The needs of businesses are constantly evolving, and workplace designs are becoming more complex. Designers are creating cohesive environments combining functionality and brand visions. Technology is evolving, and there is a higher than ever demand for wellness-based designs. Businesses are becoming aware of investing in spaces and designs that are flexible and can improve employees’ performance. Increasing your employee’s well-being and happiness is crucial for better work performance. Nowadays, workspaces are being designed for the specific needs of employees to enhance wellness and productivity. Trends change over time, and now they have to reflect modern-day business culture. Read on to find out new office design trends in 2020 that will significantly impact the future of workspaces.
Sustainable Space
We are going green. The days of impersonal, gray, and sterile spaces are coming to an end as more and more businesses are focusing on their employees’ well-being. The new trend that everyone is incorporating is sustainable design. The sustainable design integrates sustainably sourced, recycled, and green building materials. It’s energy-efficient and ecological. It brings harmony between living and working spaces and nature.
This design trend isn’t new, but it evolves as it is integrated into our working spaces. The designs of furniture look and feel organic. Organic and natural patterns and forms are being used to build a better human-nature connection. This design type helps employees feel more relaxed and in-tune with nature, delivering a sense of wellness. You can use many sustainably sourced materials in your design like wood, stone, and plants. If your office spaces are large and open enough, incorporating vertical gardens in your design will bring a sense of nature. Repurposing materials and furniture are essential, as it helps the environment in battling climate change.
Community Space
The business world can be a closed-off space, where it’s expected of employees to focus only on work. However, humans are social beings, which means separating people in spaces that we use for a third or more of our time in the day will create dissatisfaction. Your employees need to communicate with each other, whether for work or taking a break. To adapt to employees’ needs, you must create a more inviting and comfortable space that promotes community.
This trend has reached its peak in employees’ lifestyle needs. New offices include spaces that are more common with our after-work lifestyles. You can see more bars, restaurants, comfortable spaces with furniture, game rooms, and fitness areas with showers or even spas. Your employees spend a big part of their day in your office building, and it’s only natural that they would want to relax sometimes and take a break. This boosts morale, well-being, health, relationships with co-workers, and work performance. If your office space is open and inviting, with many ways to recharge, your workers will be more inspired to work and more likely to return to the office instead of working remotely.
Private Space
Even though having an open-plan office and lots of different working spaces are very common and helpful, privacy is sometimes needed. Different workers have different needs, and not everyone is comfortable working in open and loud spaces. It’s essential to have spaces that ensure that employees have peace to work or take a break. More individual spaces like pods, boots and acoustic furniture are emerging to give employees their much-needed space.
Privacy pods are becoming more common. Unlike the cubicles, everyone knows that privacy pods are designed to block any distractions and sounds in the office, allowing them to focus on work. These pods can be installed in open offices and smaller spaces. They give a choice to your employees whether they want to work in an open space or a closed one and enable them to work entirely in the zone and without distractions. Workers also need to relax. They can have a fiddle toy, watch a Youtube video, or get a moon lamp for a calming ambiance.
Dynamic Space
Unlike still places and offices where the desk is only one size and height, and the chairs are not adjustable, dynamic spaces are a completely new experience. Dynamic offices give flexibility, including a new way of using office elements. Elements like desks and chairs are moveable, lightweight, ergonomic, and multi-functional, and they can fit in any space or for any purpose. This new trend focuses on making the most out of the space you work in. You can transform the space in your office to make it more appropriate for meetings, production areas, quiet or semi-private space, or bigger surfaces to work on.
Walls can be moveable, as well as mobile and adjustable furniture, adjustable lighting, and more. These new elements allow employees to change their workspaces to suit better their needs and way of working. This trend is convenient and gives a lot of power, so it’s becoming a normal working environment. However, as the pace and load of work in business and offices increase, there is a greater need for a multi-functional and dynamic workspace.
Wooden Space
Wood is a natural and calming element, and it’s making a comeback in office space design. More companies are becoming focused on sustainability, so it’s only natural to start including wood in the design. Businesses are trying to attract top talented people, and so they need to be more environmentally conscious to meet their employee’s expectations. Because most of today’s labour force is millennials, companies need to be environmental and eco-conscious to attract them. They need to ensure that the company they are working for aligns with their sustainability efforts and ideologies.
Wood is being used for floors, countertops, desks, accents, and decoration, and it provides a space with a natural feeling. Commercial office designs are progressing towards a more organic look and feel. Some of the ideas are wood and glass offices, wooden, moss, other living walls, refined woods used in various ways, etc. Besides giving a more organic feel, this design also helps reduce noise pollution in areas like open workspaces.
Bright Space
We know offices as dark, gray, and monotonous, but this will surely not be the case anymore in 2020. The furniture used nowadays is bold and colourful, showing personality and fun. Having a bold and colourful office and furniture inspires workers and makes their day more exciting and not so bland. Using bold furniture styles helps maintain a higher level of focus by blocking feelings of boredom or fatigue. Desks shaped or coloured as fun patterns and colours are becoming so popular, as gives employees a fun space to work at.
To adopt this trend, replace the colourless furniture with playful patterns and colours and include some accent pieces. If you think this will be too much for your office space, use fun colours in accents like some decorations on the table or walls. If you go overboard, the office will become distracting and too challenging to look at and concentrate on. Adding greenery and wooden pieces will help tone down the look and complete it.
Outdoor Space
No matter how many nature-inspired trends there are to choose from, nothing can beat the great outdoors. More businesses are embracing their outdoors by transforming them into functional workplaces. We are so used to being chained to our desks in harsh lighting, not being able to enjoy the fresh air as much as we need to. As our culture and work behaviours are changing, we are starting to use our outdoor spaces more. The benefits of working outside are vast, like improved health and mental well-being, better productivity, more work satisfaction, and the use of talent.
You don’t need a huge outdoor space to work in; a balcony, roof terrace, or just a shared yard is enough. The majority of workers would love to spend time working outdoors. This opportunity will give you an advantage when attracting new talents to your industry. Your employees’ well-being is essential, and having an outdoor space will improve their health and desire to work. This gives access to more natural light, working in the fresh air, and gives the flexibility to move around in the workspace.
Monochromatic Design
Besides the macro trends we talked about, there are numerous micro trends that you can use to revamp your office space. One of those trends is monochromatic design. This means the use of only one colour in your design. Colours are becoming very popular in designing workspaces, and monochromatic use of colour is a new way of incorporating colour into your space.
The colour palette uses only one colour but in a spectrum of tones and shades. It’s an expression of using colour saturation to draw people in. This is a perfect way to incorporate your brand colours into the workspace. The trend uses various hues of soft, bold, and dramatic shades. You can further accent it by using different textures and incorporating plants, flowers, and lights.
Hanging Flora
Plants and greenery are essential in life and decor, so it’s becoming more popular than ever to decorate the office environment with plants and green walls. Biophilic design is increasing in popularity. There were always some plants in offices, but now they are becoming mandatory and in significant quantities. Incorporating plants and greenery in your office design shows a sustainable image of your brand.
Since offices are at a premium cost, using ceilings are design spaces is a must now. Hanging vegetation is a solution for offices that don’t have much floor space available. It opens possibilities for showcasing greenery and nature in a closed environment. We can see more plant and moss walls with various plants and different types of hanging plants like ivy, Pothos, and other plants.
Coffee Stations
Coffee is a drink that makes our life and works easier and more manageable. It gives us the necessary energy to get through the day and finish all of our tasks. As spaces that feel homier are becoming popular, having a furnished kitchen with a station for a workplace coffee machine is a must. This allows your employees to get refreshed and recharged any time they need to—no need for going out and breaking the workflow to get coffee.
There are various types of coffee machines you can choose from, depending on your office’s needs and how much coffee you can drink. Whether you like all black coffee with a bit of cream or just a big cup of latte, a quality coffee machine will get you through the day. Nowadays, office coffee machines are effortless to use, and they can make excellent quality coffee. In addition, they are sleek and will add to the overall design and beauty of your office kitchen.
Domesticated Space
As we spend so much of our time in the day at work, we want to be as comfortable as possible to increase our workflow and well-being. To create a more comfortable working space, designers use everything to make space feel like home. Some examples are furnished kitchens, flowers, throw pillows, comfortable furniture, rugs, etc.
This type of design benefits employees that spend a lot of time in the office. A workspace with all the necessary amenities will bring back remote workers, giving them a space they can enjoy. In addition, having an open office that feels like a home will provide the opportunity for workers to be relaxed and engage more, strengthening teamwork.
Creating or revamping your office space can be a big job, and it’s important because it allows you to boost your employees’ performance and well-being. Choose from various design trends like more greenery, becoming eco-friendly, opening up your office space, or going outside to work. Choose a trend that benefits your business and workers the most, and you will have an amazing space to work in and improve your business.
