Have you ever considered the secret to a business’s success? Is it an excellent plan for expanding a business? or the greatest representation of your brand that you give your target audience? Surely, it is crucial for companies to aspire higher, but let’s get back to the basics: without the support of the employees, a firm could barely function. Making the workspace pleasant and cozy for workers to work cheerfully has been a popular topic. KarvOne has compiled the top 7 contemporary office design trends with 6 essential elements to help achieve amazing modern office design. Continue reading to receive more suggestions for replacing boring workplace designs!
3 Reasons why we need modern office design
Before delving further, it is imperative that we comprehend the significance of modern office design for firms. The following are the top 3 main causes for 2023:
Enhance employees’ productivity
Co-working areas should be as important as private rooms. While a co-working place enables individuals to communicate more effectively and efficiently, a solo working area makes it easier for employees to focus on their tasks. Finding a balance between those areas is never a simple task.
In 2023, contemporary workplace design makes the most of available space to accommodate employees’ dynamic movement while also facilitating simpler interpersonal communication and teamwork. Employees’ productivity is increased since the spaces are neatly arranged according to their purposes.
Promote employee well-being
Modern office design places a high priority on creating a more humane workplace. It entails welcoming features that may promote both visitors’ and employees’ physical and emotional well-being. The welfare of employees benefits employers as much as the employees themselves. Healthy workers are less likely to face challenges including eye strain, back pain, low motivation, and overstressed conditions that could have prevented them from concentrating as much as they could at work.
Strengthen employers’ branding strategy
Building a positive employer brand image is always essential for companies to hire and keep talents, particularly in the cutthroat job market today. A strong reputation and brand image as a recruiter who conveys unambiguous, positive messages about a company’s working culture, environment, and working style should be part of any effective employer branding campaign. Among all the components, the carefully designed workspace is the tangible representation that serves as a key.
Before accepting an offer, the majority of job searchers conduct extensive main and secondary research. A positive work atmosphere can always make a lasting impact on former employees, which promotes positive word-of-mouth. Additionally, it might leave an impact on first-time interviewees who physically visit the company’s headquarters. Elevated contentment is another typical element that may help keep talents. Bringing in the best employees can help your company grow exponentially because of their expertise.
Dynamic Modern Office Design in the 2020s
In the 2020s, employees are more likely to the flexible work arrangements. Individuals start to choose flexible work schedules over the traditional 9–5 schedule. Modern office designs have been influenced by the fact that people’s needs and desires are no longer met by the outdated, eggshell-like working environment.
The design of modern offices has become more dynamic. It adjusts to the desires and requirements of various stakeholders. Hong Kong’s modern office design was only considered a “boresome, packed working space” at the time. The majority of the offices opted for solitary work areas and white walls. Although it may appear more effective and be able to fit more employees into a smaller area, there are clear drawbacks as well: the atmosphere was stuffy and inhumane. It might result in pressure at work increased and motivation to work decreased.
7 Modern Office Design Trends in 2024
To understand more about the latest modern office design, here are the top 7 trends in 2023:
- Activity-based
People desire a more dynamic working environment that allows them to move around, but not fixed to a chair and a desk. The idea of activity-based office space design has come to the spotlight. The interior spaces are broken into different parts, and designed for specific uses. Some popular areas commonly used in Hong Kong are open office areas, privacy areas, meeting rooms, and pantry areas (aka Café areas, coffee break areas).
- Flexibility
Fixed, pre-installed desks and chairs are no longer the main trend in 2023. Movable and resizable resources with wheels are preferred. In the past, workstations used to be buried with papers, documentaries, and stationeries. It was extremely inconvenient to move around or change the seating plan. With the digitalization trend, most, if not all companies have made the tasks performed online. All the employees have to do is to move their laptops, or computers and the accessories to the new position. It could avoid the situation that some newcomers have to be assigned to available positions that are far away from their teams or the dilemma of companies that have to change project-based team structure frequently.
- Biophilic Office
Biophilic design is an eternal trend for interior design. Connection with nature is an innate need for humans. Staying indoors for hours could result in a drop in creativity and concentration, as well as work performance. Hence, it is vital to offices. Adding biophilic elements such as plants, flowing water, and natural views from the window, could help making the working environment more favorable and relaxing.
- Ergonomic Furniture
Ergonomic furniture reduces the risk of employees getting injured or feeling unwell from long sitting hours. It also makes employees easier to focus on working, free from distraction caused by uncomfortable posture. Some typical ergonomic furniture are sit-stand desks and chairs.
- Transparency
Indeed, there are some privacy areas isolated by opaque materials. However, it is more popular for offices to be more visually connected. Glass walls and doors have been broadly adopted to increase the transparency between rooms or spaces. There are a few benefits brought by such an arrangement, including enhancing the sense of community, allowing natural light in, and making the whole office visually more spacious.
- Integrated Technology
With the increasing use of technology, it is a must for offices to be well-equipped to allow users to perform tasks online. Especially when we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, we also have to take online meetings into consideration. High-speed internet, cloud computing, video conferencing facilities, charging stations, and projectors are some common items that you can find in most offices nowadays.
- Environmentally Friendly
More people are concerned about global climate change in recent years. Green offices are a plus for businesses to do to fulfill CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). To minimize the carbon footprint, some companies use LED lights, allocate recycling bins in the offices, etc.
The Best Tips for Modern Office Design: 6 Keys to Succeed
Here comes the most important part. How do we build an ideal working environment? There are 6 must-do keys:
- Sound management
Sound management is a factor easily omitted. It could be a problem when the spaces are located too close. It is easier for people to get distracted by the noises produced by equipment, such as printers, or voices from other teams. To solve the problem, businesses could plan the office space with professional interior designers who measure the space more comprehensively and make the optimal plan according to your needs. As another alternative, you can also require the use of sound-absorbing materials like wall panels.
- Privacy
Spaces with a high degree of privacy protection are preferred. Besides private workstations, where people can work individually and quickly concentrate, meeting rooms for team meetings or client conference calls are also common examples.
- Branding
Want to make your office more unforgettable and strengthen your brand identity? Merging the elements that are associated with your brand may help! Adding brand logos and setting the themed office color as your brand color, displaying achievements or business development history could also tell your brand story in the office, cultivating a unique workspace for your business.
- Hygiene
Hygiene is a main factor that could maintain employees and prevent them from leaving a firm. People are more conscious about hygiene after the pandemic. Installing sanitizing facilities could be one of the feasible ways to increase the level of hygiene of the offices.
- Feedback from users
Modern office design’s core is to customize the environment to better match the users’ behaviors, and needs. To better understand what the employees truly value, businesses are encouraged to collect feedback from true users and make minor changes to the environment. It could also create a sense of engagement and commission for those who have provided their feedback. It could further help retain talents for the companies.
- Color Psychology
Color makes a difference – it brings up different emotional responses. For example, blue usually demonstrates a sense of calm and professionalism. While orange tends to give people a sense of passion and creativity. Make good use of color psychology to help employees get into concentration and boost working performance.
Hope this article helps you understand more about modern office design.