can remain coherent while continuing to evolve and become richer over time.

Adrian Strittmatter
Our role is changing considerably. For a long time, our work ended when the building was delivered. Today, we help create a framework that responds to the specific challenges of the asset and enables everyone within it to shape their own experience.

We no longer simply hand over the keys. We now have to contribute to the building’s philosophy, create engagement, animate a community and sustain momentum. Since employees are no longer obliged to come in, the office must provide enough value to justify their presence.

At a time when assets are becoming increasingly similar, where does differentiation come from?

Marie Le Gohebel
We have been through a race for amenities. Today, many of them have become standard.

The real value proposition now lies in the narrative: the ability to tell a coherent story, articulate a clear promise and bring very different audiences together around a strong identity.

Adrian Strittmatter
I believe differentiation comes from precision.

The office that succeeds tomorrow will not be the one trying to appeal to everyone. It will be the one that understands its territory, its users and the needs of its target audience in depth.

We are probably witnessing the end of the generic office. The strongest projects will be those that embrace a truly tailored experience.

Why has brand become so much more strategic today?

Marie Le Gohebel
Because a brand no longer exists solely to market an asset.

It carries a promise. It guarantees an experience. It also creates an obligation to deliver on the commitments that have been made. A brand can now accompany the entire life of a building.

Capital 8 is a good example. The brand supported the asset’s transformation over several years, including the creation of Forward Together to engage occupiers during the works, attract leading service operators and animate the building once operational, before ultimately contributing to the asset’s value at exit.

Adrian Strittmatter
Brands are also becoming much more powerful. They live for longer, speak to multiple audiences and are increasingly experiential.

We are gradually moving towards B2B2C models. In the future, users may compare office buildings in the same way they assess a hotel or a restaurant. That is why brand recognition within a market will become so important.

Marie Le Gohebel
That said, we still see a market moving at different speeds.

Some players already view brand as a strategic investment. Others continue to see it primarily as a marketing tool. Our role is to support that increase in maturity, because a brand creates value at every stage in an asset’s life: from acquisition and leasing to operation, transformation and eventual resale.

If you were to imagine the office ten years from now, what stories would it need to tell?

Marie Le Gohebel
The office will remain a place of work, but that will no longer be its only purpose.

It will become a place for community, innovation and knowledge-sharing. Buildings will need to be more reversible, more adaptable and better able to evolve alongside changing uses.

The strongest assets will not simply be those with the best technical performance. They will be those capable of creating a genuine sense of belonging.

Adrian Strittmatter
We live in a world that is becoming increasingly digital. That is precisely why physical experiences will become even more valuable.

The places that succeed will be those that enable people to experience something together: conversations, encounters, moments of creativity and emotional intelligence.

Tomorrow, we may no longer go to the office because we have to. We will go because we need to reconnect.

The office has not lost its function. Its mission has changed.

For decades, it organised work. Tomorrow, it will need to organise encounters, give tangible form to culture and create a sense of belonging. In this new equation, square metres alone are no longer enough.

Use, narrative, brand and lived experience will determine the difference between a building people merely occupy and a place they actively choose.