New Trends: Flowerbed Desks and Customized Designs
Millennials want more than just a paycheck. Today’s employees want a work environment that’s healthy, fun, inspiring, comfortable, natural... in short, one where they feel good. Pavel Mrázek, the founder and CEO of the interior design company Hezkey, describes the latest in office trends for the #Morethanoffice portal.
What’s on Its Way Out?
Home Office
Carrying your work home is neither practical nor pleasant. Many people only do so because the environment in their office doesn’t suit them and doesn’t let them concentrate.
Open Space Offices
Not too long ago, the march of technology enabled firms to create large open areas in interior spaces. And it’s an economical solution — until you look at what it does to productivity. People get distracted by workmates’ phone calls, badly handled ventilation, and fatigue-inducing artificial lighting — and these spaces also often lack infrastructure.
What’s on Its Way In?
Environmental Comfort
Smart employers now understand that good design can help employees focus on their work. Instead of the usual eight hours sitting at a single table, the trend will be towards dynamic work environments. Over the course of the day, employees can choose different spots to work at.
Office spaces should be made up of both small and large meeting rooms, rooms with work desks, relaxation zones, cafés, and other infrastructure (like gyms, a meditation room, etc.). Even in smaller spaces this can be accomplished using stand-up desks, wheeled furniture, or movable wall partitions.
The challenge for designers here will be to find a solution for storage spaces, as these have traditionally been next to each employee’s desk. So, offices will end up with things like storable walls and lockable wheeled cabinets. Interiors are also enriched with acoustic elements that can be turned into real design gems.
Acoustic elements and lighting joined together. Photo by Hezkey
At Home in the Office
The cold and impersonal interiors that employees have until recently been struggling to make more livable using picture exhibitions, vases, and vacation souvenirs are now being transformed. Personalized design will be the trend. Large companies will each have an employee with a very special mission: to monitor their workmates’ needs and help them arrange working spots that fit their conceptions.
Don't be afraid of colours! Comfort of your employees is crucial. Photo by Hezkey
Biophilic Design
Today nobody wants to spend long hours in a sterile environment ruled by fluorescents and climate control. The trend here is to get nature into interiors. Thus we’ll be seeing more and more green walls, indoor flowerbeds, and water elements inside offices. Where feasible, terraces and roof gardens will crop up too. Artificial lighting will be replaced by light tubes and skylights. Surfaces will be made up of natural materials such as wood and rock.
Small garden as a part of your desk? Why not! Photo by Hezkey
Sustainable Design
Environmentally friendly technologies are finding an ever-larger place at the office. Interiors will start ot make use of things like renewable energy sources, gray-water systems, and air-recycling systems.
“Upscaling” is also becoming a hot topic. Why acquire expensive new furnishings when older furniture can still serve superbly for dozens of years to come? A smart designer can also design many furnishings from things that were formerly used in other roles. Pallet furniture is one tried-and-true example here. Recycled materials will also come to see much broader use.
Designers will advise you how to combine the old furniture with a new one. Photo by Hezkey
Humans First
Interior designers have to focus more than ever on the needs of those who will be using their creations. They may find these needs from surveys or psychological studies, or they may turn to smart equipment in buildings — such as sensors that see how many people are moving around where and then adjust heat exchange and lighting intensity to match.
How these trends will be applied will depend heavily on the type of work in question. For example, not everyone will appreciate an office that’s constantly changing. Companies’ management teams will also play a role. If they won’t be able to completely identify with the new conception and explain the significance of the changes to their whole team, then it’s better to stay on the beaten track. It’s not just about a change of design; it’s more about people who can change their approach to work.