This is a Guest Blog by Kunal Sharma, Founder  & CEO- Flipspaces

2022 was the year companies started reopening their offices and getting back to on-premise work. However, the work culture and norms have gone through a significant change over the last two years. This led to many new office design trends that made their way to workplaces worldwide. 

Now that we are back on track, commercial interior designs have gained momentum again, with companies spending time and money designing their offices.

If you ride the same boat and are looking for modern ways of designing your workspace, here are 10 of the most sought-after office design ideas making waves in design briefs:

1. Ergonomic Furniture

Companies have moved over traditional desks and chairs. After spending some time working from the comfort of their homes, employees are no longer willing to work on conventional office furniture. 

The rickety old office furniture is now replaced with ergonomic and movable articles. More and more companies have started focusing on workplace ergonomics to make the work experience of their employees more comfortable.

Installing ergonomic furniture reduces musculoskeletal injuries and discomfort. It increases the overall productivity of your employees and increases the rate of engagement within your organization. 

Here are some of the significant ergonomic office furniture articles included in most commercial interior designs:

• Sit-stand chairs
• Adjustable desks
• Chair balls
• Bike chairs
• Sit-stand desks
• Standing mats

2. Movable Furniture Articles

Modern commercial interiors are increasingly sporting movable furniture articles. They increase work flexibility and help you move around your furniture with ease. Unlike large and rigid articles, movable furniture allows you to rearrange your furniture hassle-free. 

Moreover, movable furniture occupies much lesser space as compared to traditional rigid articles. This makes it an ideal option for startups and small businesses with limited office space. 

3. Tech-integrated Designs

We live in the age of digitization. From the moment your employees enter the office until they punch out, they are surrounded by electronic gadgets and digital devices. To accommodate them and optimize the use of technology at workplaces, companies are incorporating tech-integrated office designs. 

These designs integrate technology with virtually every office area to make things easier for your employees. From smartboards and wireless chargers to electrical outlets embedded in every desk, tech-integrated designs are here to stay.

4. Biophilic Designs

While we have surrounded ourselves with digitization, we tend to leave nature behind. Modern civilization often depleted natural resources to build concrete jungles. Companies are making a small contribution towards mother nature by choosing biophilic designs while designing their interiors. 

Biophilic designs incorporate natural elements in office designs to prevent workers from getting completely disconnected from nature. They prevent your employees from feeling as if they work in digital dungeons all day without having any idea what it is outside. 

Incorporating biophilic office designs improve the mental well-being of your employees and increase their focus at work. Here are some key elements that are often included in such designs:

• Water features like miniature waterfalls and fountains
• Potted plants
• Natural materials like stones, bamboo, wood, etc.
• Green walls
• Color schemes that are in tune with the nature
• Textures evoking the feeling of nature

5. Open Floor Plans

After spending a good amount of time working by themselves remotely, employees returning to the office need to interact with their peers and feel the collective energy in the offices they work in. Open floor plans allow you to eliminate walls and physical barriers between your employees.

Open office designs facilitate seamless collaboration between your employees as they can see each other while working at their workstations. It prevents them from being locked in their cubicles and creates a vibrant work environment. 

6. Office Pods

While employees love interacting and collaborating in person, it is equally important for them to maintain their privacy. In co-working spaces and offices with open floor plans, it becomes difficult for employees to work in a quiet environment. 

This is where office pods come to the rescue!

Office pods are designated enclosed areas capable of accommodating no more than one or two employees at once. These pods provide your employees privacy by keeping all the noise and distractions away. Whether they need to attend important meetings or work on a project with complete dedication, office pods give your employees much-needed privacy in a hectic workspace. 

7. Hot Desking

Gone are the days when employees were stuck at the same desks throughout the year. With increased workplace mobility, there are no more permanent seating spaces for employees. Hot-desking allows workers to keep shifting between different workstations based on specific purposes. 

Here, your employees have a separate workstation to work on a specific project, a different workstation for working alone, and yet another space to relax and spend time with themselves. Hot desking is a reasonably new office design trend that keeps your office’s heart beating!

8. Co-working Spaces

Companies are shifting to co-working spaces, with hybrid workspaces gaining more prominence in the post-pandemic world. These spaces are designed to accommodate multiple companies to work under the same roof while having their separate workstations. 

9. Use Of Color Psychology

Companies have started putting in a lot more planning in designing their offices than they used to. Color psychology involves using colors in commercial interiors based on the specific emotional responses they evoke. For example, colors like green and blue have a calming effect on the employees. On the other hand, colors like red and orange evoke motivation and passion. 

10. Green Or Living Walls

This can be treated as an extension of biophilic design, but it is much more prevalent in office designs. Green walls or living walls are walls that are wholly or partly covered by vegetation. Depending on the maintenance you can afford, you can choose to have natural or artificial vegetation on your office walls. Such designs instill a sense of freshness and give an exotic look to your office.

The Final Word

These were some of the most sought-after office design ideas and trends that are making rounds in companies worldwide. If you plan to make a comeback by opening the locks to your office doors, make sure you give your workplace an ideal blend of aesthetics and utility.