Over the years, office design trends have changed and developed and improved along with the years. For many years, offices have looked like white walls, separated cubicles, and water coolers. However, in most recent years, managers across the globe have been throwing that old, boring design away and ushering in a new era of what the workplace looks like. Why is it important to pay attention to current office design trends?
In an article put out by Office Furniture Warehouse, a company which specializes in designing offices, they emphasize the importance of office design, layout, and space usage. This is because the environment of a workplace influences employees productivity, comfort, enjoyment, and quality of work.
Let’s look at the most popular trends in office design in 2022.
Biophilic Design
Many offices in 2022 have been leaning towards more of a green design within the workspace. Not only do plants make spaces brighter and more natural-looking, but they also contribute positively to employees.
Numerous scientific studies have shown that plants within the office produce employee productivity and reduce stress levels, and were also found to reduce sickness and absence rates.
One scientific study done by the University of Exeter found that adding plants into the workspace could increase productivity by 15%. The study also found that “plants in the office significantly increased workplace satisfaction, self-reported levels of concentration, and perceived air quality.”
Another positive effect that plants were found to have were reducing noise levels, as plants are found to absorb noise. The importance of reduced noise levels and noise cancellation will be mentioned later in this article.
Make Your Office a Home Away From Home
The trend of making your office space to be as comfortable as your own home has been a trend for years, but has grown exponentially in recent years. Comfortable seating, including desk chairs and couches, are important aspects of this design. Carpets, warm lighting, curtains, and even plants, as mentioned earlier, are included in this as well.
The goal of this design is to increase work productivity within what would feel like the comfort of working in your own home. Using this design leads to increased productivity and a better work environment because people will enjoy working more in the office, and will have better relations with their co-workers.
Noise Cancellation
A study done by the University of Sydney showed that some of the biggest distractors and most frustrating things in the workplace have to do with noise. When designing or redesigning your office space, or choosing an office space to rent, being able to reduce noise as much as possible is vital to efficiency.
As mentioned before, using the biophilic design is one way to help with noise reduction. However, looking at your flooring and using flooring pieces such as carpets and rugs help absorb sound and quiet a room down. Other items such as acoustic partitions can help tremendously in reducing sound and making it easier for your employees to work without as many distractions.
Parterre Flooring is an expert in flooring, specifically in Luxury Vinyl Tile, which is also known as LVT. They have worked in many different office environments and spaces, and released an article giving tips on how to reduce noise in office spaces. As they specialize in LVT, they recommend using LVT flooring as this type of flooring has the ability to absorb a significant amount of noise.
Something else that they highly recommend is creating dedicated “quiet spaces” within the office, if there is enough space. These quiet spaces can be created from unused conference rooms or offices, or even built in areas where employees can go and work in when they are in need of complete silence.
Flexible Working Spaces
Traditional office spaces look like cubicle layouts with maybe one area to grab coffee and water. Studies have shown that this is ineffective and that the future of office spaces is flexible. This office design includes unassigned work areas, cafe areas, areas with couches, formal conference and meeting rooms, and other areas for employees to work in. Even in offices that are smaller or have an open floor plan, you can designate different areas within the office to offer more opportunities for employees to move around the room while working.
A flexible workspace does not have to be within a big building that allows movement throughout different rooms. Rather, one area can be some tables and chairs together in a circle, and another area can be two couches facing each other. This design is meant for smaller offices as well since it does not require separate rooms or a big building. Even the smallest of office spaces can incorporate a flexible working space.
Conclusion
Having a work environment where your employees are happy, comfortable, and able to focus on their work is something that will increase productivity and quality of work, lower turnover rates, and all in all improve your company from the inside out.
Listen to your employees and learn what it is they need in their office space. Design your office space to suit their needs. Being able to follow trends inside and outside of the office is necessary for any business to operate smoothly and efficiently, and is a way to keep up with needs.
What does your office look like? Are you still working with cubicles and white walls? Is your office super loud or are you able to focus and concentrate on your work? What challenges do you find in finding the right fit and trend for your office space?
Finding the right office space and design for your office may take some time, but will end with happier employees and quality products and services coming from a good office. You do not need all of these trends inside of your office to look good and feel good, but maybe try working with one or two of these trends and make your current office space even better.
If you want to test what change the new design would bring, you can temporarily try the space at the LinkAcross Development Center.
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