The office is no longer a place, but an experience: the rise of operated offices

Faced with hybrid working patterns, companies are now looking for more flexible, responsive solutions that can adapt to the diversity of their uses. The traditional 3-6-9 lease model is showing its limitations: lack of flexibility, cumbersome management, absence of integrated services. Against this backdrop, a new format has emerged, halfway between the traditional lease and coworking: the operated office.

But what exactly are we talking about? An operated office is a workspace that is entirely managed by the lessor, who takes charge not only of fit-out and maintenance, but also day-to-day management, occupier services and even contractual flexibility. Everything is turnkey. The client company no longer has to worry about housekeeping; it can concentrate on what’s essential: its business and its employees.

For companies, the benefits are many: shared space, cost control, simplified management, and greater attractiveness to talent. Because in a world where the workplace is no longer an obligation, we need to make people want to come. And that means offering an enriched, human and fluid experience, just like the operated office offers today.

Experience before space: real estate becomes serviced

Square metres are no longer enough. What companies are looking for today is not just well-located offices, but places that can offer a complete, fluid and inspiring work experience. The office is becoming serviced. It incorporates the codes of the hotel industry and of retail, with increasing demands for personalisation, comfort and ease of use.

This change marks the transition from an asset-based approach to a subscription-based approach, with or without options. We no longer rent a space, we subscribe to a global service: workstations, integrated services, shared spaces, digital equipment, events… everything is designed to maximise employee satisfaction and optimise the use of the space.

For property departments, the impact is immediate: less time spent on operational management, more time to refocus on strategic issues. Indicators are also changing. We’re no longer just thinking in terms of m² or length of lease, but in terms of satisfaction rates, productivity and intensity of use.

Better than at home? That’s now the ambition. The office has to do better than teleworking: offer a working environment that stimulates, connects and inspires. A place for socialising, sharing and creativity. A place that inspires. The Operated Office model meets this expectation, by putting the employee experience back at the heart of the workspace.

The Covivio approach: bringing the experience to every office

A culture of hospitality applied to real estate

At Covivio, the transformation of the office has been a reality for several years. The Group did not wait for the Covid crisis to rethink real estate as a lever for commitment, attractiveness and performance. Its strength lies in its ability to transpose the codes of hospitality into the office world, making every asset a place to live, to experience and to share.

Whether in flexible offices, operated spaces or traditional leasehold projects, Covivio infuses this culture of welcome, personalisation and service everywhere. The experience is a constant, whatever the format or location. And it is this demand for consistency that today makes the Covivio approach so unique.

Emblematic projects, designed as living spaces

In Berlin, LOFT offers creative, flexible workspaces bathed in natural light, with particular attention paid to materials and ergonomics. In Düsseldorf, ICON combines contemporary design, environmental certifications and premium services in a rapidly changing business district.

In France, Urban Garden in Issy-les-Moulineaux offers a working environment with a full range of services, vast green terraces and a cultural programme. In Saint-Ouen, So Pop reinvents the office as a playground for innovation and flexibility. And in Paris, L’Atelier showcases a new way of making the office a creative space, at the crossroads of uses and imaginations.

Wellio, the example of an all-in-one operated office

The best example of this integrated service approach? Wellio, Covivio’s operated office offering created in 2017. Present in a number of major European cities, it offers flexible, all-inclusive “plug & work” spaces that are entirely designed for the well-being of users and the performance of businesses. Everything is included: inspiring design, shared services, technical management and customised support.

This model is a perfect illustration of the shift from a square metre approach to a workstation approach, as Olivier Estève, Deputy Managing Director of Covivio, points out: it’s no longer a question of calculating rent per square metre, but of thinking in terms of the overall cost per user, including space, services and support.

The future of the office-as-a-service: towards a replicable model?

An urban base that is more strategic than ever

At a time when the world of work is constantly changing, office property is no longer seen in silos. It is part of a wider ecosystem, in which mobility, mixed use and local services play a decisive role. The flexibility and service intensity of the offices we operate mean that they fit naturally into this urban dynamic. They reinforce the porosity between professional and personal life, between the workplace and the home.

Towards a standardised service experience?

In the future, the challenge will no longer be simply to know where you work, but how you live that experience. In this context, the ability to offer a consistent, high-quality and personalised service experience will become a key differentiating factor. The offices we operate could well be the most successful illustration of this: a replicable, adaptable model, in line with the expectations of new generations and the imperatives of changing businesses.

A model built to last

What Covivio is designing with its operated offices is a new way of working: more human, more agile, more sustainable. A response to the challenges of our time, but also a lever for commitment, creativity and pride for employees. Because more than a property product, the office becomes a symbol of collective success, a vector of meaning and connection.

Would you like to see how these new offices come to life? From Wellio to So Pop, via Urban Garden and L’Atelier, Covivio is giving shape to the office experience in all its diversity. Discover a new way of thinking about office property through our projects.