Designing a Collaborative Office Space to Ignite Creativity and Productivity at Work

Designing a Collaborative Office Space SitOnIt Seating Collaboration

The collaborative office space is a growing trend in today’s modern workspaces, with its importance and popularity gaining much momentum especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. These spaces are designed to foster teamwork, communication, and creativity among employees. 

What is a Collaborative Space?

What is the collaborative space definition? Collaborative office spaces are specially designed areas where individuals can come together, share ideas, and work towards a common goal. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of collaborative spaces, the type of office furniture needed, and why it’s important to have in the office, especially after Covid.Designing a Collaborative Office Space Arcadia TOOtheLOUNGE Seating
Photo: Arcadia TOOtheLOUNGE Seating

Both Arcadia TOOaPICNIC and TOOtheLOUNGE Seating can provide great setups for a collaborative area.  Their innovative booth-like designs and built-in worksurface tables offer a haven for small groups to share ideas and work, while minting some quiet and privacy.

Designing a Collaborative Office Space Arcadia TOOaPICNIC Lounge
Photo: Arcadia TOOaPICNIC Lounge Seating

Benefits of the Collaborative Office Space

Collaborative spaces provide numerous benefits to employees and the organization as a whole. These benefits include increased creativity, enhanced communication, heightened productivity and improved employee satisfaction.

Inspire Company Creativity

A great advantage of offering a collaborative office space to your employees is having a designated area for them to brainstorm, exchange information and share ideas.  This cultivates creativity and innovation, which then leads to developing new products and services.

Collaborative Office Interiors that Spark Communication

A collaborative workspace helps to break down communication barriers and encourage employees to share their thoughts and ideas openly. This leads to better communication among team members and helps to build strong relationships.

Designing a Collaborative Office Space OFS Lotive Tables
Photo: OFS Lotive Tables

The Lotive Table from OFS is efficient and streamlined, light enough to transport anywhere.  With many whimsical colors available, workers can easily have their own individual Lotive Table set up in front of them as they work together in groups.

Heighten Office Productivity

Setting up a collaborative area with the appropriate collaborative office furniture can provide a conducive environment for employees to work together towards a common goal. This leads to increased productivity and better performance.

Achieve Improved Employee Satisfaction

Smart space planning and the right furniture selection are important.   A comfortable, well-thought out collaborative office layout can help to create a sense of community among employees, leading to improved job satisfaction and engagement.

Designing a Collaborative Office Space Loftwall Rooms Wall System
Photo: Loftwall Rooms Wall System

Loftwall Rooms Wall System can help carve out spaces in your office, to designate areas for collaboration.  With three space models available and nine standard typicals to choose from, you can configure a set up that’s as private or open as you need it to be.

Collaborative Office Furniture

The type of collaborative office furniture needed in a collaborative office space depends on the type of activity that will be taking place in the space. When planning a collaborative office design, some common furniture items that must be considered include:

1. Office Seating: A collaborative office space design require comfortable seating that can accommodate different people and activities. Seating options may include lounge chairs, sofas, and benches.

2. Office Tables: These spaces require tables that can accommodate different types of collaborative work activities. Tables may include occasional or cafe tables, standing tables, and conference tables.

3. Office Storage: A collaborative office space design requires storage options for items such as books, files, and equipment. Storage options may include shelves, cabinets, and drawers.

4. Office Accessories and Technology: Collaborative spaces require accessories and technology that can support collaborative work activities. This may include large screens, video conferencing equipment, and whiteboards.

Designing a Collaborative Office Space Scale 1to1 MonoLink Space Divider
Photo: Scale 1:1 MonoLink Space Divider

Scale 1:1 Marc Marker Board and MonoLink Space Divider are great for brainstorming and sharing ideas, as well as providing separation and privacy.  While the Catalina Work Island from DeskMakers offer a collaborative worksurface with built in storage below.  Its also on wheels for quick impromptu meetings, and can be moved easily from room to room.

Designing a Collaborative Office Space DeskMakers Catalina Work Island
Photo: DeskMakers Catalina Work Island

Importance of Collaborative Spaces After Covid

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we work and interact with each other. As we continue to adjust to the new normal, appropriate covid office furniture in collaborative space design has become more important than ever. Some important reasons for collaborative covid office solutions are: to address ongoing office social distancing that still exist in some offices; improve office flexibility to support remote or work-from-home workers; promote mental health; and inspire company growth and innovation.  Enwork’s Skyline Screen allows social distancing at work while meeting with others by providing clear barricades to be set up on table tops.

1. Social Distancing: With the need for social distancing in some businesses still existing, a specially designed collaborative office space provides a safe environment where employees can work together while maintaining a safe distance.

2. Flexibility: Collaborative spaces provide flexibility in terms of work arrangements. With remote work becoming more common, these spaces provide a space where employees can come together and work on projects when needed.

3. Mental Health: Provide an environment where employees can interact with each other and build relationships. Collaborative spaces help to promote mental health and wellbeing, especially during times of stress and uncertainty, as well as ongoing remote work that typically isolate employees.

4. Innovation: Collaborative spaces provide an environment where employees can come together and share ideas. Oftentimes, it’s the act of interaction and collaboration among peers and colleagues that help spark new discoveries.  This leads to innovation and the development of new products and services.Designing a Collaborative Office Space Rouillard Coast Media Table
Photo: Rouillard Coast Media Table

The Rouillard Coast Media Table provides a flexible and informal collaborative office setup, perfect for video-conferencing and brainstorming with others.  Available in 3 sizes and multiple finishes, you can customize its fabric and colors to match any style. Enjoy its high-quality sound-absorbing properties for great acoustics, and wire management for instant connectivity.

Designing Your Collaborative Office Interiors

Collaborative spaces have become an essential part of modern offices, providing numerous benefits to employees and the organization as a whole.  Remember that the collaborative office layout you design, along with the collaborative space furniture you choose, are critical in creating an office space that doesn’t only look attractive and pleasing—but one that works! 

Need Collaborative Space Ideas?

As we continue to adjust to the new normal, the collaborative office space has become more important than ever, providing a safe environment, flexibility, mental health benefits, and opportunities for innovation.  If you need collaborative space ideas and guidance, the experts at 2010 Office Furniture can help—with more than a combined half-century of working with clients who are among Southern California’s largest corporations, nonprofit organizations, and robust small businesses.

Contact them with your space planning and furnishing needs, to make your office workspace not only more functional, but a desirable place to work.

Read Also: Design and Plan Your Office for Collaboration and Inspiration
Main Photo: SitOnIt Seating Collaboration Setup
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Arcadia, DeskMakers, OFS, Rouillard, Scale 1:1 & SitOnIt Seating

The Benefits of Touchdown Spaces in Office Space Planning and Design

Touchdown Spaces Global+ River Lounge

Your employees are more than workers—they’re consumers of the office experience you provide.  And for them in today’s professional climate, touchdown spaces have never been more important than now.  Let’s break it down.

Here are two factors impacting your office:

  • Hybrid work arrangements
  • Personalities who seem to have conflicting needs

Many companies in Southern California allow for a hybrid model of remote work where employees plan to work in the office a few days per week.

A range of different personalities expects the office to meet their needs like focused privacy and open meeting areas. Differing expectations can co-exist without competing against each other.

How do you make your office space a positive destination?

Plan flexible areas called touchdown spaces and use furnishings that support diverse needs and desires.


Photo: Global Drift Table

What are Touchdown Spaces?

Touchdown spaces are informal spaces where you can settle alone with a laptop, pad of paper, or smartphone. Or, where you can collaborate in a small group setting.

Plan a touchdown space that comes with fast internet access where your team can quickly answer emails, have a virtual meeting, or check in face-to-face before moving elsewhere to complete tasks.

The goal is to help your employees handle their tasks in a supportive and comfortable environment.

Benefits of Touchdown Spaces

Companies that depend on knowledgeable workers can benefit greatly from touchdown spaces.

Collaboration is needed to troubleshoot issues related to production and client management, while individual focus is essential for uninterrupted stretches to deliver actionable items. Touchdown spaces maximize the use of office space and give employees the opportunity to be as productive as possible.

In a hybrid work environment, defined space is as necessary as ever. In pre-Covid days prior to 2020, companies often assigned one desk or workstation per employee. You were assigned a seat and that was the end of the matter.

Special accommodations were made for employees who wanted flexibility and shared tasks. Employee A came in 15 to 20 hours a week to a specific workstation and shared it with Employee B who worked on the same task.

Now, people are coming and going on different days of the week, but they still expect defined spaces.

Touchdown spaces are community areas where you know you can either take a private phone call or meet with co-workers in an uninterrupted huddle.

Touchdown Spaces Encore Chirp Lounge Seating

Photo: Encore Chirp Lounge Seating

Practices and Furnishings that Support Space Needs

An article in the LA Business Journal states that the end goal for the office is a place to “provide an experience–much like hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers do–that not only helps in recruitment of new hires but also entices employees to gather and collaborate there.”

Here’s a key first step in providing positive touchdown spaces.

Managing the flow of employees who come in and out at different times. Develop an app that allows workers to reserve workstations, specific conference rooms, video conferencing rooms, or even lounge areas.

Take the next step and provide furnishings that work well for a flexible office touchdown space like:


Photo: Snowsound PLI Acoustic Panels

Plan to Furnish Spaces Wisely

In a flexible office setting, you need to direct sound and activity to keep group spaces separated from private spaces.

How does furniture help?

Acoustic furniture absorbs sound waves from distracting conversations, ringing phones, and other noises.

Look at the 2010 Furniture inspirational web page, Modern Conference Room. There’s an example of a small meeting area that doesn’t have a door. A clear architectural wall encloses one side, and the opposite side has a wall for writing and diagramming. An attractive covering encloses the top.


Photo: Trendy Volo Wall

Check the 2010 Office Furniture Inspiration page to get ideas for workstations and meeting areas and how they look in various office settings and designs.


Photo: Allermuir Haven Lounge Seating

Many lounge seating options are designed with privacy in mind, like the Allermuir Haven Lounge Seating where one person could stretch out and concentrate or two people could meet beneath the high backs.


Photo: ERG International Laguna Lounge Seating fr Touchdown Spaces

A similar look is available in the ERG International Laguna Lounge Seating arrangement. It has many customizable options using privacy panels and is highly functional in common areas like cafes and lobbies.

Touchdown Space Example

In the South Bay, commercial real estate brand CBRE opened a 30,000-square-foot office this summer and equipped it with 14 different types of workspaces because people work in different ways on different projects.

The El Segundo location is using a concept called neurodiversity.

They range from what the LA Business Journal describes as “acoustically enclosed, single-person focus pods for individual work to huddle rooms for small teams” to “residential-style living rooms for casual meetings, a library for quiet work, and an outdoor patio equipped with WiFi, seating and shade umbrellas.”

Spaces are equipped with interactive whiteboards and some project rooms have large horseshoe couches and large video screens.  These make for good touchdown spaces.


Photo: National Bio Conference Media Table

Plenty of options exist to design an office of any size that’s flexible and satisfies the users.

Get Pro Help on Touchdown Spaces

Contact 2010 Office Furniture and get input for your space planning and furnishing needs to create touchdown spaces or any office environment that’s right for your company.

The team at 2010 Office has a combined half-century of planning spaces and sourcing furniture for Southern California’s most distinguished companies, universities, and small businesses.

Share your questions and projects to get trustworthy advice.

Read Also: Using Resimercial Office Design as an Employee Retention Strategy
Main Photo: Global River+ Lounge Seating
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: Allermuir, Encore, ERG International, Global, National, Snowsound & Trendway