WorkLounge is progressively transforming its own building at Pankrác into the flagship of its portfolio and a model for a more adaptable workplace. Kristýna Truksová, chief of strategy and property, explains why the future office is not defined by fashionable furniture or isolated amenities, but by its ability to serve people and evolve with changing businesses, teams and ways of working.
Taking on the market
Currently, WorkLounge occupies five out of eight stories of its office building right next to the Arkady shopping center, but ambitions reach higher, says Truksová: “At Pankrác, we have the opportunity to think beyond an individual office fit-out. We are transforming the entire property into a flagship workplace designed to evolve with its clients and the changing world of work.”
As somebody with a long track record of managing serviced offices, Truksová is a good fit to shepherd this expansion; before joining WorkLounge, she worked across a portfolio of five WeWork buildings in Prague and Munich.
The move to WorkLounge offered Truksová something different: greater decision-making authority and the opportunity to translate her experience directly into the workplace product. “I valued the scale, structure and experience I gained at WeWork. The reason I moved was the opportunity to have genuine decision rights and make a visible impact,” she says.
She continues: “At WorkLounge, I can turn my experience, product knowledge, vision, and direct client feedback into decisions that materially change how the building works and how people use it.”
Future proof
One of Truksová’s current priorities is shaping the long-term transformation of Pankrác, with a five-to-ten-year horizon in mind. The WorkLounge plan is to redo all the spaces with an eye toward growth and longevity. “The long-term lock-ins for ten years, it’s no more the game,” she says (something also noted by Milan Kilik).
Truksová sees the building as human infrastructure: an environment that serves people, teams and businesses and which can respond as their needs change. “ You need to think about not just the square meters and the Excel sheet and the lease and the building, but you need to look at it as the building serving the human; that’s where I bring the value,” she says.
“Future-proof design is not about predicting which colour will still be fashionable in ten years. It is about creating a timeless foundation, selecting materials according to function, and allowing the environment to evolve without rebuilding everything from scratch.”
Culture matters
For Truksová, the challenge is not simply to make offices more attractive or add more amenities. Workplace culture is created through leadership, behaviours, relationships and shared experiences. The physical environment cannot create culture on its own, but it can either support or obstruct it.
“A well-designed workplace makes it easier for people to focus, collaborate, exchange knowledge, hold confidential conversations, build relationships, and feel connected to their team,” says Truksová. “The office therefore has to provide a clear reason to come in rather than relying only on return-to-office mandates.”
She continues: “The office has to earn the commute. A future-proof workplace is not defined by trends or amenities, but by its ability to support different types of work and adapt as companies, teams and ways of working change.”
Building for the future
While physical space cannot create workplace culture on its own, it can be designed to better support how people focus, collaborate and connect. WorkLounge has opted for a few interesting approaches you don’t see much in other shared offices. For one, there’s a mix of open hot desks and the main business, the closed offices.
On top of that, there’s a variety of smaller and larger offices to keep the population diverse; some companies like to spread departments around to keep things diverse. This way, staff mingles, and there’s always new people to talk to.
On top of that, selected offices are being designed so they can be partially connected, divided, or reconfigured as a client’s team and capacity requirements change. The aim is to allow the workplace to evolve with the business and reduce the need for disruptive relocations or complete new fit-outs.
Lofty ideals
Another important part of the flagship transformation is Pankrác Loft. It’s being developed as a premium corporate work-club concept and an additional work, social and service layer for the building where WorkLounge members and corporate teams based in the building can engage in informal work, have client conversations, or other social activities.
The Loft is being modelled as a real product and business case, says Truksová, “the Loft is not just a lounge or design feature. We are developing it as part of the building’s workplace ecosystem, with a clear purpose, target users, operating model and business case.”
Looking ahead
All this makes Truksová confident for the future. As WorkLounge progressively transforms more of the building into its flagship workplace she seems excited for the future. As plans take shape, it’s clear that these offices plan to remain a fixture at Pankrác.
