We often ask ourselves what the future workplace should look like: flexible, digital, sustainable, but what if we are still not asking the right question? What if the real challenge is not designing for the next generation, but designing for a lifespan that could stretch beyond 100 years?
In conversation with Kay Sargent, Director of Thought Leadership, Interiors at HOK, the focus shifts. Away from generational labels, towards longevity, adaptability and human diversity over time.
Stop Focusing Just on Generations
Start Designing for Life Stages
The workplace conversation tends to orbit around Gen Zs. Their expectations, their behaviours, and their influence.
Kay Sargent challenges that focus:
“I think we are giving too much attention to emerging generations. Not that they don’t have an impact, they absolutely do. But we are ignoring the fact that we have four or five generations in the workplace at any given time.”
Designing for one moment in time is short sighted. Workplaces today must support people at 25, 45 and 75, all at once.
Life Stages Shape Behaviour More Than Age
Generations are easy labels. Life stages are harder to design for, but far more relevant. “Life stages have far more impact than generation,” Sargent explains. “Every generation was rebellious in its twenties. As people age, their priorities shift.”
The implication is clear. A workplace designed around youth quickly becomes obsolete. A workplace designed around diversity and change remains relevant. This is where inclusive design principles come into play: not as compliance but as a strategy.
Designing for a wide range of physical, cognitive and sensory needs from the start creates spaces that evolve with people, not against them.
The Rise of a 60-Year Career
If people live longer, they will likely have to work longer: up to 50 or 60 years, unless something fundamentally changes. “You cannot work 60 or 70 years the way we traditionally have and sustain that,” says Sargent.
This demands a different workplace model: shorter work weeks, built-in sabbaticals, leveraging AI to change work expectations, or even some form of universal income. But regardless, we also need to create a more supportive way of working. One that supports:
- sensory processing and cognitive well-being
- movement instead of static sitting
- focus and recovery, not constant output
- learning and reskilling across decades
Stress and burnout aren't just a well-being issue; it's a design failure and a costly one.
Designing for Cognitive and Physical Longevity
We were never meant to sit still all day. Yet most offices are built around exactly that. “We are not designing for the reality that people will work longer,” Sargent notes. “We are not thinking about ageing eyes, cognitive overload or physical restraints that may come later in life. We are facing a new reality, that the young will likely live to be the very old, and that will change how we design environments.”
This is where inclusive design shifts from a niche concept to a necessity.
Inclusive design is not about accessibility alone. It's about creating environments that work for as many people as possible, across ages, abilities and life stages. Without the need for constant adaptation.
Think beyond compliance:
- varied lighting for visual comfort across age groups
- acoustic control for focus, reduced stress and reduced fatigue
- material choices that support comfort
- ergonomic settings and spaces that support movement
- spaces that adapt to people, not the other way around
This is where flooring plays a quiet but critical role. It shapes acoustics, guides movement and influences how a space feels over time. Carpet tiles, broadloom, and area rugs each bring different layers of comfort, flexibility and performance into the workplace. Underfoot comfort, acoustic performance and spatial zoning are not surface decisions; they shape long-term wellbeing.
Designing this way does not limit creativity, it extends the lifespan of a space. Because when a workplace works for more people, it performs better over time.
Designing For Systems Under Pressure
AI, Automation and the Missing Middle
Technology is accelerating change, entry-level roles are disappearing, career paths are becoming less linear. “Entry-level are being automated and we are orchestrating the activities of AI bots,” Sargent warns. “But you do not become mid-level or senior if you never enter the system, and it’s hard to oversee something you have little experience doing yourself.”
Workplaces must now support learning as much as working. Mentorship, collaboration and knowledge transfer need space to happen, and design can either enable that or block it.
From Sustainability to Regeneration
Sustainability is no longer enough: “We shouldn't talking about sustainability; that ship has sailed. We need to be talking about regeneration," says Kay Sargent.
Regenerative design considers long term impact on people, materials, and the environment. It asks a harder question. Not how we reduce harm, but how we repair the damage and restore what was lost over time.
A New Brief for the Future Workplace
Conclusion: designing for future generations is not about age, it's about duration.
It means creating spaces that:
- adapt across life stages
- support sensory, cognitive and physical diversity
- evolve with technology but leverage it intelligently
- contribute positively to the environment
It means thinking in decades, not trends.
Continuing the Conversation
These insights were explored during a recent modulyss Talks session with Kay Sargent. Her perspective challenges a common assumption in workplace design: that the future belongs to the young. Instead, it belongs to everyone who will move through it. So here’s the real question. Are the spaces we design today ready to support a 100 year life and the changes that will occur in it?
Get a feel for our carpets
Get news and insights
Recent blog items
From Waste to Resource: Why Full-Cycle Design Needs More than Good Intentions
modulyss achieves Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold under Version 4.0
From Grid to Flow: Designing Beyond Straight Lines
