Trends are fast shifting when it comes to designing an office space. No longer are blank white walls and glass partitions considered the go-to solution; instead, business owners are now embracing bolder colour palettes, nonconventional partitions, open plans plus loose furniture and fittings, to make the office space feel less confined and a lot more appealing to all who frequent it. Let’s now look into these different solutions and how they can be implemented to varying degrees when designing an office space.
#1 Colour Palette
As aforementioned, traditionally, the walls in office spaces were predominantly painted white, a blank canvas, with only the occasional branding to distinguish one office from the next. With time however, we are seeing more and more business owners embracing bolder Colour Palettes, a mixture of patterns and textures and panel cladding to give their office space more character. Branding is still being incorporated but now, more so for brand recognition and visibility as opposed to accentuating the office space.
#2 Nonconventional Partitions
Moving away from standard glass partitions, we are now seeing an upsurge in the number of office spaces with Nonconventional Partitions demarcating one area from another. These range from plant stands, flower shelf and box shelf partitions, to planter boxes, rack partitions and room dividers. These not only help separate the areas but also add colour and character to the office space. Anything from flowers, pottery, artwork and trinkets can be placed on the partition increasing to its numerous usage options and/or potential.
#3 Space Planning and Layout
The Space Planning and Layout of most modern office spaces is now more open as opposed to the closed office spaces we were more accustomed to seeing. One is more likely to walk into any office space and be met with zero partitions, just carefully placed nonconventional partitions and dividers to distinguish one area from the next. This in turn has made offices to appear more welcoming, airy and visually larger in size. In some cases, the staff in these offices have been encouraged to embrace flexible sitting thus increasing employee interaction and team morale.
#4 Loose Furniture and Fittings
The Furniture and Fittings currently adorning most office spaces tends to be more loose and less chunky when compared to the past. With the exception of the workstations that can easily be pulled apart and assembled elsewhere, the remaining furniture pieces ranging from benches, couches to visitor chairs and dining furniture tends to be loose, modular and multipurpose. One can easily rework them to fit a specific need or put them away altogether to create a more open space.
#5 Fun, Fun and More Fun
As a bonus feature, business owners are now curating their office spaces to become More Fun and appealing to the younger generation of employees. Anything from a games area sporting the likes of a pool table, darts board, table tennis and foosball unit, to a juice bar with the latest mocktails, and a lounging area with sleeper couches, beanbags and hammocks for that midday nap. Nothing is too unconventional when it comes to bringing a fun element to the office space; a proven move that has been shown to increase workplace productivity.
With these pointers in mind, don’t limit yourself to dated and/or boring office spaces, instead, embrace these solutions and watch your space come to life. Should you however, require some professional assistance, feel free to reach out and we’ll be more than happy to help. After all, we are in the business of transformation and believe beautiful and functional spaces go hand in hand.
Till next time…Baraka Tele
