The past year has brought about massive changes in the way we live our lives, both at home and in our office spaces. Hybrid working policies have transformed offices across the globe, with its design now focused on both comfort and practicality. Adapting to these real world changes to office design is crucial in reimagining how office spaces will look like for the foreseeable future. This article explores the biggest office design trends of 2022 that will help your company create a productive, happy, and comfortable workspace interiors .
1. Ergonomic Workspaces
People aren’t meant to sit in one position for extended periods of time. Due to this, many companies have switched to ergonomic workspaces that put the well-being and ease of their employees at the forefront. Defined as ‘the study of optimal positioning as well as comfort’, ergonomics helps in ensuring healthy and productive work environments. Investing in adjustable standing desks, monitor set-ups, and chairs ensures that your employees’ health and comfort is prioritized and an optimal office design is achieved.
2. Sustainable office design
Companies are realizing the impact they have on the environment and are shifting towards sustainable office fit-out designs. Incorporating a sustainable design in your office is a great way to reduce your business’ carbon footprint and is a step towards a more sustainable future. Sustainable workspaces can be achieved in a multitude of ways. Promoting the use of eco-friendly materials, using LED lighting, placing recycling stations as well as adding botanicals are great ways to make your office space more sustainable.
3. Resimercial Design
The term ‘resimercial’ is a combination of the words ‘residential’ and ‘commercial’. This trend practiced by fit-out companies in Dubai has spiked in popularity after the introduction of work from home policies due to the increased need for offices to have a more ‘home-from-work’ environment. People are most productive in familiar and comfortable environments, which is why many companies have begun designing their offices to accommodate this trend. You can make your office more resimercial by incorporating elements like sofas and soft lighting in common spaces, or using textures and natural lighting to add a needed element of nature and relief.
4. Acoustic Design
People are most productive when distractions are limited. Working from home has given people control over their surroundings and distractors can be limited easily. Sound is a distraction that is hard to completely get rid of, but there are ways to reduce it as much as possible. The introduction of dual use acoustic products has made office spaces more productive and quiet. You can find carpets, wall coverings, furniture, and lighting products that provide sound reduction while still having a cohesive aesthetic theme.
5. Smart Offices
The traditional office has officially gone out of style and modern tech-integrated offices are taking its place in office design. Remote working has made it so that people are entirely reliant on technology and the internet as a whole. With such heavy reliance on anything digital, it’s important for offices to update their designs to account for these changes. Touch-less doors, desk-booking systems, internet connectivity for projects and video conferencing are some ways you can seamlessly incorporate technology in various aspects of your interior design.
6. Spatial Office Designs
Social distancing is a concept that will need to be incorporated in almost all office designs. The current trend focuses on the creation of spaced-out offices with mobile partitions. Creating various work zones like a quiet zone or a meeting zone separate from each other is a great way to reduce crowding while giving people options for where they want to work.
Office designs have had a drastic transformation over the past year and these trends are a reflection of that. As we slowly move back into our offices, it becomes increasingly important for these spaces to be places of productivity, comfort, and collaboration.