(IMPORTANT NOTICE: The recommendations on this article on how to help protect workers are NOT from health experts, and have not been medically tested nor proven as an effective cure or prevention for COVID-19 or any other diseases.)
The 2020 covid pandemic have drastically changed the ways we work and live. If there’s ever a time to look at office design ideas post covid, it’s now.
We now know how much work can get accomplished remotely. Employees can easily flourish in their home offices, and numerous surveys show how the majority of office workers feel just fine not coming into the corporate office.
So is the workplace finished?
Hardly.
Take a clue from big corporations. In September 2020, Amazon Music signed a lease agreement for a 40,000 square foot space in Brooklyn. That’s in addition to leases in Seattle and other tech companies signing leases in other cities. They must be expecting workers to show up again in real life.
Companies have an opportunity to break away from the same old approach using typical desks and chairs, or simply setting up workstations without much thought to the surroundings.
The corporate office can’t just be about functioning and completing tasks, because many functions can be done in home offices.
“It’s not a time to design a workplace of the future that looks a lot like the past, only more spaced out,” writes David Schwarz on Workdesign.com. “[Create] interactive, multi-sensory experiences that put collaboration and culture at the center.”
A positive office setting will bring people together to share an experience.
Creating the New Office Experience
How do you envision new office design ideas post covid? It’s more than just bodies occupying desks and ergonomic chairs.
Think through colors and furnishings that reflect your brand and foster an atmosphere of creativity and problem solving.
Photo: HON Concinnity Desk
The 2010 Office Furniture Office Inspirations Gallery reveals settings that combine home décor with the work environment; minimal and abstract design; industrial and open office design. Offices support company goals, but the trend is bringing people together and is really an extension of ergonomics—making sure the environment is equipped to help people do their best.
Photo: Rouillard Lead X Chair
But there’s another key to an office that’s designed effectively: flexibility.
Why is that important?
It’s one of the traits that keeps top talent engaged so that they feel a part of the company’s culture and want to stay put.
Look back to the Gensler 2016 Workplace Survey that links innovation to office design:
“The most innovative companies provide their organizations with a diversity of well-designed spaces in which to collaborate and to focus, as well as empowering employees with the ability to work when and where it best suits their work needs.”
Designing a Community
What kind of spaces are needed in today’s office? These are key when planning and gathering office design ideas post covid:
- Individual spaces to focus
- Conference rooms to brainstorm
- Social spaces to interact with co-workers over coffee and lunch
Does the office have to be all things to all employees?
Evaluate your expectations for your workers. Do you grumble if they don’t come into the office? You can decide if you want to hold them accountable or trust them to do their best and deliver so that corporate benchmarks are met and exceeded.
Top talent doesn’t stay put in one place.
The Gensler Survey that was conducted five years ago reports that “innovators report spending only 74% of the work week at the office.”
They were twice as likely as non-innovators to use “cafeterias, coffee shops, and outdoor spaces.”
Don’t design a workplace to keep people in one place, but aim to link people together in supportive relationships. This is very important and at the heart of office design ideas post covid.
Aligning with Nature in the City
Los Angeles is a sprawling urban center and yet it has amazing natural elements—the beaches and cool breezes from the South Bay and Playa Vista, north to Malibu. Then there’s the ever-present Mount Wilson, visible throughout the year from downtown Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley, and other cities to the south.
Bring in the sunshine that bathes the region and make the office green to boost morale.
An example of a unique office setting is Second Home, a co-working company based in London with a two-acre campus in Hollywood. The website makes a bold claim—they’re “LA’s healthiest work space.”
There’s plenty of greenery inside and outside in a space that was formerly a parking lot. Fresh air is pumped into offices. They make use of the comfortable climate with working areas that are “60% outdoors, 40% indoors, and 100% clean.”
Second Home maximizes the use of sunshine with light wells that were cut into the two-story main building to bring daylight to the bottom floor. Breezeways were created to circulate fresh air.
The lead designer on the office space, Diego Cano-Lasso, told the Los Angeles Times that “How architecture relates with the environment is crucial to our well-being.”
Second Home is an office experience that’s not easily copied, or can’t be copied, in a home office.
What if you’re in an office tower in a city like Irvine, near the John Wayne Airport, and it isn’t possible to create a lush outdoor garden and none of the windows are designed to open?
Plan a Green Office with plenty of plants, natural light, and organic fabrics. It’s highlighted on 2010 Office Furniture’s Office Inspirations.
Photo: OFS Grow Up & Roo Planter
Design indoor-outdoor spaces for trainings or other uses.
The sheriff’s department in Contra Costa County has a conference room that seats up to 175 people. If that space fills up then “the back wall can be opened up entirely to a shaded patio via a glass garage door, to accommodate another 100 people,” as described in Metropolis Magazine on Post-Covid outdoor workspaces.This creates flexible multi-use work areas.
Photo: Nevins Bio Canvas Divider
Imagination and Resources
Covid created challenges that forced companies to reimagine how they’d get work done. Now the future is here, and it’s the best time to reimagine your office space. With 2010 Office Furniture’s space planning expertise and wide array of office furniture products, it’s easier more than ever to create a workspace that reflects the times as well as your brand.
We Can Help You With Office Designs Ideas Post Covid
Our team at 2010 Office Furniture has worked with some of the most recognizable brands around Los Angeles and Orange County, plus leading nonprofits and small businesses that are expanding. Through it, we’ve gained more than 50 years combined experience and knowledge on the furnishings that build brands and help keep employees engaged in their work.
Contact us for a consultation on your next projec. We can help you with suitable office design ideas post covid.
Read Also: Work From Home Office Furniture
Main Photo: OFS Rowen and Wyre Lounge
Resources & Special Thanks to Respective Product Manufacturers: HON, Nevins, OFS & Rouillard
(IMPORTANT NOTICE: The recommendations on this article on how to help protect workers are NOT from health experts, and have not been medically tested nor proven as an effective cure or prevention for COVID-19 or any other diseases.)