Office trends of 2020

Every year new research emerges around the built environment, providing valuable insight into how office design trends can impact employee wellbeing, productivity, talent retention and so much more. With this years events throwing most predictions up in the air, we reconsidered 2020’s biggest office design trends, factoring in the influence of covid – 19.

• Hands free technology

Office design needs to accommodate a company’s infrastructure. Think: beacon technology and wireless systems for presentations or video conferencing in shared work environments. A big office trend of 2020 is the implementation of hands free technology to limit surface touching, and an increase in the spread of coronavirus. Hands free technology includes touchless check in solutions for customers. They simply scan a QR code at front desk kiosks or access control points like doorways or elevators in buildings.

• Smart materials and nature focused office designs

Purchasing used office furniture helps to keep offices eco friendly and influences employees to recycle. Priortising materials that are easy to maintain promoting indoor quality and circulation like copper can be used. Offices are also going green as nature inspired workplace designers are bringing elements of the outdoors inside.

• Unassigned seating areas 

The need to collaborate effectively within teams and across departments inspires new forms of meeting spaces in offices.

Offices need to collaborate effectively within teams and across departments to inspire new forms of meeting spaces in offices. ‘Hot desking’ is an office organisation system which involves multiple workers using a single physical work station or surface during different time periods. Instead makes employees choose where to sit every day on a first-come-first-served basis. Hot desking disrupts old-fashioned office designs by including different co-working zones such as think spaces.

• Sanitisation procedures embedded in office design

Organisations are trying to make it easier for employees and customers to keep up with proper hygiene in the Covid – 19 era. This may mean adding sinks into kitchens and break rooms. Or putting multiple hand sanitiser dispensers in key places around the office. It has also been important to help with office sanitation, assigning lockers, file drawers, or cabinets to individuals.

• Remote working

Remote working became essential to business continuity during the global pandemic. Now that many businesses have opened back up, having the flexibility to work from home seems to be a continued preference. Remote working can boost productivity and recruitment whilst cutting company costs, which has been a way forward for a lot of major companies.