Work culture had advanced immensely from Office Interior Design. Years of seeing the results of office life on people’s overall well-being have sparked many new developments in office design. Interior designers and office furniture manufacturers have proven to be truly creative in their design solutions. Whether designers are helping a startup company’s workspace function better or planning an entire office building for a Fortune 500 company, these ten office interior design ideas and trends work in a great variety of interior design projects.
Open Floor Plans
Fewer walls are a beautiful sight to see in modern office design. Creating more views across multiple spaces encourages collaboration, allows for more accessible changes in the floor plan when necessary, and is cheaper to design because fewer dividing walls need to be constructed. Overall, it is a move to improve the health of employees. An open floor plan also makes it easy to get around, thus encouraging people to move more frequently.
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The Psychology of Color
The use of psychology and color design is a popular trend in contemporary office design. Colors have been shown to have specific effects on people without them even consciously knowing or understanding it.
For example, orange makes people feel more energetic because it is reminiscent of the summer sun and fresh oranges. Greens, yellows, and blues are commonly seen in modern office design!
Touches of Home Office Interior Design
Working environments are no longer sterile and uninviting to keep employees fully engaged. Touches of home help everyone to relax and work calmly with a feeling of less pressure. Cushy seats gathered around a table make brainstorming new ideas with coworkers more fun and inviting.
Multipurpose Spaces
Collaboration and versatility help the modern office function well. Office design that serves multiple purposes assists in getting the job done well. It can efficiently keep up with the fast-paced environment and demands of today.
One area can serve as a space for two coworkers to comfortably work together, as a place to take a mental break, and as a place to hold a small and informal department meeting just by placing a few seats or couches around a table, with some sense of privacy, such as a rug to define the space or a divider like a green wall between it and the next area.
Also, in small office interior design, every square inch counts. Areas that can serve as both a meeting space, a kickback area, and even a place to relax during lunch allow smaller offices the luxury feel of having more room.
Modern Integrations in Furniture
Furniture that caters to everyday life makes working easier. Being connected to energy and the internet keeps us sane and productive, but it isn’t always pretty. Desks and work areas that successfully and seamlessly integrate technology while hiding how unbecoming it has a form that serves a significant purpose. Cords can be both ugly and sometimes hazardous. If you can’t find an outlet near your workspace, you resort to stretching cords as far as they need to go. Furniture companies specializing in modern office design add outlets into the tables and funnel the cables away safely and discreetly so that employees can stick to finding solutions for their work tasks, not for their computer battery.
Natural Elements on Office Interior Design
Biophilic design is a discipline that focuses on incorporating natural elements into the built environment, and for a good reason. Designers can’t replicate natural sunlight in interiors. However, they can decorate with plants, which brings a natural element inside. Plants have been shown to increase productivity and make a workplace more appealing, thus attracting more employees to the company. Plants also help clean and purify the indoor air and lower stress.
Aside from living plants, elements like wood panelling on the walls and ceiling, stone accents, water features, and fireplaces all add a touch of nature that is both mesmerizing and tranquil.
Lounge Areas
Lounging may sound counterproductive to getting work done, but comfort plays a significant role in creativity. A place to kick your feet up and brainstorm ideas for a project is just what the mind and body need! Lounge areas can also encourage people to rise early to have a cup of coffee and relax in the office before they start their workday or to stick around during their lunch break because they can get comfortable at work.
Intentional Way-finding
Offices of the 1970s-1990s packed as much as they could into an office. People seemed like an afterthought. This method made it difficult to know exactly where you were within a building. Staff members will often find themselves turned around in long, blank corridors. A long hallway perforated by doors here and there is neither inviting nor easy to find the room you need. Opening up floor plans made finding one’s way around an office easier. Design elements that integrate way-finding tools make getting around the office more accessible and less stressful. The office above uses orange pipes as a decorative element and an intrinsic pathway.
Window Views For Everyone
Having access to an office with a window used to be a luxury gained by just a few. Everyone else had to succumb to dreary artificial lights and be confined all day long. Taking away the correlation of work title hierarchy and quality of workspace has created a less mentally draining and more beautiful work environment in modern office design. The new model has flipped around and placed top exclusive offices in the floor plan center. Translucent or transparent walls encompassing central rooms allow the light into their workspace. Now, everyday workers are exposed to light and views of the outdoors. That is very necessary for healthy and engaged employees.
Encouraging Activeness
So far, we’ve seen how colors and natural elements make for healthier people in the workplace. Offices take that to the next level by making exercise easily accessible for their employees. Employees no longer have to purchase a gym membership and drive to and from the gym. They don’t even have to worry about when they’ll have time to work out. Instead, they can use the on-site gym before, after, or during work.
Another modern office design trend that is also ergonomically satisfying is a standing desk. Employees can stand up to work or adjust the desk to sit. It helps them move around and stay active during the day, instead of remaining seated, which is proven to not be very healthy without some form of regular accompanying exercise.
The main design inspiration for any office this day is the people working there. Catering to their needs, appealing to their senses, and making it a great user experience for employees is what will genuinely define contemporary office design. Luckily, interior designers can take the elements that make an office function well and arrange them in an aesthetically pleasing way. If you need help setting your office design, schedule a Free Office Interior Design Consultation today!