Gensler’s Ray Yuen:โฃ Modern Officesโค Must Prioritize “Experiences” to Lure Employees Back
MACAU, december 5, 2025 โฃ- As companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, and Goldman โคSachs enforce full return-to-office mandates, and firms like Instagramโ cite “cooperation” andโ “creativity” as reasons for doing so, workplace design is undergoing a radical shift. According โto Ray Yuen, Office โคManaging Director at architectural firmโฃ Gensler, the future of the officeโ isn’t about work – it’s about designing compelling experiences to entice employees to return.
Speaking at the Fortuneโ Brainstorm Design forum in Macau on December 2, Yuen explained thatโข Gensler is moving beyond traditional workplace design. “We’re no longer just designing workplaces, we’re actually designing experiences,” he said. “You’ve really got to make the campus or the workplace more than work, and that’s the fun part of it.”
This shift is drivenโ by โคemployee โpreferences. Aโ 2025 Gensler survey revealed that when asked about desirable workplace features, employees overwhelmingly prioritized amenities like food and wellnessโ optionsโ – neglecting to mention work-related aspects at all. “They didn’t even mention anything about work-everybody just picked the stuff that we really want โas human beings,” Yuen added.
Genslerโข has already begun implementing this ideology in projects like a recentโ office redesign โฃin Tokyo for a โcompany with aโ 50% remote workforce. The space now boasts โข15 โdifferent food offerings, including anโ attempt to secure a Blue Bottle coffee shop, and a hidden vinylโฃ bar.
Yuenโข also highlighted the growing demand for transformable workspaces, leading designers to favor modular, removableโค furniture over built-in โขstructures. “[This way,] you canโ transformโ a space whenโข you need to, fromโ anโ F&B [space] forโค the staff, โฃto an eventsโค space or a happy hour โฃspace forโ yoru clients.”
The trend extends beyond the office,โ with Yuen notingโ the evolution of airports from simple transit hubs to destinations offering work and relaxation spaces, incorporating more natural light and indoor-outdoor areas.
Yuen acknowledged the โimpact of artificialโ intelligenceโฃ on the โขdesignโ process. Clients are increasingly questioning design timelines in light of โคAI image generatorsโ like Google’s Nano Banana Pro, demanding faster turnaround times. Designers are adapting โby โleveraging AI as โคa tool for rapid visualization, focusing on curation and selection. “With AI, we’re now almost like a creator [of] all these art pieces, and we try to select what is suitable-that’s the only way weโ can manage that need from clients on speed and time,” he said.
