Office Design of the Future – our 5 key takeaways

Raconteur produces special-interest content for business leaders across a variety of sectors. You can expect pages filled with quality editorials, infographics and exclusive insights into the respective topic areas - we’re a fan! In April they published a report around the future of workplace design and includes a number of articles fuelled by research. It’s crammed with some pretty great photography too...

Whether you’re a provider of office space, a third party supplier, a manager or employee, we recommend you take a look at the report as there are some interesting articles to take back to the office for discussion. For now though, here are a few of our highlights from the paper with some pullout quotes:

1. There is increased pressure for offices to reduce their carbon footprint Sustainability goals are moving up the business agenda but greater responsibility is required from shared office space providers. “If the future workplace is one where buildings become more interactive and energy efficient, and reduction of waste is driven from the highest levels of senior management, it may well be the shared offices that lag behind. With a growing number of small businesses and start-ups renting office space in trendy shared spaces, it is incumbent upon the providers of those spaces to set sustainability within the terms of leases and ensure recycling facilities are consistently available.”

2. Long live the desk-phone Despite the collaboration tool market expected to be worth $22 billion by 2021, research finds that the majority of employees still use the desk phone. “A huge amount of knowledge is shared through voice conversations and with AI-based transcription it becomes more accessible. Voice is not dead, we are at the beginning of a new, exciting innovation cycle.”

3. Technology is leading the workplace revolution, but there is still some way to go as yet The ‘modern’ workplace is still adopting and adjusting to new technologies (hopefully with purpose) but it comes with challenges. “Improving the employee experience is in the top three focus areas for global human resources leaders who want to support business growth in 2019, says Gartner.”

4. Workplace design is continually evolving Architects are exploring new methods to create productive and inspired workplaces - biophilic installations, acoustic pods, open plan areas of the office, creating ‘maker spaces’ and flexible spaces for the introverts and extroverts amongst us. “Research shows that people believe they are more comfortable if they have the opportunity to change their environment.”

5. Greenery is good Biophilic is a term used to describe something that draws on nature and the outside elements. Biophilic design isn’t yet mainstream but research shows it provides benefits to: • Your physical and mental wellbeing • Staff retention • Company branding

6. Workplace design will be influenced by data Workplace design will become more customised and driven by data. i.e. a workplace which knows your movements so it can book you a meeting room or order you lunch.

“While offices continue to evolve, the future workplace will see interesting advancements beyond modular meeting rooms, from personalised environments to furniture that is better for our health.” View Future Workplace publication here.

Whilst we don’t create many infographics here at Solutions 4 Office, we are passionate about affordable and quality office space solutions. Get in touch with the team if you are looking for a workplace design consult.