Kraft Heinz’s move to a hybrid work model means big changes to its Chicago headquarters. Here’s what the new office will look like.

Kraft Heinz’s expectations about how often employees will work in the office changed during the pandemic. So will the office itself.

While some employers are waiting to see how the return to the office goes before making significant changes to their spaces, others, like Kraft Heinz and United Airlines, are moving forward with renovations meant to adapt to new ways of working.

Kraft Heinz, which plans to transition from full-time office work to a hybrid model that will see employees spend three days in the office and two at home, recently began renovating its Chicago headquarters. Individual desks and cookie cutter conference rooms are out, in favor of a wider variety of spaces for workers to meet and work together.

“If the purpose of the office is really collaboration, we need to rethink the office,” said Melissa Werneck, Kraft Heinz’s global chief people officer.

The packaged food company, co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh, extended its lease at the Aon Center into 2033 and said it expects the renovation to be complete by the end of the year — before most of the 1,400 employees working there will be expected to return.

Citing new guidance from health officials and the spread of the delta variant, Kraft Heinz recently pushed its timeline for bringing employees back to offices to January. Offices, including the Aon Center, will be open on a voluntary basis in September, but employees must be fully vaccinated before returning to work in person unless they obtain an accommodation for health or religious reasons.

Employees said knowing their co-workers were fully vaccinated would make them more confident about returning to the office, Werneck said.

When people do come back, they won’t return to the personal desks they left. Kraft Heinz, which previously tried having employees share desks before returning to dedicated individual desks, will pilot hoteling again in Chicago and some other offices to see whether having employees work near a wider range of people fosters collaboration, Werneck said.

Some desks will also be removed to make space for more conference rooms and common areas where employees can meet and collaborate. Conference rooms, which previously all shared the same white and gray look, will have different furniture and designs to give employees options for which space best fits their needs, the company said.

There will be smaller “concentration” spaces with comfortable chairs where employees can go for individual work, as well as booths and other seating in common areas if they just want a break from their desk.

Kraft Heinz, which despite being a food company previously had no on-site kitchen, also plans to install a demonstration kitchen in its lobby.

Now that part-time remote work will be the norm, the company wants to make sure people in the office and those working at home are on even footing. Conference rooms will have interactive whiteboards and videoconferencing technology designed to let remote employees participate more effectively than they could on a conference call.

“People not at the office need to feel included,” she said. “The technology needs to enable the hybrid work arrangement.”

Some employers are waiting to see how the return to the office goes before revamping their spaces.

Most tenants in Sterling Bay’s office buildings have not made significant changes to their spaces, beyond pandemic-related health and safety precautions like sneeze guards, hand sanitizer stations and, in some cases, touch-free office furnishings, spokeswoman Julie Goudie said in an email.

“Early on, I thought we would see a lot of people reconfigure, but I think a lot of people are still so unsure what’s going to happen,” said Scott Kurinsky, executive vice president of Bear Construction. “Everything’s on pause.”

Permanent changes have largely been limited to installing touchless bathroom fixtures, foot-operated doors and technology that lets elevators read workers’ key cards to send them to the right floor, no button-pushing required, Kurinsky said.

Other firms said they have started seeing more companies plan more significant changes, often in hopes of promoting collaboration, like Kraft Heinz, or giving employees more space.

Some are adding conference rooms and different types of places people can meet to get work done, or technology that lets them reserve space and see when their co-workers will be in the office, said Todd Mintz, senior managing director at real estate firm JLL.

With growing adoption of at least part-time remote work, “the office is taking on new responsibilities and meaning to the employer and employee,” he said. “It’s a place where the employee wants to go to learn, to collaborate, to promote innovation, collaboration, networking and professional development.”

Office buildings are also emphasizing amenities like outdoor decks and bars, full-service gyms and healthy dining options, Mintz said. While several new outdoor amenities were planned before the pandemic, now they’re “even more appreciated,” he said.

Plans for the rooftop deck above the Old Post Office, for instance, with 3.5 acres of outdoor space, predated the pandemic, but now include additional seating, said Kurinsky, whose company was the project’s general contractor.

Another trend: giving employees options rather than forcing them to sit at a traditional desk all day, like comfy chairs where they can camp out with a laptop or cafe tables near a window, as if they were at Starbucks, said Michael Semenzin, partner at Chicago-based MRSA Architects & Planners.

Those are now considered “valid” ways to work and younger employees, in particular, are used to being able to break up the day, he said.

“They’re comfortable with that, and now they’re demanding that,” he said.

United Airlines is planning to add a cafe and outdoor area on the fourth floor of its Willis Tower headquarters for employees who want a change of scenery.

It’s part of a multiyear renovation United began planning when it extended its lease through 2033 two years ago. Earlier this year, the airline also said it would downsize, giving up about 150,000 of its 850,000-square-foot space.

United has not determined whether it will eventually expect all 3,600 employees at Willis Tower to be back in the office full-time. Once the company’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement goes into effect Sept. 27, everyone entering the office must be vaccinated.

Regardless, United, like Kraft Heinz, wants the redesigned office to make it easier for employees to collaborate and “do more than just sit in their cubes,” said Nathan Lopp, United’s vice president of corporate real estate.

Plans are still being developed, but the airline intends to add booths and other common area seating where employees can meet informally with a co-worker or two.

“We think it will allow people to interact differently than in the normal office cubicle setting,” he said. “We think it will spur conversations, allow more effective communication and allow things to move along faster.”

Conference rooms will also get more flexible, with movable furniture and walls that could, for instance, shift from a 100-person meeting to breakout sessions, and have technology to allow remote workers to participate, Lopp said.

“We want to make sure we’re future-proofing the building for the new environment, whether that’s hybrid or full-time in the office,” he said.

lzumbach@chicagotribune.com