The Profitable History of Movement: From Flexible Theory to the Agile Workplace Imperative
By Robert Kroon
Executive Summary
The concept of freeing the worker from a fixed desk is a six-decade-old idea, tracing back to German and Dutch thought leaders who sought efficiency, not just comfort. This history shows a consistent tension between an ideal and the limitations of building infrastructure. While Flexible Working addressed when and where a person works (hours, home vs. office), the more recent Agile Workplace defines the how, requiring a complete redesign of the physical space to support different activities—focus, collaboration, or learning.
This final shift from theory to mandatory practice only happened when the pandemic exposed the massive financial cost of static, underutilized real estate (often up to 50% waste). For building owners and design professionals, the story of agility is the story of finally deploying the technology—like battery-powered Agile Furniture—to achieve the long-desired financial benefit: transforming the expense of immovable infrastructure into the profitable, customizable utility tenants demand.
The Long Genesis: From Landscape to Activity (1960s – 1990s)
The roots of the modern, non-static office predate the digital revolution, beginning in a quest to improve communication and break rigid corporate hierarchies.
The Philosophical Shift: Bürolandschaft (1960s)
The Concept: The earliest predecessor to the modern flexible office was Bürolandschaft (Office Landscape), pioneered by the Quickborner Team in Germany. It rejected the rigid rows of Taylorism (assembly-line office efficiency) in favor of organic, irregular groupings of desks, separated by plants and partitions.
The Goal: The primary aim was not worker comfort, but to align the physical layout with the organizational structure and communication flow, enabling easier, informal interaction.
The Roadblock: Despite its revolutionary design, Bürolandschaft was critically limited by the technology of the day. Every workstation required fixed telephone lines and power outlets, preventing any real day-to-day movement and leading to "cubicle farms" when adapted in the U.S.
The Thought Leader and the Method: Activity-Based Working (ABW) (1994)
The Pioneer: American architect Robert Luchetti explored the idea of "activity settings" in the early 1980s, but the definitive term, Activity-Based Working (ABW), was coined and popularized by Dutch consultant Erik Veldhoen in his 1994 book, The Demise of the Office.
The Definition: ABW is a design philosophy that recognizes that work is composed of various activities (e.g., quiet focus, loud brainstorming, formal meetings, casual socializing) and that the office must provide a variety of tailored environments for each. Crucially, it meant doing away with assigned desks.
The Financial Hurdle: ABW proved its value in maximizing square footage by reducing the desk-to-person ratio. However, the cost to retrofit a traditional building with the necessary powered infrastructure to support dozens of different zones was prohibitive, making large-scale adoption complex and expensive for many commercial buildings.
The Defining Difference: Flexible vs. Agile (2000s – Present)
The transition from a theoretical flexible model to a functional Agile Workplace was one of power and infrastructure.
The Pandemic: The Catalyst for Profit
The final, irreversible shift in the history of the workplace was driven not by architectural philosophy, but by a sudden, brutal financial reality:
The pandemic instantly proved that businesses could function remotely, making underutilized office space (often 50% vacant post-2020) a financial disaster for property owners.
The market demanded a Class A experience that was also maximally flexible. Static real estate is now a stranded asset.
The financial goal for CRE owners became clear: Retrofit to minimize time-to-reconfiguration and maximize the utility of every square foot.
The solution for this historical roadblock is the marriage of intelligent power with movable furniture. Technologies such as fault-managed power (FMP) and battery-powered Agile Furniture enable building owners to eliminate the most expensive and time-consuming component of office re-design: electrical work.
The Financial Advantage of Modern Agile Retrofitting
The Agile Workplace, powered by August Berres solutions, finally makes the vision of Veldhoen and the Quickborner team profitable and scalable.
By installing a single charging solution, such as C-power which delivers DC power through two USB-C receptacles,, you create a building where the workspace itself is an immediately adaptable, cost-saving service. The history of the flexible workplace is the story of a great idea waiting for a modern electrical solution—
—and that solution is what converts an old building into a high-value, future-proofed Agile Workplace.
The simple, elegant notion of making power portable enables a new way of thinking about office designs.
About the author:
Bob Kroon is a recognized thought leader and innovator with over four decades of experience in the electro-mechanical and furniture industries. As the CEO and founder of August Berres, he envisions overcoming the limitations of traditional building power by enabling the Agile Workplace through a smart power ecosystem.
Bob passionately advocates for technologies such as building microgrids, fault-managed power (FMP), and battery-powered Agile Furniture, which are transforming the design and utilization of commercial spaces. Under his leadership, a suite of innovative solutions has been brought to market, including Respond!, Juce, CampFire, and Wallies. These products empower building owners, architects, and facility managers to retrofit buildings for today’s dynamic work environment.
Agile Workplace Imperative
