A glut of articles and thought pieces have emerged on the death of the office. The huge saving that can be made from reducing real estate overhead.  We have literally flipped the tables, ONS reported that only 5% of the UK workforce worked from home on a regular basis in 2019, whereas now this is almost 50% of the workforce and most office workers.

What does this mean for city firms post-pandemic? Is it the end, or a reimagining?

Coronavirus, in spite of its damage to our physical and mental health and the global economy, is ushering in a change that has been afoot for some years: that of purposeful work.  Those firms who can reiterate their purpose to all their stakeholders will thrive as the best legal candidates look around at how their employers reacted during this crisis.

The new reality we find ourselves in is throwing up some serious questions: Why do I work?  Why do I work for this legal firm? Why am I exchanging my time for money with this specific business? This is fundamentally a question of company culture, which is, without regular human interaction and with restricted funds, in many city firms, being tested to breaking point.

Following the slow release of lockdown, it will be ever more important to have a place to go and not just work, but to talk, to socialise, and fundamentally, to humanise the work we do. The office could morph from a place of work to the physical cultural hub of a legal business.

Many firms exist for more than just profit and for those businesses, the office is already representative of company culture. How the business and those who work within it perceive themselves.  In the office this means excellent facilities and design. One of the many ways to signal this is through art.

Many of ARTIQ's legal clients use art collections as an employee engagement tool. An APPG study found that 60% of people think art helps them work more productively and another recent study found that people work 30% more quickly in workspaces they have had agency in curating the space themselves. Art can therefore be used to assert company values.

For example lawyers Mayer Brown, as part of the changing art collection earlier this year, chose to curate an entirely female and non-binary collection of artists in their client suite to highlight their support of International Woman's Day and the work they've been doing around breaking the glass ceiling.

Global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has, for almost a decade now, sponsored the Graduate Art Prize with ARTIQ where the best emerging artists are supported through mentorship, a group show and a cash prize. Its staff and clients alike enjoy art in the offices, but are also reminded of Herbert Smith Freehills' desire to support emerging talent in the art world as well through their trainee intake and entrepreneurial business, both in their clients and their partners. This is one of the many things a legal business can do to underline their purpose and values.

It has already been widely reported that as a species, we are entering a global mental health crisis, with 80% of adults in Great Britain worried about the impact of coronavirus on their lives.  Global lockdown has caused often confusing rules about our private lives, widespread isolation and fear for our heath and the health of our friends, family and colleagues.

Business-saving schemes like the furlough scheme (that 79% of firms are using), have also shaken our sense of financial security. Sixty-one per cent of workers rated their wellbeing positive before lockdown restrictions, dropping to 35% since lockdown has been in place.

For lawyers, whether significantly or not, working from home, sometimes in isolation, sometimes with flatmates, sometimes with our families, occasionally in our purpose-built home offices, has been at times productive, but at times plain awful. Little social interaction to structure a day, the omnipotence of our home office set ups means we're working 20% longer hours.

It would be ignorant to argue that having a nice office will be a magic cure or that mental health issues didn't exist before. However, an office that is well-designed, offering a place to socialise and be reminded of company culture, full of art and engagement opportunities will help. The benefits are real. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing in the UK published a comprehensive report in 2017 that collated research showing an undeniable positive link between art and mental wellbeing.

With research showing that after engaging with the arts, 82 per cent of people reported greater wellbeing and 77 per cent engaged more in physical activity, the benefits of art and wellbeing are undeniable. Art is one of the menu of items the cultural hub could offer its staff.

Indeed already half of all office users believe that artwork makes them more effective at their job, while 61% believe that art inspires them to think and work more creatively. Eighty-two per cent of people believe artwork to be an important addition to the workplace. These stats show how legal employers can help their workforce be engaged and happy.

In terms of clients, with more people working from home, legal offices are likely to become a key point of difference for firms wanting to communicate their prestige to clients and commitment to employees, and attracting new talent.

There should be joy in going to the office. A reminder for staff, in the wake of sometimes serious shake ups of headcount, that they're working for a stable and purposeful legal business. We foresee an attitudinal shift post-lockdown, with businesses taking a greater interest in how they utilise the office, and how to foster company culture with people increasingly working remotely.

While there is no doubt home working is here to stay, flexibility is key: holding the office as a legal hub, a central space for people to go and see their co-workers, their friends and for company culture to be reasserted, for purpose to be underlined, and for those people whose time we are asking for to know that it's all actually worth it.

Legal firms should seriously consider before they cut into that overhead to make balance sheets look nicer hiding under the guise of potential backlash from the staff.

Patrick McCrae is the CEO of U.K. art consultancy ARTIQ.

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