How are offices changing? We’re challenging traditional thinking says Simon Grundy, commercial interior designer, to create places where people can reconnect, recharge and be inspired. 

A traditional office probably doesn’t meet very many of anyone’s day-to-day needs now, and doesn’t support agile working even if that is the organisation’s aspiration. It doesn’t reflect the way people have changed and become more aware, maybe even care more, since living through the pandemic.

Simply restyling your office with new seats, desks and storage in the same old arrangement is unlikely to support change in your organisation.

Surviving and thriving

Covid has taught us that the office can be done differently. Before it may not have felt like the right time for this, but necessity accelerated change for many organisations and they have found they are not only surviving but thriving.

Face to face meeting in person is still important, but doesn’t need to happen all the time. Staff may move to a rota system for being in the office, balancing the experience of sharing time together and being immersed in the business’ culture with working from home. Reducing travel can save money and reduce environmental impact too.

Technology and successive generations with greater familiarity with technology enable this change. Generations Y and Z have come through school, college or university in buildings developed over the last 15 years designed to support the latest educational thinking with state of the art technology. The Baby Boomers and Generation X still have some way to go to retirement, but they have also embraced technology and are now reaping the benefits of new ways of working.

Case study

We have just completed remodelling the head office of a highly successful technology-based business. They have always been ahead of the curve in all aspects of their operation including their office design, and they were keen to address this shift in working ready to support their people when they could return to the office.

The building has been opened up to a newly created internal courtyard garden, and has different types of interior settings from amphitheatres to dining booths, boardroom to café space all allowing for social distancing, lots of cloaks storage and no dedicated desks.

Settings have multiple uses, for example an amphitheatre may be used by three people or 30. We re-examined lighting and acoustics to be appropriate for each new space, and reused or repurposed as much as we could including architectural details.

This new head office is still professional and still embodies the brand. But there’s also a domestic feel bridging corporate and home, as flexible remote working supported by a range of communications technology is now a much larger part of the company’s operation.

New thinking on office design

The thinking behind the ‘new office’, where people spend less time than traditionally because they work in other places too, is to create a club or hub where they can reconnect with each other and the organisation.

In the new office there is more focus on services – such as managed coat and bag storage, full changing and shower facilities, easily accessible kitchen and café areas – so people can concentrate on work whilst they are there.

It is also an expo, offering the opportunity to collaborate in person in comfortable surroundings with clients and partners as well as being the setting for podcasts and videos. The retail sector is ahead on this – as sales take off online physical retail has to offer a different type of experience to attract people in, typified by the Apple Store.

In the new office we should feel the presence of the organisation, be recharged, and be inspired finding new purpose to carry us through the time spent working elsewhere.

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