By: Paul Dawson, managing director of Meridian Interiors – https://www.meridian-interiors.co.uk/
With many people returning to the office over the past weeks, and a lot of speculation around whether it’s more beneficial to work at home or in the office, commercial fit-out company, Meridian Interiors (https://www.meridian-interiors.co.uk/) has provided the latest office refurbishment trends and predictions gathered from recent refurbishment projects and enquiries.
Meridian Interiors saw a 70% increase in office refurbishment enquiries this year, suggesting business owners have realised that their office space is going to be somewhat outdated and wouldn’t meet the demands of the new ‘normal’. The team have shared the most popular requested office features in the last year along with three predictions on the office features employers will consider post- covid:
Green/Living walls – Nature walls have become a popular request this year, Sarah Glover, marketing director at Meridian Interiors explains “employers are understanding the importance of creating a relaxing environment for their employees. They understand that there is huge underlying anxiety about returning to the office, and they want to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible. The limit on social contact for remote workers has had vast mental health consequences which are completely understandable. Being near nature, or what the brain conceives to be as natural, is proven to relax the brain and reduce stress hormones.”
Break out spaces – Meridian Interiors have also seen a rise in the number of customers requesting breakout spaces in their office refurbishments. Break out spaces are a great opportunity to get everyone socialising again after a long time of little in-person socialising and spending lunch breaks at home. It is also a great space for employees to clear their heads and relax. Providing comfortable tables and seats can help with this.
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Managing Director, Paul Dawson, has put together his predictions on office features we will start to see more of post-covid:
Zoom Rooms/Phone Booths – with many businesses now offering flexible working, zoom calls are not entirely a thing of the past and will still be needed for team calls. Having rooms to privately take calls is a great way to incorporate this new way of working and ensure that hybrid teams can still work effectively.
Comfortable working spaces – With everyone’s idea of working spaces changing since the pandemic started, it is now time to incorporate that into offices. A great way to ease employees back into the office from their bedrooms or living rooms is to combine many features from home back to the commercial office environment. Simple things like table lamps, faux fireplaces or even bookcases, that you may have at home can easily be incorporated into the workplace environment to still provide that comfortable home element.
Green /natural spaces- As previously mentioned, green and natural elements have started to become a popular request this year. Providing a natural element to the office is not only relaxing but looks great too! Live/green walls are also a great way to ‘wow’ clients or visitors to the office with a nice feature wall that people will remember.
To find out more about the upcoming office trends you should consider implementing in your own workspace, you can find further ideas here – https://www.meridian-interiors.co.uk/blog/office-design-trends/
