The third space (or place), is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of the home and the workplace.  In his influential book, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third spaces are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

In an office, the third space can be defined as the place between the workstations or offices and formal meeting rooms.  The third space is used for more casual work or meetings.  The environment is more collaborative and less formal.  Furniture resembles a hotel lobby or cafe.  Expanded kitchens and break rooms can serve as the third space in the office environment.

Gen Y grew up studying in coffee shops and cafes instead of at libraries or desks.  As a result, some Gen Y prefer to work in more informal settings that resemble coffee shops.  They also prefer to collaborate on couches rather than around a formal meeting table.  Gen Y grew up not tethered to the personal computer, Gen Y grew up not tethered to the personal desktop computer.  They can now work away from their desks using laptops.  They can exercise their freedom even more by using their tablets and smartphones as well.  The third space allows for a change of pace and a change of scenery.

In this 8,100 square foot office suite renovation at 2644 30th Street in Santa Monica, adjacent to the Santa Monica Business Park, PMI has configured the spec suite with the third space in mind.

2644 30th Street Suite 101: Features include a blow out kitchen, causal areas, and outdoor space.  These all create opportunities for  “Third Spaces.”

The most common “third space” is the kitchen area.  Because of this, PMI aims to build large and inviting kitchen break areas that resemble cafes.  PMI integrates an adjacent area with similar flooring and lighting that can expand that kitchen into a casual work area, or another third space.  Tech companies tend to put these third spaces in the most desirable part of the office space.

In this case, the area near the outdoor patio would make an excellent additional casual work area.  With the great weather in Los Angeles, outdoor spaces also make great third space.  In a survey of ten creative office brokers in Los Angeles, 80% of them felt that outdoor space, if available, should be pre-built into the infrastructure of the space.  Growing companies also use third spaces as potential areas to temporarily expand formal work areas as the company scales.

Here are some examples of third spaces that PMI features in their suites:

PMI’s kitchen and break area for Ustream in San Francisco.

Ustream’s kitchen at 410 Townsend, San Francisco.

Ustream’s kitchen and break area overflows into an adjacent area to form a third space.

Ustream’s informal space next to the kitchen provides an excellent informal eating area.

Ustream’s couches next to the kitchen are used as a casual work area.

PMI’s casual work area for Yammer at 410 Townsend in SoMa.

Rows of couches facing each other with side coffee tables form a more casual work area in Yammer’s suite in San Francisco.

PMI’s third space work area at 4223 Glencoe in Marina Del Rey was created under a glass roll-up door, adjacent to the former loading dock.

Another PMI blow out kitchen at 3525 Eastham in Culver City.

The private outdoor deck at PMI’s 10951 Pico building serves as another third space.

Outdoor decks and patio areas are great for third spaces.

The area adjacent to a glass roll-up door makes an excellent area for a casual meeting area at 4223 Glencoe in Marina Del Rey.

This casual area is apart of an expanded kitchen, which increases the third space even more.

Designers are getting inventive in their creations of third space areas (410 Townsend, San Francisco).

Additional third space at 410 Townsend in San Francisco.

An informal meeting area as third space at 410 Townsend, San Francisco.

This is actually Peet’s Coffee in Los Angeles. It’s getting hard to tell the difference between cafes and third spaces in offices (with the exception of the piles of coffee).

To read more about third spaces, click here.