What are Touchdown Areas?

Touchdown Areas and Spaces

Touchdown areas (or touchdown spaces) are agile, flexible and informal multi-purpose office spaces designed for short burst tasks, typically no longer than hour or two at a time. They’re great for team chats, one to ones, or even visiting clients. It’s a space for employees and visitors who need to get a bit of work done between meetings, or as they arrive at the office.

Touch down spaces tend to be found at the entrances to offices, near meeting rooms or by baristas. It’s a quick place to grab a coffee, plug in your laptop and run through your emails, or finish off the odd task or two. Unlike hot-desking, which often involves reservations of desk space and longer usage, touchdown spaces offer a quick and convenient ‘plug and play’ setup. They are also different to breakout spaces in that they are essentially task-based.

Touchdown spaces come in various forms, from open lounge areas and standing desks to private booths and collaborative zones. They’re designed for comfort and accessibility, with ergonomic furniture, modular workstations, and quiet zones for confidential work. They are typically equipped with power outlets, WIFI, and charging stations, allowing staff and guests to complete tasks like checking emails, making calls, or quick collaborative sessions.

What are the Benefits of Incorporating Touchdown Areas?

Incorporating touchdown areas into your office design can bring numerous advantages, significantly transforming the work environment. Three key benefits of touchdown spaces are their ability to boost productivity, promote collaboration, and provide cost-effective solutions for workspace management.

Boosts Productivity

With around 83% of UK companies adopting some form of hybrid working, touchdown spaces have become essential to a productive workforce on the move. Touchdown spaces significantly enhance employee efficiency by providing a variety of environments tailored to different tasks and working styles. These versatile spaces allow employees to choose settings that best suit their immediate needs, whether it’s a quiet corner for focused work or a collaborative area for brainstorming sessions. By offering such flexibility, businesses can reduce distractions and improve overall workflow.

Promotes Collaboration

Touchdown areas are designed to encourage teamwork and spontaneous interactions, which are essential for innovation and problem-solving. These areas often include collaborative hubs, comfortable seating arrangements, and open-plan layouts that make it easy for employees to engage with each other informally.
Examples of successful collaborative touchdown spaces can be seen in companies like Google and Facebook, where open and inviting touchdown areas have become integral to their office designs. These spaces not only facilitate impromptu meetings and brainstorming sessions but also help build a stronger sense of community and teamwork among employees.

Cost-Effective

Incorporating touchdown areas can also lead to significant financial benefits. Flexible workstations reduce the need for permanent office spaces, allowing companies to optimise their real estate usage and potentially downsize their office footprint. This flexibility can result in considerable cost savings on rent, utilities, and office maintenance.

Touchdown workstations just make sense in today’s rapidly evolving work economy. More people are less concerned with slaving away chained to a desk all day and more concerned with designing a work-life balance that suits their needs and personalities. When companies recognise this and adapt their staff workspaces and look to office reconfiguration to meet these needs, the result is a happy team and a positive company culture.