4th Sep 2024

7 Ways to Upgrade Your Commercial Office Design

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When you hear the words commercial office design you might imagine rows and rows of desks, and you wouldn’t be completely wrong. But since the birth of the office as a communal workspace (and especially in post-pandemic times), people and workplace design have come a long way, to say the least.

In the past few years alone, we’ve seen huge changes to ways of working and office design trends. Hybrid working is totally normal and discussions of workplace wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability are more important than ever.

Workplaces should be spaces that inspire and energise, and where people want to spend time. This now means making your office feel like a home away from home for your people.

To help you create a workplace that offers the diversity, autonomy and flexibility that people crave, we’ve collated a list of our favourite creative commercial office design ideas.

1. TAKE A PEOPLE-FIRST APPROACH

No matter how ‘commercial’ or ‘corporate’ your company offering is, centring your workplace around your people will help you create inspiring spaces that meet your people’s needs, reflect your brand, and meet your business objectives.

Installing rows of desks is easy, but far from the best option if you’d like people to spend more time collaborating in the office.

Here are some steps to consider instead to offer a more compelling office to spend time in:

  • Think about the experience you want people to have at work, then make a masterplan for creating that experience
  • Map out your office users’ journeys – what activities do people do throughout the day?
  • Take learning from other industries e.g. hospitality or retail where logistics are considered first
  • Storyboard your workplace based on the above points
  • Use science-backed frameworks like the WELL Building Standard to help you make human-centric office design choices

For more on this, our blog article on neurodiverse office design has several examples of how to make your office space more inclusive for everyone.

2. BRING THE OUTSIDE IN

Biophilic design (i.e. design based on natural elements) is not only on-trend, but it has strong links to wellbeing. Plants have been found to reduce workplace stress, increase creativity and even mask background noise.

You could hang plants from the ceiling, install a living wall or even choose furniture with integrated planters.

Moss wall and hanging planter at Melton Building Society’s HQ.

 

Planters can also act as soft noise barriers in open-plan spaces.

An open-plan office with desks, chairs, computer monitors and large windows letting in natural light. Cabinets with plants on top act as partitions to separate the area.
Planters at UK Anti-Doping.

 

Whilst plants are a big part of bringing nature into your commercial office design, it doesn’t all come down to greenery.

You could use natural tones on the walls and furniture fabric, or incorporate natural materials, like wood. And this isn’t just for show! Using biophilic elements like these has been shown to make people feel calmer.

Modern office lounge with comfortable seating and indoor plants.
An area with neutral colours and natural textures at Gleeds Nottingham.

3. Create different zones

People prefer to work in different ways on different days. One day you might want a desk in an open-plan area, another you might want a quiet space.

One of the WELL Building Standard recommendations for creating people-friendly workplaces is to create clearly-signposted zones for different working styles.

For example, you could create collaboration areas equipped with screens, video conferencing, whiteboards etc for people to work together away from their desks.

Collaboration area at Worldline’s Nottingham office.

Or offer quiet zones away from busy areas that people can use for focus work.

Seating areas where people can relax and socialise are also perfect for facilitating unplanned chats and rest time – both so important for culture and relationship-building.

Communal area with various seating options at Gleeds’ Nottingham office.

4. INTEGRATe useful TECHNOLOGY

Part of making your workplace a nice place to be is simply ensuring it has everything that everyone needs to do their job well.

Nobody wants to spend the first 15 minutes of a hybrid meeting struggling with bad connections, cameras and microphones. So instead, installing intuitive video conferencing technology in your meeting spaces helps in-office and remote workers collaborate more effectively.

For the office, digital room booking systems also offer a quick way to see and book available spaces without masses of admin.

A small digital screen on the outside of a meeting room. A green light behind the screen indicates the room is currently available, with the text on the screen showing that the room is booked for a meeting later in the day.
These displays link to a live room booking system at Melton Building Society’s HQ.

 

You can also use technology in creative ways to make a lasting impression on visitors.

For example, Worldline created a learning and innovation suite that includes an immersive way to share the company’s values and product offerings with clients and colleagues. Each wall has full-length screens that are fully interactive and enable the viewer to explore any particular areas of interest more deeply.