“The office will be much more pay-as-you-go”

I magine a tech incubator workspace buzzing with start-ups, and you’re probably picturing a room full of hoodie-wearing men.

 

“We’re just starting to realise how we’ve designed our world in accordance with the typical person, who tends to be a middle-aged white man,” says Claire Cockerton, the founder and creator of prominent tech hub and accelerator workspaces including Canary Wharf’s Level39, ENTIQ and the Olympic Park’s Plexal.

 

“There’s a massive data gap in knowing what women’s preferences are for working, socialising and presenting,” says Cockerton, a prominent member of Women in Tech and Women Shift Digital, and one of the 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech.

 

Yet considering how to attract and retain women tech-founders could dramatically change the way we design, service and locate future offices.

 

“We need to think about childcare and breastfeeding. Women also tend to have slightly different working patterns than men. And we need to design programmes and support services specifically for female founders, because women face so many hurdles along the investment journey.”

 

That means thinking about journeys to and from a workspace, too. “We have to consider not just our physical spaces but also people getting here. Do they feel safe during that process? And if something occurs, how do we address it? How do we report it?”

 

To ensure women felt safe at Plexal in its quiet East London parkland location, Cockerton – founder and launch CEO of Plexal – says they became ’custodians’ of the nightly walk. “In the winter months in London at Plexal, we had people standing along the transport journey from the overground and the tube station. We were the custodians of that journey.”

 

 

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But while it’s important to “surface these issues and address them,” as Cockerton says, she also stresses that the real-estate industry needs to take more responsibility: “We need to take a stand on matters.”

 

“If we’re running a space, we need to make sure it’s a safe space. We call out sexual harassment. We make sure it’s clear that our space is safe and inclusive.”

 

“If we own that building, why shouldn’t we take some responsibility? Maybe we should put up signs that say, ‘Please be respectful’ or ‘We don’t appreciate cat calling or any kind of negative comments.”

 

“In the real estate industry, we tend to be more passive and maybe we need to start signalling socially what kind of behaviours we expect in our spaces.”

 

“If we’re running a space, we need to make sure it’s a safe space. We call out sexual harassment. We make sure it’s clear that our space is safe and inclusive”