Top Office Trends
Over the years, office designs have gradually become less focused on functionality. That’s not to say that commercial interior designers have started favouring impractical designs. It simply means that allowing adequate space for team members and workplace activities is no longer the only consideration in office interior design.
Increasingly throughout 2019 and into 2020, we started to see office designs throughout Melbourne that are mostly concerned with creating workplace experiences; spaces that boost morale and promote productivity. When employees are happy and healthy and feel they are valued, they are more likely to demonstrate greater creativity and problem-solving skills. They are also less likely to have sick days and are generally more proactive and efficient. In 2020, office interior designs will be about promoting a positive workplace culture.
Experience Driven Rooms
More and more offices designs are starting to dedicate spaces to office perks. These are areas where staff can go to take a break, let off steam and/or enjoy activities with colleagues that are non-work related. Think yoga and meditation areas, built-in gyms or even in-house masseuse rooms. To the cynical minded, it may seem excessive or even a little preposterous to include such spaces within a place of business, but the more you give to your employees and support their overall wellbeing, the more they can and will give back.
Deciding what to add to your office interior design depends on your company culture and the type of business you operate. For instance, Google offers its team members access to an on-site gym and a breakfast bar that offers free healthy meals to help offset the sedentary working style of the tech industry. If the nature of your business means your employees are often put in stressful situations, areas where they can carry out adrenaline fuelled activities could be a great way to help them release pent up energy and refocus. These activities could be indoor or outdoor sports, or if you’re short on space it could be video games or even virtual reality.
Activity Based Working
While employees can gain a sense of comfort in continuously working at the same desk in the same spot day in and day out, this working style is not always conducive to the various tasks they will need to under take. It’s becoming more and more popular for office designs to offer employees a series of workstation choices. By providing team members with multiple options, staff are able to insert themselves into a working environment that best suits whatever they are working on at any given time.
This year, it will become more common for office designs to befit out with areas that encourage collaboration versus others that allow for concentration. For projects that require teamwork and multiple specialists, staff members can comfortably work together in open spaces. Meanwhile, those that need some quiet to make an important phone call or work independently on a complex task can seclude themselves in an area that’s free from distraction.
Biophilic Design
In the past, office interior design has tended to create sterile, unnatural environments. Fluorescent lighting, low ceilings and restrictive partitions aren’t exactly a recipe for a welcoming workplace and so the ongoing trend that will continue through 2020 is biophilic design. This style of office design relies on natural elements such as sunlight, fresh air, indoor plants and earthy colours and textures. Biophilic office design creates a much healthier workplace, both physically, mentally and emotionally, and allows a place of business to become a space that is pleasurable for employees to inhabit.
Brand Personality
Commercial interior designers are becoming increasingly interested in creating office spaces that reflect a company’s brand. By injecting the personality of a brand into an office design, a business can promote a greater sense of community among its employees. For example, the New York office for Nike has a decorative mosaic feature wall in the staff kitchen that depicts Michael Jordan and Airbnb’s San Francisco headquarters uses meeting rooms that resemble glamping tents. In some ways it may seem kitsch or even unnecessary to include these types of features in an office design, but it can greatly benefit team culture.
Free-Range Workspace
While this office design trend is hardly related to the keeping of egg-laying chickens, it does follow a similar principle. It allows for barriers to be broken down and for all employees, regardless of rank and department, to work within one open space. The approach is similar to co-working spaces, which have become very popular among start-up companies over the past year. Much like branding an office interior, free-range workspaces also promote inclusion and teamwork. This workplace style encourages integration and communication and will start to become more common in Melbourne office designs.
If you’re looking to redesign your office space and transform it into a workplace that allows employees to thrive, contact Bild today so we can discuss what you want your workplace to be.
