When the first Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in the UK just over a year ago, voices rang out calling for the "death of the office", with people vowing that they would never return to their old routines.
For a property group as large as Manchester-headquartered Bruntwood, those predictions could lead to a tricky future if they were ever to come to pass.
However, the team at Bruntwood Works, which creates, owns and manages "inspiring workspace environments" across the North and Midlands, got to work to find out what their customers want their offices to look like once people start returning en masse.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessLive, Bruntwood Works' strategic director Andrew Cooke has outlined how the company is tackling increased competition after the rise in popularity of working from home and how office spaces will evolve in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sleep pods popularised by tech giants Google, Facebook and Samsung, live music and yoga could become a more sight common across Bruntwood's office space in Manchester, according to Mr Cooke, as part of the group's bid to encourage office workers away from working from home full time.
"Over the past year we have been doing a bit of horizon gazing, trying to work out what customers will want their office spaces to look like once the pandemic is over.
"We have never been as engaged with our customers as we have been over the last year and I think that has enabled us to come up with some really great ways to encourage people back into the office.
"Working flexibly is here to stay for sure and that hybrid approach is at the heart of our strategy.
"We know there are benefits from working from home but there is lots about the office that you just can't replicate.
"Customers are looking at space in a very different way than before and we have had to adapt to what they want.
"This process started to happen slowly before the pandemic but Covid has accelerated the change.
"People don't just want a binary office space anymore, they want so much more than just having a desk."
However, Mr Cooke, who has been in his position since September after serving as director of Manchester from January 2018, added that getting people back into the office might take some time.
"There will be a big hangover to how people fell about being in a public building again, that's for sure.
"It's completely understandable that people will be feeling anxious about that so it might be a while until offices are back up to full capacity every day of the week.
"However, that will come at some point but offices will look and feel different than before.
"Working from home is a big competitor now and we have had to step up our game as an industry to take that challenge head on.
"As a result of the pandemic, our personal and professional lives have been interfaced and customers don't want to lose that entirely so we have had to think about ways to bring home comforts into our office spaces.
"This hybrid approach focuses on the social aspect of work that you can't get in the same way at home.
"Facilities such as sleep pods, gyms and yoga rooms will become more desirable, a way for employers to look after their staff's mental and physical health."
Through the group's Pioneer project, spaces are being redesigned according to six guiding principles: amenity, technology, wellbeing, sustainability, biophilia and art.
Currently used at Bruntwood's Blackfriar's House, 111 Piccadilly and Bloc, expansion is on the cards for Bruntwood over the next 12 months.
Mr Cooke added: "The death of the office has been exaggerated.
"We want to create space that people want to be in, they want to have that incredible customer experience and they want the space to be innovative. Almost a home from home.
"During the first lockdown people were on their soap boxes calling for the end of the office. I thought they were very premature in those calls.
"We are having active discussions on buying new buildings and submitting new planning applications in our cities with will hopefully lead to the transformation of Manchester's offices continuing."
The group as a whole, which also includes Bruntwood SciTech, reported at the end of January, a "strong and resilient" 2020 as its many projects continued to progress despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bruntwood recorded a growth in its operating profits to £40.1m in the year to September 30, up from 2019's £38.9m, while bolstering its cash reserves to £26.3m from £17.1m, with undrawn facilities of £50m.
Turnover declined year on year to £135m from £160.1m, which the group said reflected the "one-off nature" of the 'develop to sell' car park and hotel at Circle Square in 2019 - and fewer external consulting and contracting works taking place due to the pandemic.
The accounting loss, together with similar revaluation movements in its joint ventures and stepping up its move to safeguard the business from future economic disruption led the group to post a pre-tax loss of £18.9m, compared to 2019's pre-tax profit of £51.8m.
