Local studio ROAR Architects has extended a Victorian house in southeast London with grass-topped and oak-framed living spaces that overlook a large garden.Named Newton Park Place, the home occupies a Grade II-listed former gardener's cottage, located in the Chislehurst Conservation Area in Bromley.ROAR Architects has extended a Victorian home in southeast LondonWhile alternations made to the home in 2007 were designed to be in keeping with its traditional Victorian architecture, ROAR Architects was tasked with creating a "purposefully different" extension that would reconnect it with its garden.This was made apparent both in its material palette of oak and glass and also its layout, which eschews the typical open-plan design of extensions in favour of two separate rooms for the kitchen diner and living area.The extension is split into two separate rooms"We designed the new extension to be purposefully different from the Grade II-listed gardeners cottage, as supported by Bromley's conservation officer, and the dining area was set back to respect original footprint and historic plan form," ROAR Architects director Craig Rosenblatt told Dezeen."Rather than the typical 'super room' open-plan layout, our client asked for separate spaces," he continued. "The ground floor is designed as four separate spaces all connected by timber doors. Each room feels appropriate to the scale of the old gardener's cottage."A glazed bi-fold window in the living room opens out to the patioCreating two new axes from the existing snug and study at the front of Newton Park Place, each of the new rooms is designed to have a subtly different relationship to the garden, which was designed by landscape architect Lilly Gomm.In the living area, a four-metre-wide glazed bi-fold window above a built-in bench allows the space to open out to the external patio.Read: Studio on the Rye encases Rusty House in London with "seamless" Corten steelThe kitchen also features full-height glazing, while the adjacent "dining nook" is more intimate, with a single large window and a skylight between wooden beams above.These spaces are all framed by the oak structure, made in collaboration with joiner Tim Gaudin, which extends outwards to become a small pergola alongside the living space.A dining nook features a skylight within wooden beamsCrowning the extension is a green roof that has been planted with wildflowers to appear as an extension of the garden when viewed from the main bedroom above.The exposed oak structure and large window frames are the main features on the interiors, which have been kept otherwise minimal to "ensure warm oak and garden became the focal points", according to Rosenblatt.A green roof planted with wildflowers sits on top of the extension"Oak and a green roof was selected from the first concept design images for its sustainable qualities and to purposefully contrast with the existing red brickwork and tiles," he explained.Alongside the kitchen island, a spiral staircase leads down to a small naturally ventilated wine cellar.London-based ROAR Architects was founded by Rosenblatt and Shaun O'Brien in 2017. Previous projects by the studio include the conversion of an end-of-terrace in Kentish Town into two colourful duplexes.The photography is by Chris Wharton.The post ROAR Architects adds oak-framed extension to heritage-listed London home appeared first on Dezeen.

White Arkitekter's Sara Kulturhus in Sweden is next in our21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings series, after bringing one of the world's tallest timber buildings to the small subarctic city of Skellefte.The Sara Kulturhus Centre marked a step-change in the ambition of timber construction, demonstrating that the timber revolution kickstarted a decade earlier by a previous building in this series, Waugh Thistlteton's Murray Grove in 2009, showed no signs of abating.Sara Kulturhus was the most significant building of 2021While the appearance of a timber behemoth in Skellefte a city with a strong green agenda and a rich heritage of timber construction was a less incongruous spectacle than in London, it nonetheless marked a dramatic step-up in scale."One of the biggest challenges of the project was convincing people to build something that hadn't been built before," said the project's lead architects, Robert Schmitz and Oskar Norelius.Among those who needed convincing were Skellefte's municipal leader, Lorents Burman, despite the city already being home to numerous larger wooden structures, including bridges and schools."When I saw the competition proposal, I didn't think it would be possible to build," he told the Guardian. "Twenty floors high in wood? In Skellefte?"The building includes a 20-storey hotelIt was White Arkitekter's ambition to bring Skellefte's history of timber construction into the 21st century that convinced the judges of a 2016 competition.A cluster of blocks organised around a 20-storey hotel, the Sara Kulturhus contains a hotel, theatre, gallery, library and museum, making it a true landmark destination for the city both in its scale and variety of uses.Read: Waugh Thistleton Architects' Murray Grove was the most significant building of 2009The centre's timber structure was a crucial part of this landmark status which, while more expensive than the alternative of concrete, was intended as a celebration of the region's heritage."This was a city centre with a timber heritage lost to concrete over the last century," Schmitz told RIBA Journal. "We are returning timber to it, at a new and grander scale."The building was constructed from CLT and glulamSuch a diverse programme required a variety of construction methods, which "unleashed a world of previously unimagined design possibilities", according to project architect Maria Orvesten, who spoke to Dezeen as part of our Timber Revolution series.Working with structural engineers Florian Kosche, two construction methods were developed that minimised the use of concrete and steel in the structure, both of them based on the use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glue laminated timber (glulam).As the only truly sustainable building material with benefits in speed, health and wellness beyond the carbon saving the future is woodOliver Wainwright in the GuardianGlulam, made from layers of wood bonded with the grain running in the same direction, was far more suited to achieving the large spans required by the cultural centre's spaces, and therefore used to create columns and beams for the lower levels.CLT, on the other hand, where layers are built up at right angles, is better placed for the creation of walls and floor slabs, with the hotel structure above being created from prefabricated modules organised around two CLT lift cores.Timber is visible throughout the interiorsIn addition to meeting different structural requirements, timber was also utilised to meet acoustic requirements, such as in the concert hall where small, angled panels line the walls."One of the most interesting solutions in Sara Kulturhus Centre was the hybrid solutions based on material optimisation," said Orvested."We used the right material in the right place, based on the qualities of the material."Wood was used for acoustic panels in the theatreThe structure did still require some hybrid elements, such as steel trusses used beneath the hotel tower in order to transfer its weight while allowing the lower spaces to remain column-free.Concrete, too, makes an appearance, not only in the underground levels but around the technical plant to dampen noise and on the uppermost floors of the tower to reduce the impact of wind.Despite these concessions, the structure is estimated to store twice as much carbon dioxide as is believed to have been emitted during construction, which, according to White Arkitekter, is enough to make the building carbon negative over its lifetime.The timber was sourced entirely from forests within a 60-kilometre radius of Skellefte, with prefabricated elements produced in Vsterbotten and Renholmen in Sweden.Timber was exposed externally and internallyWhile some earlier examples of mass-timber buildings opted to conceal their timber structure, Sara Kulturhus revels in it, leaving it exposed and treated with a fire retardant throughout.This approach extends to the centre's fittings, most notably in an oversized timber staircase in the foyer, which acts as both circulation and a stage for impromptu events, sitting beneath the exposed steelwork of the trusses above.Externally, large areas of glazing reveal the wooden interiors next to areas of timber cladding, while the hotel tower is wrapped entirely in a double-skin glazed facade that reveals the timber structure within."With all these exposed timber walls, ceilings and floors, the place feels like a gigantic sauna with the aroma to match," wrote Oliver Wainwright in the Guardian.Read: Anna Heringer's Anandaloy was the most significant building of 2020Like the rest of the city it inhabits, the centre runs on 100 per cent renewable energy, provided by a geothermal heat pump and solar panels and connected to a network that uses artificial intelligence to predict heating needs.Given Skellefte's status as a city with such a reputation for climate-consciousness, some may argue that the presence of Sara Kulturhus is not necessarily indicative of a wider movement.But for others, the centre was proof that timber construction was not only here to stay, but had firmly cemented its place as the building material of the future."There remain plenty of barriers in the way: the lobbying power of concrete manufacturers, an insurance industry averse to innovation, retrograde building regulations and a construction culture reluctant to change," wrote Wainwright."But as the only truly sustainable building material with benefits in speed, health and wellness beyond the carbon saving the future is wood."Did we get it right? Was Sara Kulturhus by White Arkitekter the most significant building completed in 2021? Let us know in the comments. We will be running a poll once all 25 buildings are revealed to determine the most significant building of the 21st century so far.This article is part of Dezeen's21st-Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildingsseries, which looks at the most significant architecture of the 21st century so far. For the series, we have selected the most influential building from each of the first 25 years of the century.The illustration is byJack Bedford and the photography is by Patrick Degerman.21st Century Architecture: 25 Years 25 Buildings2000:Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron2001:Gando Primary School by Dibdo Francis Kr2002:Bergisel Ski Jump by Zaha Hadid2003:Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry2004:Quinta Monroy by Elemental2005:Moriyama House by Ryue Nishizawa2006:Madrid-Barajas airport by RSHP and Estudio Lamela2007:Oslo Opera House by Snhetta2008:Museum of Islamic Art by I M Pei2009:Murray Grove by Waugh Thistleton Architects2010:Burj Khalifa by SOM2011:National September 11 Memorial byHandel Architects2012:CCTV Headquarters by OMA2013:Cardboard Cathedral by ShigeruBan2014:Bosco Verticale by Stefano Boeri2015:UTEC Lima campus by Grafton Architects2016:Transformation of 530 Dwellings by Lacaton & Vassal, Frdric Druot and Christophe Hutin2017:Apple Park by Foster + Partners2018:Amager Bakke by BIG2019:Goldsmith Street by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley2020:Anandaloy by Anna Heringer2021: Sara Kulturhus by White ArkitekterThis list will be updated as the series progresses.The post Sara Kulturhus by White Arkitekter was the most significant building of 2021 appeared first on Dezeen.

Despite laptops overtaking their towering cousins in market share, these portable computers still lack one vital trait that has kept stationary desktops still relevant today. Desktop computers are, to a very large extent, modular by design, making it easier to upgrade and replace components as needs and technologies change. Sure, some laptops have upgradable RAM and storage, but thats pretty much all there is to them given certain limitations in design.Those limitations include the design of the motherboard itself, an all-in-one all-or-nothing object that is pretty much the soul of a computer. Intel, however, is proposing a rather ground-breaking change that will help make these components more repairable and less wasteful. If followed by its partners, it wont just kick off a new age of modular laptops, it could even give Intel and AMD a huge edge over their Arm-based rivals such as Qualcomm and, of now, Apple.Designer: IntelThe difference in motherboards between desktops and laptops is like night and day. Desktops follow an industry convention that has been shaped over decades, allowing components from rival companies to be mixed and matched as the consumer desires. Laptop motherboards, on the other hand, are often designed based on brand needs and whims. More importantly, they come as a whole package, with many parts soldered onto the board, including the ones that get worn out faster than others.Intels proposed guidelines try to split the laptop motherboard into three distinct parts, two of which would hold the I/O or input out components such as USB and HDMI ports. The third would be where the core silicon is located, specifically the CPU and the GPU, among others. The modularity would allow different affected parts to be replaced if broken or, if desired, even upgraded, without throwing away the rest of the motherboard.Those guidelines also have something for mini PCs, which are like the middle child between desktops and laptops. In this matter, the CPU and motherboard are separated from the graphics card and other components, making it easier to swap out GPUs or CPUs in the future. The growing popularity of mini PCs, partially thanks to the Mac mini and Mac studio, could be the driving force behind this initiative. Ironically, Intel itself has given up on the form factor, licensing its NUC brand to ASUS.Designer: FrameworkThese guidelines might be ideal for reducing e-waste and promoting the right to repair, but it still all depends on whether other players are willing to play ball. Laptop manufacturers might be hesitant to do the work redesigning their laptops, and Intels rival AMD might not be keen to cooperate either. Its still a distant dream, but one can already have a foretaste of the future today with the Framework laptops, proving that it can indeed be done with the right design.The post Modular laptops and mini PCs might be around the corner thanks to Intel first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Yahoo Boy scammers are impersonating CNN and other news organizations to create videos that pressure victims into making blackmail payments.

MacworldWith iOS 18.3, Apple is sort of taking a breather before it continues its staged rollout of major Apple Intelligence features. That doesnt mean theres nothing there but bug fixes and security patches (though there are those, too). There are plenty of small changes that are coming to your iPhonehere are the five ways your iPhone will be different after you update to iOS 18.3.Apple Intelligence is on by defaultWhen Apple introduced Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1, you had to choose to enable it. With iOS 18.3, its turned on by default. You still need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac that supports it, of course.If you want to disable Apple Intelligence, open Settings, choose Apple Intelligence & Siri, and flip off the toggle.FoundryNotification Summaries are italicizedThe new Apple Intelligence feature that summarizes notifications has been met with mixed reviews. Sometimes it just gets things wrong, and when you cant tell its an AI summary instead of a real text from Mom, that can lead to disaster. That little tiny summary icon on the notification isnt enough.So in iOS 18.3, Apple is making it more obvious when a notification shows an AI summary. The text will be italicized, while normal notifications will have regular text.FoundryNotification Summaries are disabled for some appsEven if you recognize that the notification text is an AI summary, there are some that can be very problematic if theyre wrong. The Apple Intelligence notification summaries for some news events have been wrong at times, to the point where a person reading them would think the opposite of what happened.Of course, we all know its just a notification and just an AI-generated summary at that, and you should always go read the article before passing judgment, right? Just kidding! This is the internet, where you have to immediately post an opinion just from seeing a link to a headline somewhere.To help reduce the very obvious problems this can cause, Apple has disabled Notification Summaries from all apps in the News & Entertainment app category for now. The company plans to re-enable it in the future when the quality of the summaries is more reliable.The Calculator app gets its repeat operation function backUp until iOS 18, you could continually tap the equals sign (=) on the Calculator app and it would repeat the last operation. If you said 10 x 2 and tapped = you would get 20. Tap = again and you get 40. Tap = again and you get 80. And so on.With the new Calculator app and all its fancy features (not to mention an iPad version!) Apple seemingly forgot this popular capability.With iOS 18.3, its back!FoundryVisual Intelligence gets new powersIf you have an iPhone 16 with a Camera Control button, you can press and hold it for a couple of seconds to launch a special camera interface Apple calls Visual Intelligence. Snap a pic of something and you get all sorts of contextual information. You can get business details, details, and books or albums, ask ChatGPT about the image, search Google for similar images, and more.With the iOS 18.3 update, you get an instant display at the top of the screen to identify animals and plants, without needing to take a pic. And if you show something with an event on it, you can quickly add it to your calendar.Youll have to wait for iOS 18.4 for the new SiriI know what youre thinkingall this AI stuff, but when does Siri get good? The answer is: in the next update!Or at least, Apple has said to expect the improved Siri, with personal context and lots of app intents, in the spring timeframe which is when we expect iOS 18.4. Will these new Siri capabilities change peoples perception of Apples AI assistant, or will it remain the subject of ridicule for another year? Well know more as the next round of betas get underway.

MacworldKids ask questions all the time, and I think its important as a parent to admit when you dont know the answer. Naturally, its tempting to bluff, in order to preserve their childlike belief in your omniscience, but youre only storing up trouble for that moment when they gain access to Google and find out for themselves that the president of Cuba is not, in fact, Fray Bentos.Not everyone, however, feels the same way about admitting ignorance. Take Siri, for example, which loves to take a swing at tasks when it isnt even sure what you just said. Ask your HomePod to play a song in a slightly muffled voice and instead of saying, I didnt catch that, would you mind repeating yourself? it just plows ahead and plays something random.Ive been complaining about Siri for a few years now and as far as I can see nothing has improved in that time. The arrival of Apple Intelligence is supposed to bring a new and improved version of Siri, but of course that doesnt apply to the HomePod; and even on devices like the iPhone which do have Apple Intelligence there doesnt seem to be more accuracy, just a greater degree of misplaced confidence about the inaccuracy.Last week the blogger One Foot Tsunami decided to ask Siri, in order, who won each Super Bowla seemingly straightforward taskand received a set of answers that were hilarious and horrifyingly inaccurate. It got just 34 percent correct, and at least one of those was right for the wrong reason. (Asked about Super Bowl X, it talked at length about Super Bowl IX which happened to have the same winner.) At one point it got the answer wrong 15 times in a row, and it gave the Philadelphia Eagles 33 wins rather than the one they actually collected.I dont think its especially important for voice assistants or the AI models beneath them to be able to answer questions about sports trivia, but theres a principle at stake here that is important: they need to admit when they dont know the correct answer. In this case, there was no harm done because the matter at hand was, well, trivial. But if someone asks about, say, the lug nut torque for a 2015 Nissan Frontier, being confidently given a totally wrong answer could have damaging consequences.To admit you dont know the answer, sadly, you first have to know that you dont know the answer, and this is AIs great weakness. AI doesnt know anything in any kind of sense wed understand. It matches patterns without understanding what they signify, which means it doesnt have any way of sanity-checking a fact that a human would instantly see as nonsense. But at the same time, it would be nice if AI developers put more thought into analyzing and signaling to the user a models degree of confidence in a specific output: a rating of the quantity and quality of training data on that topic, for example, or the proportion of similar queries which have received positive feedback.What wont cut it, in my opinion, is a generalized disclaimer. Following complaints about mangled notification summaries, Apple recently agreed to tweak the way that Apple Intelligence handles that function, but the immediate changes all affect not the information itself, but the way the information is presented: theres a clearer label that the feature is a beta and may contain errors, while the summarized text appears in italics to distinguish it from a standard notification. Initially, this may help, because the changed format will stand out. But it will quickly fade into visual furniture, much like the disclaimers on Googles AI results intended to prevent lawsuits from incorrect torque information. We need a specific disclaimer that one result is shaky (this product contains nuts) rather than a blunderbuss disclaimer that all of them are (any products made by this company or its subsidiaries may contain nuts).At the moment AI is in its hype cycle, and all the players are jockeying for position in the public eye. Right now, the main thing theyre aiming for is PR, and it makes sense in that context that they would want to make exaggerated claims for their products capabilities, and dislike the idea of signaling their limitations. But Apple of all people should understand that reputations are built up slowly and lost very quickly. Its better to be honestly ignorant than confidently incorrect. And the phrase I most want to hear from Siri is Im sorry, Dave. Im afraid I cant do that.FoundryWelcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but its cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.Trending: Top storiesIf Apple Intelligence is so great, why doesnt Apple trust us to turn it on?Mahmoud Itani reminds us all about 6 forgotten Apple products getting an update this year.Team up with Apple at your own risk.Its Samsungs turn to copy Apple! Here are over a dozen ways Samsung ripped off Apple at the Galaxy S25 launch.Apples wild new Miami store takes carbon neutral to new heights.U.K. iPhone users will soon be able to store digital licenses and IDs.Podcast of the weekThe rumors are heating up for Apples next major iPhone release. In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we cover whats going on with the iPhone SE and what we could see in the next few weeks.You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast onSpotify,Soundcloud, thePodcasts app, orour own site.Reviews cornerMicrosoft Word for Mac review: Whats new in Word 2024?Microsoft Excel review: Whats new in Excel 2024?Apple Passwords review: Free and simple password manager.pCloud review: Back up your Mac to the cloud.The rumor milliPhone 17 Air leak shows off new camera bar design.New leak changes everything we know about the iPhone SE 4.Software updates, bugs, and problemsHate the new Mail app on your iPhone? Heres how to change it back.Starting this week, youll need to turn off Apple Intelligence if you dont want it.Mac users will finally get the smarter Mail app in macOS 15.4.AirPods Pro 2 update in coming weeks to expand hearing aid feature.And with that, were done for this weeks Apple Breakfast. If youd like to get regular roundups, sign up forour newsletters. You can also follow uson Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.

President Donald J. Trumps executive order to federal employees to return to the office as soon as practicable will have a variety of repercussions most of them negative, according to industry analysts and others.The return-to-office (RTO) policy issued last week signals Trumps intent to fulfill campaign promises to reform the 2.3-million-strong federal workforce, which he has criticized as inefficient and bloated. The language in Trumps order doesnt clarify whether it applies only to the estimated 10% of federal civilian workers about 228,000 as of May 2024 who work remotely full-time, according to the Office of Management and Budget.Trump may be upping the stakes, but then-President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed legislation Jan. 5 designed to bring more federal employees back to the office and increase the efficiency of office space utilization. Both men were likely taking cues from various businesses that have instituted RTO mandates in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.In 2022, Tesla and SpaceX chief executive CEO Elon Musk now a close advisor to Trump delivered an RTO ultimatum to his two companies white-collar workers: get back in the corporate office or face firing. Musks letter to executive staff at the time specified: The office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo-office. If you dont show up, we will assume you have resigned.Other corporations have followed suit more recently. In December, Amazon and AT&T ended their work-from-home policies. AT&T went so far as to tell 9,000 of its 149,000 workers to relocate to an office area or be fired.Peter Miscovich, managing director at global real estate firm JLL, said the US is entering a hybrid winter, as many CEOs impose RTO mandates that could pose talent attraction and retention challenges for leading IT organizations. Thats especially true for advanced tech leadership teams and IT departments that have built sophisticated hybrid work practices over time and invested significantly in hybrid operational technologies and related infrastructure across global organizations, he said.Perhaps the most significant risk associated with RTO mandates is the potential loss of valuable and critical IT digital talent, Miscovich said. The IT tech sector has embraced hybrid work more thoroughly than most industries, and IT professionals now view hybrid workplace flexibility as a standard expectation for the workforce rather than a perk.Over the past two or so years, remote work once praised as the new paradigm for productivity and employee satisfaction began losing some of its luster as more organizations required workers to get back to their cubicles, at least part time.In fact, many organizations are already struggling to fill a significant IT talent gap. In some cases, generative artificial intelligence (genAI) has been able to replace needed workers; in most other instances, the dearth of tech talent remains.Mandates can exacerbate employee churnAccording tonew research from the University of Pittsburgh, S&P 500 companies that rolled out RTO mandates experienced abnormally high employee turnover and longer time-to-hire when filling job vacancies. This significant IT digital talent brain-drain risk is particularly acute given the current competitive market for technology talent, Miscovich said.In 2025, CIOs and senior IT leaders face growing challenges when trying to attract top talent while maintaining operational excellence and managing workplace transformation amid RTO mandates, according to Miscovich. Resistance to the mandates is especially strong in global IT departments where hybrid and remote work are deeply integrated and have proven highly effective.John Veitch, dean of the School of Business and Management at Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont, California, said RTO mandates are generally a sign of insecure leadership. In other words, executives dont trust what they cant see. RTO mandates say, I have to see people working and earning their living, he said.Veitch didnt have strong feelings either way about RTOs involving the federal government workers, though from a workflow point of view, he said hes not convinced there are benefits.He agreed that with the tech marketplace unemployment rate near historic lows, it could push some workers out the door, he said. I dont think the federal government pays particularly well relative to what you can get if youre a top-flight technologist at a Silicon Valley firm, Veitch said. Obviously, people who have options will choose those options, particularly if return-to-office is a deal breaker for them. So, I dont think its going to help the government in any way, shape or form to retain talented people.Further research points to other problems with RTO mandates. Being in the office five days a week leads to higher rates of burnout, lower morale, and inefficiencies associated with commuting time, according to J. P. Gownder, a principal analyst at Forrester Research.On average, US workers spend 2.3 days in the office each week, according to a Stanford University study. A separate Stanford study found that hybrid work had zero effect on workers productivity or career advancement and dramatically boosted retention rates.In general, hybrid working arrangements hold numerous advantages over full-time, in-office, Gownder said, and for non-collaborative work, home offices are far better suited because they create a focused environment.Despite some managers concerns, employees who work in hybrid fashion are more productive than those who spend all their time in the office. Most employees engage in a mix of personal and collaborative work, he said.In fact, hybrid work boosts employee productivity, performance, and retention, according to Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford. Because of RTO mandates, employees are often forced to commute in only to do tasks they could handle at home. Even in the office, many still rely on videoconferencing to collaborate with colleagues in other locations.As a result of that and other inconveniences, organizations that move from hybrid work to full-time in-office work can expect higher attritionrates, Gownder argued. Sometimes, managers impose these policies specifically to drive higher attrition, in lieu of layoffs, he said. IT talent often can work effectively remotely, and attrition rates in general are higher among IT professionals.Too many workers, too few offices?Additionally, the federal government and private companies have a dramatically smaller number of offices to which they could return as many companies have consolidated their footprints to a few key hubs. AT&T, for example, ordered 60,000 managers to work from one of only nine offices, forcing 9,000 employees to relocate or resign.As the pandemic eased in 2022 and 2023, US core business centers in large and small cities continued to suffer the after-effects of remote- and hybrid-work policies, which led to a 20% to 40% reduction in office space useand a devaluation of properties. The big switch to remote work left many downtowns largely empty for months.Data indicates thatapproximately 80% of offices had downsized by the end of 2023. Other sources indicate the downsizing slowed last year and by Q4 2024office leasing rateswere at about 92% of pre-pandemic levels, according to David Brodeur-Johnson, employee experience research lead at Forrester Research.And yes, I believe that firms would be willing to expand their office spaces as needed to keep up with capacity, but most arent there yet, he said.While most organizations adopted a hybrid-work policies, requiring employees to be in the office a few days each week while allowing work from home on other days, the Trump Administrations policies are a strict, five-day RTO. Thats likely to incur an employee backlash, Brodeur-Johnson said.The dangers of disengagementThe federal government, he said, risks employee disengagement more than attrition. Monitoring federal employee surveys like FedRamp will be crucial, as disengagement is costly for both employees and employers. Its important to bear in mind also that autonomy is a primary source of intrinsic motivation the kind that comes from within so I would argue strongly that the biggest negative impact will likely be to employee engagement instead of attrition, Brodeur-Johnson said.Academic studies also show that strong social relationships are key to remote work success, with emotional closeness outweighing physical distance. But simply being in the office doesnt promote social relationships, Brodeur-Johnson pointed out. Which is why companies like Nvidia have left it up to employees to decide, up to and including fully remote work, he said. How close people feel to each other emotionally is far more important than physical distance.While Trumps executive order could spark a wider look at RTO edicts elsewhere, most private companies have settled on what their employees will tolerate. Meanwhile, federal agencies have steadily increased in-office requirements, so the latest change shouldnt be a surprise, Brodeur-Johnson said.But for some workers especially those with care-giving duties or better flexible job options it could be the tipping point. Top talent might leave first, which is why RTO mandates have slowed recently, he said.