Flexible workspace provider announces plans for first office space in the metaverse

As the lines between reality and the metaverse continue to blur, UK and Europe flexible workspace operator Clockwise announces its plans to launch the first office space in the metaverse, the Clockwise Campus, “catapulting the office industry into the new age”.

Flexible workspaces have continually accelerated in popularity and working patterns continue to change, especially with the rapid speed with which technology is advancing the way we connect. However, while remote working allows freedom to work from anywhere in the world, it also creates issues of “loneliness and lack of community”.

Clockwise, operator of 15 physical flexible workspaces across the UK and Europe, has been exploring this issue to further promote authentic interaction and collaboration in a business sense. It has identified the value of digital connection and has now set its sights on the metaverse.

Due to launch in Autumn 2023, the Clockwise Campus will be inspired by Clockwise’s physical offices and provide a digital platform for its members and the public to connect, collaborate and interact in various spaces including; dedicated meeting rooms, desk spaces, breakout spaces, call zones and a contemplation space.

There will also be an amphitheatre events space which will be home to a schedule of large scale events from talks and presentations to more intimate panel discussions and fireside chats from industry pioneers and inspirational figures. Without the confinements of physical space the Clockwise Campus seeks to be a “utopian version” of its traditional offering.

Based on designs by architecture and design studio MoreySmith, it will incorporate everything that Clockwise is well known and loved for; “stimulating design, varied spaces and a strong focus on wellbeing to enhance productivity”; but visually the metaverse will be infinite, with a “collision of abstraction, symbolism and versions of hyperrealism”.

MoreySmith has identified spaces for work, socialising, interactions, and retreat whilst approaching the concept with a degree of gaming in mind. The studio has previously collaborated with Clockwise on the award-winning Generator Building in Bristol, as well as Linley House in Manchester.

Alexandra Livesey, COO of Clockwise, said: “Operationally it will work much like our physical Clockwise offices, but on a larger scale. It will be a place where the usual restrictions around sq ft and limitations of physical buildings don’t apply, where practical considerations such as weather and maintenance are unnecessary, a sort of Clockwise utopia.”

Linda Morey-Burrows, principal director and founder of MoreySmith, added: “This blend of the MoreySmith design approach with nods to the gaming industry, brings life and dimension to Clockwise Campus, and we look forward to seeing Clockwise avatars from across the world coming together in this virtual space.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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