As we head into the final working week of 2021 for many office teams we thought we would look back at 2021 and share some of the office options our client’s decided on…
It has been a year of ups and downs and many decisions made about office space in 2021 were affected by the happenings around us – the pandemic, the shift to hybrid and homeworking, the increasing influence of employee choices on their workplaces.
So number one – the home office:
Creating office space inside the home was a popular option for many, both for those that were working more flexibly and for those whose employers moved to homeworking as a sustainable, permanent option.
With such a wide range of furniture options in terms of homeworking, our plans and installations ranged hugely – we fitted offices in spare rooms, shepherd huts and sheds in the garden and even under the stairs!
Number two – the COVID-safe office:
As employees began heading back to the office there was a need for employers to take certain steps to ensure that they could keep the team as safe as possible. This meant we worked with many clients on fitting screens and adapting layouts – and some employers moved to have their staff facing away from each other.
Another option was spacing out desks and chairs to ensure more space in the working environment.
Number three – smaller office options:
Recent years have seen many offices moving to open plan, but the events of 2020 and 2021 have seen us move back to all options – with many clients looking at more rooms and different layouts.
As with homeworking, there are lots of options for large employers with a variety of individual offices of various sizes – or businesses with a smaller amount of space overall.
And our 3D planning tool ensures we can plan everything out to fit in a way employers and employees are happy with – before the furniture is even ordered.
Number four – ensuring comfort and space:
Employees are having more say in how they want their working environment to be – and visitors and clients are also expecting a certain level of comfort and space.
This has led to a number of 2021 fits being more relaxed and comfortable, sofas in offices, more comfortable breakout and meeting areas, brighter boardrooms and more.
And as we come to the end of 2021 the options for office design just keep on coming – as an office furniture design team we are looking forward to designing offices in 2022 and being able to use all of the options available to us.
