{"id":1004145758,"date":"2016-06-09T08:18:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T16:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004145758"},"modified":"2020-05-17T23:28:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T07:28:45","slug":"naree-special-report-design-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/naree-special-report-design-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"NAREE Special Report: Design Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kim<\/a>

Kim Rousseau, Cooper Carry<\/p><\/div>\n

By Suzann D. Silverman, Editorial Director<\/p>\n

As the huge Baby Boomer employee population is slowly replaced by the much smaller \u2014 though by no means small \u2014 Millennial cohort, corporations will be challenged to attract talent. And for this finicky generational group, atmosphere counts. Architects and investors on the panel \u201cDesign Trends: Creative Office Space for the Millennial Generation\u201d at the 50th<\/sup> annual National Association of Real Estate Editors Real Estate Journalism Conference offered their insights into what\u2019s working\u2014and what\u2019s new.<\/p>\n

The statistics are sobering: For every two Baby Boomers in the workplace, there is just one Millennial, according to Bryan Berthold, senior managing director of workplace strategy at Cushman & Wakefield Inc.<\/a> \u201cSo they\u2019re controlling you.\u201d That means it\u2019s all the more important to focus on the people that work in your offices, not just what they produce for the company, affirmed Kim Rousseau, principal of Cooper Carry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Millennials tend to blur the lines between work and their personal lives, however, a more attractive work environment shouldn\u2019t necessarily emphasize the opportunity to play in the office, as was popular among technology firms during the dot-com boom. In fact, Cooper Carry found with law firm client Kilpatrick Townsend, the younger generation rejected pool tables in the office. They still wanted opportunities to relax, Rousseau noted, but they preferred a more work-oriented environment.<\/p>\n

Rousseau and Manuel Navarro, design director for Ziegler Cooper Architects<\/a>, each offered a list of four areas their firms have identified as critical to address in today\u2019s office environments.<\/p>\n

For Cooper Carry, they include:<\/p>\n