With the global economy in the tank, executive across the board are reexamining the way they do business, which includes rethinking how they use their office space. But are these corporate higher-ups willing to sacrifice the cozy, high-end executive suites and elite executive floors of the past?
   
For many, the traditional executive suite peppered with private offices is giving way to more collaborative settings, although a bulk of corporate executives are not quite ready to trade in their personal digs for life in a cubicle among the masses. Instead, they're favoring the integration of smaller support areas—say, two executive offices with a small meeting room between them. "I think the trend is to have executives as part of the group, working more collaboratively with their direct reports. It's a shift that's happened elsewhere in the world than it has happened here, with the understanding that these people may be spending less time at their individual work spaces because they're coming to the office to collaborate, meet, share knowledge, mentor, and lead the company rather than being locked away in an ivory tower," notes Chris Blackadder, principal at IA Interior Architects in New York.

Even when corporate executives are more integrated with their direct reports, executive areas or smaller suites still need to be delineated. Often, this is done through finishes and materials, a higher level of detailing, and system upgrades. And not everyone is jumping on the collaboration bandwagon. In working with Marsh and McLennan, IA's design team found itself charged with the exact opposite: creating an high-end executive floor in midtown Manhattan that was full of private offices and was isolated from the remainder of the company. "The openness of the office depends on the level of the executive and also depends on the profile of the company," notes Daniel DeSiena, vice presdient at MKDA in New York. Companies with younger executives, for example, may not be as tied to the traditional executive reward of earning the corner office. Nonetheless, across the board "multi-functional spaces are important because space is at a premium," he says.

As in almost any market segment or project type today, the major design challenge facing designers and architects is to product a smarter product faster and, perhaps most important in the current economic climate, with maximum ROI. While executive suite furnishings may be keep high-end, they must also be classic, easily maintained and, increasingly, sustainable. "In this economy, no one wants to be over the top," says DeSiena. Adds William Arnold, director of design at Powell Kleinschmidt in Chicago, "You're seeing a more careful use of materials and attention being paid to what it communicates to the customer and the worker." In outfitting executive spaces, clients are running out to buy all-new furnishings, but rather may first look at what they already have in house and how it can be repurposed in a new space. What's more, they're also cautious about developing new spaces in general. "With what's happening in the economy, the biggest thing we're seeing is people getting short-term lease extensions," says Arnold. "With the frozen capital we're in an odd snapshot of time and there's a bit of fear about commiting to what a new space should be."

However, while budgets remain on the front burner, clients also do not want to project an image of weakness or financial instability, which adds another challenge to the designer's plate. This means a level of detail remains and offering executives the ability to personalize their spaces within a range of corporate standards help instill a feeling of control. And also in tune with the idea of control is yet another role the designer and architect must oversee: that of change management. "The change management process is the hardest for the executives," says Blackadder. ‘You have to teach people that they are working differently now and they have to realize that the model they may have in their head about how an office should be designed may not match the new way of working. You have to adjust their thought process and tap into their management skills to help them lead the change."