First office to open in the metaverse claims to be a ‘utopia’ free from the limitations of physical space where people will work and have meetings using their personalised avatars

•  UK workspace operator Clockwise is set to open its metaverse office in Autumn
• READ MORE: The results are in! Four-day working week really DOES work, major six-month trial across 61 UK companies reveals

A workspace operator is set to open the first office space in the metaverse, which it says will ‘catapult the office industry into the new age’ and offer a ‘utopian’ alternative to its traditional offering.

Clockwise, which owns 15 flexible workspaces across the UK, says its Clockwise Campus comes as the ‘lines between reality and the metaverse continue to blur’.

According to the organisation, remote working can create loneliness and lack of community, although it offers the benefit of being able to work from anywhere.

To tackle this, Clockwise says it has been ‘exploring this issue to further promote authentic interaction and collaboration in a business sense’.

As a result, it says, it has identified ‘the value of digital connection’ – and has now set its sights on the metaverse.

This original sketch and concept shows the Clockwise Campus which is set to open this Autumn

The Clockwise Campus, which is set to launch in Autumn this year, will provide a digital platform for members and the public to ‘connect, collaborate and interact in various spaces’.

Inspired by its physical offices, the digital spaces will dedicated meeting rooms, desk spaces, breakout spaces, call zones and a contemplation space. 

In addition, events including talks and panel discussions ‘from industry pioneers and inspirational figures’ will be held in a specially designed amphitheatre events space.

It pledges to incorporate ‘everything that Clockwise is well known and loved for’, listing ‘stimulating design, varied spaces and a strong focus on wellbeing to enhance productivity’.

However, the organisation says: ‘Visually the metaverse will be infinite, with a collision of abstraction, symbolism and versions of hyperrealism.’  

While Clockwise says the space will work much like its physical Clockwise offices operationally, it will be a ‘place where the usual restrictions around sqft and limitations of physical buildings don’t apply, where practical considerations such as weather and maintenance are unnecessary – a sort of Clockwise utopia’.

The campus will incorporate elements from Clockwise’s real-life spaces, for example, an infinite moat nods to Clockwise Bristol which overlooks the canal, as working alongside water is known to have a calming effect and reduce stress.

Workers will enter the Clockwise Campus as a personally-designed avatar and ‘connect with people from different working worlds in a way that has not been done before’. 

The space will be accessed via a web browser, so users can attend meetings, events, or engage socially with others.

According to Clockwise COO Alexandra Livesey: ‘We are very excited to unveil our plans to launch our Clockwise Campus, the first ever workspace in the metaverse. 

‘Available to our members as an additional space for them to utilise, the Clockwise Campus will also be accessible by the wider public. 

‘By design this will facilitate further business connections and entrepreneurial collaboration – in a whole new digital dimension.’

She added that the space will also be used to host events which will focus on ‘leadership, innovation and wellness’. 

Clockwise collaborated with architecture and design studio MoreySmith on the space. 

Its Principal Director and Founder, Linda Morey-Burrows, described its ongoing collaboration with Clockwise to work on ‘such a unique and future-gazing project’ as ‘incredibly exciting’.

She added: ‘We were particularly inspired by the opportunity to add human elements into the meta world, by incorporating designated spaces for social interactions…we look forward to seeing Clockwise avatars from across the world coming together in this virtual space.’

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