Designing a Productive Commercial Office Space
Businesses are seeing more and more the benefits of creating workplaces that are flexible enough to accommodate a staff that is multigenerational and dynamic as the employment environment changes.
The workplace should serve as a physical representation of your brand, assisting in the communication of your company’s values and creating a relatable identity for your employees. This entails creating a commercial office space that satisfies employees’ evolving expectations for their work environment. Businesses need to realise the value of a work environment that boosts productivity, encourages connectedness, and makes the commercial office space an attractive destination if they want to compete for fresh talent and keep their current personnel.
Table of Contents:
1. Promote agility in the office
2. Boost staff engagement
3. Create a community hub
4. Get the lighting right
5. Consider your office layout
6. Allow staff to re-energise
7. Prioritise staff experience
8. Embody your brand
9. Integrate technology
10. Bring nature inside
Top 10 Commercial Office Space Design Tips in 2024:
1. Promote agility in the commercial office space
The user’s needs should be reflected in the workplace. This entails giving individuals the freedom to use the space in a way that will maximise productivity by allowing for flexibility in workplace architecture. diverse workspaces that support diverse work styles should be made available for staff members to use as and when needed, as different jobs will call for different work environments.
You may promote mobility within the commercial office space by dividing it into zones. Employees gain from this since it might encourage more engagement between coworkers and encourage them to interact with the larger area. Agile furniture solutions can also make it possible for spaces to be rearranged and customised to meet various demands, saving organisations money on commercial office space while maximising the uses of a given location.
2. Boost staff engagement
Your workplace should be set up to give your employees the room they require to operate efficiently in a welcoming setting. Including staff members in the design process is the best approach to do this. Employees are more likely to feel appreciated and invested in their workplace when they have a say in how the commercial office space is designed and runs, which can improve worker wellbeing and job satisfaction. Employee involvement in commercial office space relocation or renovation helps them better grasp how the space is intended to be used, which can eventually boost output and streamline processes.
3. Create a community hub
Businesses today recognize the value of employee cooperation; according to a McKinsey research, up to 80% of companies use social collaboration technologies to improve business operations. Incorporating conveniently accessible social places, like a teapoint or breakout area, within the commercial office space is the most effective approach to foster in-person connections among employees.
These areas foster interpersonal interactions among staff members and provide opportunities for social contact within the workplace, which helps them feel like a member of the group. As a result, community areas are a crucial component of the modern workplace and are especially helpful for creating a better corporate culture that will enhance employee happiness, improve wellbeing, and create an engaged workforce.
4. Get the lighting right
Proper lighting design is crucial when it comes to commercial office space. Commercial office space lighting affects worker productivity and well-being directly in addition to having a big impact on the space’s overall beauty. Adding natural light to your workspace can help employees be more focused and productive. Regarding artificial lighting, purchasing a circadian lighting system can assist in balancing the body’s normal circadian rhythm, improving the quality of your employees’ sleep and their general health. Furthermore, you can cut your workplace space’s power expenditures and energy consumption by implementing sustainable lighting solutions like LED bulbs. In the end, having a well-lit workspace can significantly impact how pleasant and productive it is for your team.
5. Consider your commercial office space layout
It’s critical to consider how workplace space architecture may affect worker productivity. This will be specific to your company and may be determined by factors including building architecture, work practices, and policies.
For instance, in order to maximise their floorplate and offer more collaborative space, Trainline opted to reorganise its workplace layout in response to a trend to hybrid working. Regardless of your reasons for designing your commercial office space plan, you should make sure each individual has at least 11m2. Using our commercial office space calculator, you can determine how much more room you’ll need for the different kinds of workplaces you need.
6. Allow staff to re-energise
Providing employees with a place to unwind and refuel is essential to sustaining productivity and is becoming a key factor in workplace design. It’s vital to understand that everyone’s definition of this may vary, but having a place to get up from your desk and recharge can boost motivation, creativity, and general job happiness.
While some people might like mingling with others at the teapoint, others might need a private area to retire to. Hence, allowing individuals to select a workspace that meets their needs can assist companies in developing a more diverse and inclusive workplace that takes into account various working styles.
7. Prioritise staff experience
The home and other alternative workspaces must compete with the commercial office space in today’s environment of hybrid working. Your commercial office space layout plays a major role in fostering a healthy work environment for employees by giving them locations that are not only functional for their job but also inspiring and motivating. Some companies are choosing to “hotelify” their commercial office space, incorporating coffee shops, lounges, and other amenities to provide everything employees could possibly need in one place by emulating hospitality settings.
8. Embody your brand
Thinking on how to represent your brand in the workplace should be a top priority when designing your workspace. In a professional setting, branding can be implemented in a variety of ways. It takes more than simply painting your brand’s colours or emblem on the walls to fully integrate your identity into the area and make it feel real.
While DP World featured display cases with ship models and other items that reinforce their brand and allow staff and visitors to engage with the company’s heritage, they also chose to use their brand colours sparingly, opting for neutral shades in areas like the client space to create a welcoming front of house. A well-thought-out, unified branded workspace will faithfully represent the goals and objectives of your workspace.
9. Integrate technology
Even if many businesses are returning to the commercial office space full-time, remote work has completely changed the way the working world functions. As a result, video conversations and virtual meetings need to be made easier in the workplace. As a result, technology plays a crucial role in commercial office space architecture. In the post-pandemic environment, AV technology is of particular importance and contributes to improving the workplace experience. It’s critical to take your team’s technological needs into account. The modern commercial office space will be transformed to increase efficiency and fully integrate new methods of working by incorporating technology into the workspace and creating remote first workspaces, whether it’s a straightforward design feature or a sophisticated high-spec solution.
10. Bring nature inside
One of the most important aspects of workplace design, called biophilic design, is bringing nature within. Incorporating natural aspects like daylight, plants, and materials like wood or stone is known as biophilia. Studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of biophilic design on well-being and productivity, with the presence of plants reducing stress levels by 37% and increasing output by 15%.
Conclusion
A vertical planting system designed by Square Mile Farms enables employees to harvest their own greens and herbs from hydroponic planters placed in commercial office space. Such initiatives foster a sense of community among staff members and enhance their job happiness while also supporting the larger sustainability goals of organisations. They also function as a catalyst for employees to interact with their workplace and come into the commercial office space.
Speak with our workspace specialists for assistance in designing a space that will support the growth of your company and satisfy your specific needs.
For more information on designing a productive commercial office space visit us at www.boardwalkindia.com