Office Design Trends to Watch in 2022

Office Design Trends to Watch in 2022

Previously, we wrote about some of the things you might expect to see when you return to your office. This discussC11ed hybrid working, social distancing in the office and how your office design is an integral part of making that happen.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at some office design trends to look out for in 2022.

As many companies have been through periods of remote working with a gradual return to the office, now is the perfect opportunity to reevaluate the space you need for your business and staff to excel in. We’ve collated some of the most interesting trends to consider when planning a new office.

Transformable offices

When it comes to people remotely working here and there, you’ll find fewer people in the office as a whole. That means fewer personal desks and more transformative spaces. This means you can create socially distanced layouts and try different arrangements to make it feel more like a sociable space than a classroom.

For those who are deciding whether to work from home or the office, it gives businesses the option to change things up in the workplace to keep the creativity alive.

Noise cancellation in areas

As offices become more open-plan, there are moments where you need to do group work with minimal noise to stop disruption from other colleagues. Luckily, there are many options to how you can address this. With acoustic partitions, you can easily split up spaces of the office to arrange meetings or group activities where you can be as loud as you like without disturbing your colleagues.

 

Smart Offices & Workplace Safety

Alongside more open plan offices and contemporary decor comes the element of smart technology. One example is Huawei and Wanglong Intelligent’s creation of the elevator call app. Meaning no one has to touch communal buttons in the building and can get into a lift safely.

Additionally, you also might want to consider automatic doors, automatic soap dispensers and no-contact flush systems in bathrooms so your colleagues can stay safe.

There are other cool smart appliances and pieces of kit that you can add to the office like coffee machines, kettles and smart speakers to keep things fun and easily accessible.

Green spaces

Another popular trend to consider when renovating your office space is adding green elements. Using natural elements and plants inside the office can help improve productivity as well as create a visually appealing workspace.

Floor pots with potted plants, living walls and hanging plants around the office can help reduce stress when people are working on big projects and can contribute to a positive environment to be inside.

 

What next?

As we get ready for the new year, it’s the perfect time to consider some cool office renovations as workers gear up to return to the office.

If you’d like some help with your office design, contact us for a chat today.

The Social Workspace

The Social Workspace

Human beings are wired to be social creatures, we thrive off cooperation with others, it helps us stay sane and motivated. Socialising at work helps alleviate some of the daily pressures we as workers are burdened with and makes interactions with coworkers and managers much easier. Don’t be surprised that the conversations that co-workers have aren’t always going to be about work.

In fact, it has been shown that there is a definite positive correlation between sociability and productivity that needs to be nurtured, most notably a study by The Journal of Education and Health Promotion concluded that “sociability has a direct effect on productivity, the more the personnel become organisationally sociable; the more productivity would be seen in their organisational performance.”

So how do we encourage socialising at work?

There are different kinds of relationships built among employees. It is important to recognise that some employees can be extroverts, which means they find socialising with people at work really easy, and some are introverts, which means they find it hard to communicate and create relationships. Try to create an office design that accommodates all employees’ personalities. If you’d like some inspiration, have a look at one of our earlier blogs where we discuss in further detail how office design can impact employee wellbeing.

To help employees work together, think about creating an area where they could regather thoughts, or have group meetings, and make sure the area has a relaxed feel. Remember, a commercial fit out does not mean you have to create an environment that is not an enjoyable and social space.

Break Out Areas

Breakout areas are a great way to help influence the social connections of your employees with different social traits. This is an area where they could get time out from stress, and regather thoughts after a big meeting, to put it simply they are any space that colleagues can congregate without any predetermined purposes.

For example, a big meeting has just taken place, and several colleagues would like to discuss their thoughts. Instead of using the general office, where it could be super busy and noisy, they could use the breakout area to regather their thoughts and discuss any ideas.

Breakout areas are a perfect addition to any working environment, they are especially useful in fast-paced work environments, they are the ultimate representation of agility. The beauty about breakout areas is that they don’t have to be complex, a simple table with 3 or 4 chairs is ideal!

How Work Environment Affects Motivation and Socialising Factors

The social workspace has evolved especially after lockdown, there is a large portion of the workforce that now works from home. This means that socialising with other colleagues has changed, from real life to just a pixelated Google Meets video chat or the odd teams chat.

However, as lockdown has now relaxed and normal life is starting to commence, employees who preferred working in the office have now been allowed to congregate once again, highlighting the importance of the physical working environment and how that affects motivation.

In fact, both the physical and the non-physical work environments have been shown to affect the motivation of employees, studies by the Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research explored this in greater detail, using a questionnaire approach, they finalised two important conclusions:

“Physical work environment has direct and indirect effects on work productivity through work motivation.”

“Non-physical work environment does not directly affect work productivity. But the non-physical work environment has an indirect effect on work productivity through work motivation.”

 

The research document outlined some ways companies can improve employee motivation.

– Rearrange the layout of the room, ensuring employees have plenty of space to work, implement breakout areas to help filter out any distractions.

– Organise work activities that can enhance teamwork between employees.

– Openness between employees and leaders, try and develop fraternal bonds between the co-workers, this will ensure that both parties are working towards company goals and can exceed work targets set.

We’ve explored how companies can improve productivity using office design in previous blogs, and we really do believe it can have a huge impact on employees.

What Needs to Be Considered

Here at Mcfeggan Brown, we are an office fit out company that understands that the working environment can be an effective tool to help employees communicate and work as a team effectively. We help design the perfect environments to nurture such collaboration.

If you’d like to get in touch with us and are curious about how you can improve productivity, quality of work, and eventually the performance of the whole company don’t be afraid to get in touch.

Fresh Air and Ventilation in Open Office Designs

Fresh Air and Ventilation in Open Office Designs

The continued health and well-being of everyone who uses your premises is paramount, and an effective ventilation system is going to be a significant factor. Ventilation has always been important; however, since the pandemic a lot has changed, and fresh air design has been put under the limelight.

Most modern offices utilise mechanical ventilation, which is great as in most cases, mechanical ventilation is the answer, it works really well with CIBSE guidelines and achieving compliance with building control regulations. Ventilation also works in any type of weather, be it raining or snowing, and solves the issue that occupants are unlikely to open the windows in winter.

Office regulations stipulate that you must provide 10 litres per person per second of air changes; this is of course based on one person occupying 100 square feet of space. This must be taken into consideration in your office fit out. Designing offices under guidelines can be cumbersome, and we fully understand this. As an example of modern office design, we will delve into the Open Office Design.

Open Office Design

One of the most challenging environments to get right; not only do you have to take into consideration different ages and sexes, but the office environment also changes on a daily basis, from being crammed to almost half empty which is taxing to the HVAC equipment. This is why we take into consideration all external and internal factors when designing. This could include Room layout, ask yourself:

  • Do you have heat-generating equipment that spews hot air? If so, can these be moved?
  • Do you have desks next to doors or windows?
  • Have you taken into consideration that some of your employees may prefer a colder environment to work in, and others prefer being warm?
  • Is your HVAC system working as it should, and do you have any open vents that blow down on employees?

Centralised Controller

Another alternative would be the use of a centralised controller for your office; most modern-day HVAC systems will have the ability to connect to such a system. Centralised controllers allow the user to track temperatures and hotspots within a room and monitor energy use throughout the day.

What we would advise is to use the controller to track trends of energy use, which will allow you to find areas for concern, and counter these areas before they become an issue. You’d be surprised how much of a difference these controllers have in controlling comfort levels and costs. You will also find that allowing your employees access to a centralised controller will play in good stead in their psychological wellbeing, as they will feel better being in control.

Final Thoughts

You might find that your office does have a centralised system; however, it may need modifying, and we would advise getting in contact with your maintenance company to help you out!

If you would like to discuss office design, please feel free to contact us!