Studio SKLIM posits that as more people choose to work from home, compact offices may become increasingly prevalent. But how far can a small office be stretched to accommodate the multiple needs of working? The studio’s design of a workspace for the Deloitte Centre for the Edge offers some possibilities in response to post-pandemic office needs.

“We wanted a space that embodied the principles of ‘provoke’, ‘inspire’ and ‘connect’ in a real working environment that also showcased the future of work and working,” says Duleesha Kulasooriya, executive director of the Deloitte Centre for the Edge.

Designed as a ‘third space’ that extends the main Deloitte office, it was conceived to accommodate myriad working styles for two to four people within a petite 32-square-metre footprint.

Studio SKLIM studied different anthropometrical work boundaries and patterns and came up with nine distinct work zones. Included here is a dedicated workstation, privacy booth, niche for small-group discussions, collaboration wall for brainstorming sessions and even a bar area.

“Flexibility in office design typically conjures images of mobility–furniture on castor wheels,” says Kevin Lim, founding principal of Studio SKLIM. “In this project we chose to adopt a different approach by addressing the issue of flexibility by multiplicity.”

Even then, many considerations came into play. For example, movement trajectories had to be kept clear for day-to-day activities while storage for flexible furniture also had to be accommodated. On the latter point, cork stools are cleverly stowed away in docking niches carved into a concrete platform.