Oluteye, Dolapo S.; (2024) Discovering why and how twenty-first-century workers adopt hotel lobby servicescapes as workplaces. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Spatial fixity no longer characterises twenty-first-century work. Discovering hotel lobbies in London joined a growing catalogue of alternative workplaces as ‘best places to work’, which is symptomatic of shifting workplace philosophy conception. Unlike well-studied market-mediated alternatives like co-working models, designed to meet flexible work demands, lobbies servicescapes differ. Accessing and repurposing lobbies for work represents a novel approach to optimising idling operational built spaces. Leveraging such work practices to address urgent climate concerns calls for rethinking resource efficient strategies to reduce spatial waste. Yet, this shifting spatial paradigm and alternative workplace typology in hotels’ highly commercialised spaces remains unresearched. The CIS sector achieved priority status in 2023 as a key contributor to UK’s economy with employment growth tripling other sectors at 14%. Alternative workplace studies attribute rising adoption of non-traditional spaces to this sector. Such attribution in this lobby working phenomenon raises a need to better understand associated drivers and nature of spatial use. Create this new knowledge offers the built sector strategic tools to better support workers, whilst attending to the urgent climate concerns. Extending idling-built spaces by improving their functional utility reduces operational waste, such as heating empty spaces. Thus, through positive sustainable use of existing resources asset operators can redeploy spatial assets to meet flexible workplace needs. Therefore, this study discovers why and how twenty-first-century workers adopt hotel lobby servicescapes as workplaces. Its two-part approach employs the constructivist grounded theory (CGT) with multiple case studies, drawing on empirical evidence from various sources, including semi-structured interviews. Findings suggests CIS workers leverage non-market-mediated access to repurpose idling lobby servicescapes into working ecosystems. Its findings underline shifts in Bitner’s (1992) thirty-year-old servicescape theory. Consequently, this study contributes a refined and extended theoretical framework reconceptualising servicescapes as 'discoverable workingscapes'. It represents how twenty-first-century workers repurpose idling service environments for work. By emphasising the critical role of non-market-mediated access in repurposing underutilised spaces, this study advocates for behavioural climate adaptation strategies aimed at promoting resource-efficient built environments. It underscores the potential for discoverable workingscapes to enhance environmental, social, and economic state of workers and the nation. The implications of this study extend beyond theoretical discourse, offering practical insights for sustainable built environment practices and spatial advocacy. By reimagining and transforming idle spaces into resource-efficient working environments, discoverable workingscapes have the potential to drive positive change and foster innovation in urban design and planning. Additionally, this research advocates for the adoption of CGT as a methodological strategy for investigating previously unexplored phenomena in the built environment domain.

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