A new year often brings new trends and in recent years, trends in office interiors have been changing and evolving at a faster rate than before as technology changes and evolves.
We also spend more time at work and are aware of the effects this can have on our physiology and psychology, so we’re looking to make these effects positive and productive.
Here are the biggest trends that you need to get to grips with in 2017.
Work zones in the office
Up until last year it was all about the open-plan workspace and this was alright until lots of businesses and workers realised that it affected their concentration and productivity. This year will see a swing back to private or segregated spaces in the office, but only a partial swing. You should think about introducing zones for open-plan, collaborative working, as well as zones for small, private meetings and concentrated work. This approach looks great and also gives employees the option of working with chums or slogging through a project alone for an afternoon.
Bringing the outdoors in – biophilic design
With all this talk of zoning and the blurring of private and personal space, it’s no surprise that one of the biggest and most popular trends at the moment is to create indoor gardens in the office.
This movement stems (no pun intended) from the fact that people realise that they’re stuck in offices for at least eight hours, five days a week and that they miss a bit of greenery. It’s good for the mind, eye and heart to be around plants, so by bringing plants into the mix you’ll be creating your very own paradise right in your office space in London West End!
This trend for office plants is called biophilic design and it is based on the idea that there’s a psychological connection between people and nature that is put under stress by working in a stark, cold office environment.
Customisable furniture
We started to see customisable furniture in 2016, but 2017 is when it’ll really catch on, with workers being able to lower or raise desk heights, adjust their chairs, use their desk as a charging point, and probably many other things we don’t even know about yet!
Colour zones
This ties in with the work zones. One way to pick out different zones, apart from putting up screens and arranging furniture to create barriers, is to use different colours to demarcate the area. This year we’ll be moving away from the neons and the limes and into neutrals and naturals.
Smarter working
Our technology is becoming smaller, smarter and more adaptable, so it’s quite possible to have screens and consoles integrated into furniture. Bored with sitting at your desk? No problem, head to a breakout space and lie on a recliner and finish up on your smartphone. As more and more millennials – the people who know nothing else apart from switching between screens – enter the workplace, this shift will become more evident.