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Another year has come and gone and the look and layout of the modern office continue to evolve. Last year we predicted acoustic designs, biophilia, and an increased use of color. While some of these office trends look like they are here to stay, this year looks to have a focus on comfort and sustainability. When planning any modern office design changes or updates for 2022 here are the ideas we think you should implement.
Natural Designs
The benefits of adding biophilia into your office design can’t be understated. Plants not only improve productivity but focus as well. Employees are able to work in areas with plant life longer without needing to step away for a break. And while they are in these spaces, morale is improved as well.
Not only is biophilia a modern office design trend of 2022, but incorporating more of nature, in general, will be on the rise. Look to see more offices utilizing natural or warmer light sources and steering away from the cool blues. Natural options like wood and glass will be the materials of choice for cubicles and office furniture. Increasingly, water features like fountains or streams are being added into collaborative areas to bring the sounds of nature into modern office design.
Sustainable Modern Office Design
The office is definitely going green with biophilic designs, but this year the modern office design needs to go even greener. Employees care about the environmental impact the company they work for is making. Meeting this need is not only important for retention but reducing the carbon footprint made by your office is one way your company can make a lasting impact.
Employees care about the environmental impact the company they work for is making.
The first and easiest item to implement has been touted since we were kids—reduce, reuse, recycle. Whether it is in packaging, office furniture materials, or office supplies. Choose recycled and recyclable options, and make it easy for employees to recycle by adding recycling containers near trash bins. Consider switching to renewable energy sources. Talk to your current providers to see what options already exist, or explore other providers if yours doesn’t have these sources.
Consider promoting greener commutes for your team. Offer subscriptions to public transportation options. Provides bikes to not only promote environmental transportation but a health benefit too! Make it easy for your team to network and find carpooling options. Or allow employees to work from home on certain days to eliminate some commutes entirely.
Bring Home to the Office
Employees spend one-third of their lives working. It’s time to make this time as comfortable as possible. One of the many benefits employees reported from their time working from home was comfort. Bring the comforts of home to your office. Look for offices to increasingly prioritize comfortable workspaces for their teams in both break room and collaborative areas.
Investing in comfortable seating areas can also have a positive impact on employee morale. Let’s face it, discomfort is a distraction. And distractions are not only bad for productivity but it affects overall engagement. When employees are comfortable, they are able to do their job well and know that they are working for a company that cares about their overall well-being. Create areas of comfort within your office to improve employee engagement and make employees feel right at home.
Fractals in Modern Office Design
The word fractal was first used by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975. He defines fractal in his work, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, as “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.”
Scientific investigations have revealed that the complicated patterns found in nature, known as fractals, can quickly relax humans. Some examples of naturally occurring fractals include trees in the forest, river deltas, and flowers. The benefits of stress reduction found in these patterns can be tapped into through design. Look for these patterns to be infused in the office through floor designs, artwork, and even plants or flowers.
Acoustic furniture
Thriving office space comes with a lot of noise. While many offices operate in an open office concept, the majority of employees want workspaces where they are able to focus. Incorporportaing acoustic office furniture into your modern office design can bring the best of both worlds. Colleagues can find quiet spaces for brainstorming and meetings. Solo workers can find areas away from the noise to do critical thinking. And team members seeking collaborative working environments can still gather with like-minded employees to meet and problem solve.
Employees crave the flexibility to still choose whether the virtual environment is right for them.
Have you ever considered incorporating an entire area of soundproofing for your team? Some companies have taken acoustic designs to a whole other level by soundproofing an entire floor of their office space. This creates an area that is specifically designated as a focus zone of tranquility for employees who thrive in quiet workspaces.
Companies that are looking to improve the productivity, creativity, and focus of their employees, while giving them several different options that cater to their unique workday needs, consider adding acoustic furniture and soundproofing to your office. This office trend creates a designated work zone, a soundproof break area, a brainstorming floor, or a level specifically for meetings and interviews. Soundproofing solutions are the perfect way to bring quiet, focused, and stylish workspaces to your modern office design.
Flexible Working Spaces
Employees are looking for options in their workplaces in 2022. This could mean flexibility in working from home or at the office. Varied hours and workdays to create a shorter week or reduce the number of employees in the office at one time. Or allowing employees to shift their schedules as needed to attend school functions or stagger their start and end times for drop-offs and pickups. But in your modern office design, flexibility means accommodating the needs of your employees with multiple workspaces as employees come and go throughout the day. This modern office trend meets the needs of both remote and in-person workers.
These flexible workspaces not only accommodate the hybrid worker, but they create areas within your office layout for employees to change their surroundings. When employees were working from home, their office was anywhere that they were. The couch, the kitchen table, an outdoor patio, or even a closet to get away from distractions. Creating this same flexibility within your office space gives your employees options to work in different places to fit different work needs and situations or just to change their views.
Adaptive Modern Office Furniture
The hybrid workplace is here to stay. Almost 60% of employees are now working remotely at least part-time and almost 70% would like to continue doing so. We are at almost two years since the mandated shift to virtual work for many organizations. Our views on remote work have fundamentally changed and we have come to accept that a distributed and highly virtual work environment can still be efficient and effective. And employees crave the flexibility to still choose whether the virtual environment is right for them.
Adaptive workspaces will be crucial in 2022. These spaces can move and change to the changing and shifting of employees day-to-day. Including furniture in your modern office design that is just as adaptive can make transitioning from a large meeting to a one-on-one session a breeze. These transformable areas can also work as flexible seating as employees travel between work and the office by including laptop tables and tech hookups.
The office trends of 2022 put the comfort, well-being, and engagement of employees first. With retention still being one of the top concerns of many industries as we move into the new year, it is not hard to see why this is the case. Bring modern office designs to your organization that meets the needs of remote and in-person team members alike.
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