What Is the Office of the Future? A look at the next wave of open workspaces, where transparency, collaboration and sustainability are coming together to create environments that drive innovation.

For GolinHarris' Chicago headquarters, TPG Architecture designed a series of huddle spaces that allow for group interaction and private discussion -- in plain sight. Evoking a retro rec room, the chat space, where employeees and clients can work more unilaterally and with less formality, illustrates how office design is borrowing from the hospitality industry.

Photo© Nathan Kirkman

Once upon a time, a person asked to envision the workspace of the future might have detailed the trappings of a space-age utopia: robots, flying pods and out-of-this-world architecture. But ask today's architects about tomorrow's office, and the conversation is more likely to include touchpoints such as communication, collaboration and integration.

Instead of being out of this world, the next wave of offices is down to earth--and, to a greater extent, designed around employees' needs and specific company cultures.