2019’s Top Trends for Office Spaces

The workplace has been changing rapidly over the past decade with trends for more open-plan offices, minimalist furniture and modern interior design. 2019 is set to see this change continuing with employee happiness at the centre of design choices.

If you are an Office Manager or Business Owner thinking about the possibilities of redesigning your office space read on for some ideas on what to consider in your planning.

Not So Open Plan

The trend of open plan working in offices has been around for a while. Bringing down the walls is said to aid face-to-face communication between colleagues as well as between staff and their managers. However, a lack of partitioned areas can make it difficult to have quiet conversations or meetings on projects without disturbing half the floor. In fact, a recent study showed that workers have actually turned to emailing instead of talking to each other in the open plan office, a worrying trend when it comes to building team relationships.

Demarcated Areas

The latest trend seems to be one that involves partitioned or demarcated areas. This can be achieved in several ways – it’s not just about erecting a screen. Many offices are opting for more creative arrangements such as using office furniture, bookshelves, plants, or even using different flooring to mark out the separate zones within the office.

Added to the growth in specific spaces or rooms where staff can hold team meetings and collaborate, areas to re-charge such as music rooms, and “concentration spaces”, where they can go to work in a quieter environment away from the telephone and general office noise.  Each of these dedicated areas and rooms have their own ‘feel’ to them, where furniture, flooring, lighting and ‘pops’ of colour all combine to create the desired atmosphere.

The Workplace Experience

Another trend set to take hold this year is of the office as an experience. With your employees, clients and potential prospects in mind, your office speaks volumes about the way you do business and how you look after your staff.

By 2020, millennials will account for 50% of the workforce. With them comes the expectation of a modern office environment and a certain level of facilities such as good quality breakout or downtime areas and decent bathrooms and showers. If companies create the right atmosphere, they will see a return on investment with lower staff turnover, more productive workers and employees that feel valued.

Environmental Impact

Unsurprisingly the environmental factor is a key and continuing trend for office renovation in 2019. Employees want their home and work lives to be increasingly eco-friendly and value being part of organisations that play their part in reducing the impact on the environment.

Whether it’s fairly traded coffee, pens made from recycled plastic or reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, your employees care about it. Making sure you communicate the eco-friendly things you do as a company is not only good PR externally but will help employees feel proud of their workplace.

The first Impression Counts

A major part of someone’s experience in your office will be their first impression when they arrive at your reception. Whilst most employees will quickly pass through this area to get to their desk, a client or interviewee will probably spend a bit more time with sharp eyes observing your workspace and how the business operates. With fresh eyes, they will be the first to notice if the carpet is looking jaded and dirty.

Getting the décor of your office space right sends signals to your clients that you are professional and care about the details. For prospective employees, it shows the understanding that the office environment matters and goes a long way to helping creativity and productivity because employees feel valued.

Revamping a small area such as a reception or a breakout area can be an easy, transformative and cost-effective option by simply adding some new flooring.

There is a great choice of flooring available that is durable and easy to maintain. You can also create bespoke designs or logos within the flooring as part of your overall branding, as we did with the striking entrance for Channel 4’s ‘The Crystal Maze’.

Eco-friendly Flooring

Revamping the office flooring is perhaps not an area where people immediately think they can reduce their environmental impact – but in fact, there are eco-friendly options out there. For example, a fairly recent addition to the flooring market that fits the eco-friendly criteria is Marmoleum. It’s an organic compound of cork, limestone, wood flour, and linseed oil which is highly durable and long-lasting, but which is biologically degradable at the end of its life.

Flooring can make all the difference

So, when planning your office redesign or revamp don’t forget to think about flooring. Interior Designer and customer of Rivendell, David Hutton says “flooring is often the most overlooked part of any interior transformation despite being a vital part in bringing the whole room together.”

Let us Help

If you are embarking on an office renovation project and are baffled by the choice of flooring out there, why not give Rivendell a call? We are happy to advise on the most suitable material and design for your space – and offer a free on-site visit.

Contact our commercial flooring specialists or call 0117 963 7979. 

You may also find it helpful to read our blog on Questions to ask your Flooring Supplier.

Categorised in: Interior Trends, Uncategorized

This post was written by Binks