Hybrid space making: Rethinking the bank branch experience for the digital age

As digital technology disrupts financial services globally, how should banks go about planning the next generation of bank branches? In the age of online banking, what are the new hybrid strategies that will draw customers in, improve working conditions for employees, connect with local communities and optimise the property portfolio? This paper describes a research project conducted by the UniCredit banking group in partnership with Unwired and the Royal College of Art to explore the hybrid bank branch network of the future. The study develops three frameworks — architectural, people, and digital — and proposes a model with three levels of hybridity. Its findings have broad implications for new ways of working and interaction in financial services