You want to design your office in line with to the latest office trends. So that your employees are healthier, more productive and prefer working for you.
Excellent!
But actually, the wrong approach. After all, you don’t want to have to remodel your premises every year in line with the current trends, do you?
That’s why we’ll reveal three trends you should steer clear of – and what you’d do well to watch out for in 2023 (and in the future).
3 Office Design Trends to Forget
You don’t need trends that change every year. You need interior design that aligns with your brand. Therefore, we will not talk you into adopting any of the following hypes:
- Colors and patterns: According to Instyle, power pink was one of the trending colors of the summer of 2022. And what applies to fashion often also applies to the workplace. So, should you paint the walls of your office pink to keep up with the times?
- Furnishing style: The loft style in the 007 look (noble, cool, striking) is currently in fashion. But as a start-up selling colorful ice cream varieties, you’re more inclined to choose the exact opposite.
- Materials: Interiors, floors, and walls made in concrete are still in vogue. But if you want to exude sustainability, you’d better go for natural materials – and above all, don’t buy new, but recycle old office furniture and so forth.
Bottom line: Before jumping on the bandwagon when it comes to random trends, go for an inte-rior design that reflects the core of your brand. Today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. For example, the following mega trends, which are guaranteed to remain with us for a long time.
7 Office Trends You Need to Know About in 2023
Yes, as we just said: stay true to your brand instead of pursuing the latest fad.
That said, here are seven developments to watch out for in the area of office design in 2023. Be-cause: Instead of being out of fashion again in a few months, these mega trends are here to stay. They are timeless and independent of your brand’s style.
In other words: There is no getting around them if you want your skilled workers to be productive, creative and healthy.
In combination, these mega trends will shape the office of the future. We show you how to put them into action today.
#1 Flexibility
Sometimes we work from home, sometimes in the office. Sometimes alone, sometimes as part of a team. Sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, sometimes outside.
A static desk for everyone? No longer functions for this type of working. Your office needs to be alive: You need to be able to adapt it to each situation at hand in a few simple steps. And plan for room for growth and change in the long term.
That’s how it’s done:
- Offer a wide variety of workplaces that employees can switch between.
- Height-adjustable desks, chairs and similar items offer variety on the desktop.
- Plan open-plan offices so that they can be quickly converted into conference rooms or individ-ual workplaces.
#2 Less Individual Work, More Teamwork
Talking of flexibility: Thanks to hybrid working models, you have more space to use anyway. Be-cause when fewer people turn up in the office every day, new space becomes available.
In addition, you can reduce the number of individual workplaces. Paperwork, phone calls, organi-zation? Your employees do that from home anyway!
This means that twice as much new space is available to react to new tasks in the office:
- Reduce the number of desks for individuals.
- Static desks no longer exist. Instead, employees switch around.
- Expand the amount of space for teamwork (conference room).
- Provide more space for recreation (kitchen, garden), social interaction (lounge, events) and creative work (diverse workspaces).
#3 Mobile Offices
You have been thinking long and hard about the interior design of your office building. But have you ever stopped to think about how your team is set up at home?
If your team spends half their time working from home offices, then there is lots of potential there. With the right interior design, you can increase the level of productivity and satisfaction of your remote workers.
Here’s how to go about it:
- Ask your employees what they need to achieve the greatest productivity at home.
- Put together a home office package: Desk, office chair, technology and more.
#4 Well-Being
To be creative and productive, your colleagues need a pleasant working atmosphere. One in which they feel good.
What shape that takes exactly depends partly on your brand — and also very much on the individual. Therefore, you should:
- Go for an interior design that achieves goals. Depending on the specific room, it should con-tribute to creativity, concentration, or relaxation.
- Cut out distractions — minimalism often works wonders!
- Leave room for individual elements, such as options or personal decoration.
#5 Health
How and where we work every day affects our health. And as we all know healthy employees perform better, are happier and stay with the company longer. A win-win situation!
Here’s what to look out for in improving your team’s health:
- Ergonomic seats and height-adjustable tables.
- Lots of light through large windows.
- Fresh air, cool in summer and pleasantly warm in winter.
- Quiet zones: Pay attention to the right acoustics during the construction phase, from street noise to the coffee machine.
- Create a hygiene concept — not least because of corona virus.
#6 Digitalization
Sure: No trend list can exist without this being on it. In the office of tomorrow, digitalization should be considered as a means of supporting all existing trends. Digital opportunities help you make interior design healthier, more flexible and more productive.
Something like this:
- You should be able to control the temperature – preferably for each room – using a thermostat.
- Sensors recognize when it is time for the next charge of fresh air.
- You organize the allocation of desks or conference rooms over an app. Employees use it to book their workplaces!
#7 Sustainability
Like digitalization, sustainability is a mega trend that influences all other developments:
- Question every (interior design) decision with regard to its ecological and social components.
- Go for furniture and appliances made from sustainable or recycled raw materials.
- Work with lots of green — both inside and outside. Health and well-being will also benefit from this.
And by the way: By ignoring short-term trends and instead committing to your brand essence in the long term, you exemplify sustainability in the office!
So, what’s your next step?
Find out which office trends you can incorporate and how. In our workshop, we translate your branding into an interior design check list that prepares you for your conversion or new construction project.
