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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/02632779510080776. When citing the article, please cite: Martyn Markland, (1995), “The future of the office building”, Facilities, Vol. 13 Iss: 3, pp. 15 - 21.

Examines the origins of the office building and its broader economic and cultural significance. Discusses how the new information superhighway may affect the future of the office building. Asks whether this information “revolution” can provide an economic, cultural and socially‐acceptable alternative to the office. IT will change the way people work and, as a result, their spacial requirements. In this context it is claimed that organizations must examine their property requirements as a matter of urgency. Considers what advice property professionals should be giving to property purchasers, developers and investors. Concludes that office buildings are likely to continue to play a key role in the UK′s economy due to their importance as a source of tax revenue and emphasizes their social importance as a logical and convenient setting for individuals to interact.

This paper addresses the practice‐derived concept of “flexible working” in order to challenge the lack of critical thinking in such facilities management (FM) research and writing. Through comparison of the field of FM with literature from other management fields, it proposes that much FM “research” is concerned with the validation of practice‐based concepts, which have been derived and implemented in small sections of specific organisations with self‐interest in their success and promotion. In so doing, it supports previous critical reflection on the lack of theoretical research in the FM field.