Monthly Archives: December 2024

In today’s installment of our thought starter series, we will examine outdoor spaces that attract talent. Making the right hiring decisions and finding enticing top talent to stay at an organization is vital to its future success. We will review a series of renderings to help you brainstorm outdoor spaces of your own. Then we will explore real life spaces and determine what works best for you and your company’s culture and location.

Outdoor Spaces That Make A Positive Impact

A renewed focus on physical and mental well-being has led to an increased emphasis on outdoor workspaces and biophilic design in office environments. Access to nature, such as gardens, terraces, and outdoor offices, is essential for employee creativity and mental health. Organizations are incorporating outdoor amenities and natural elements to enhance productivity and creativity.

Renderings

A study of 2,000 office workers found that spending just 29 minutes outdoors resulted in a 45% boost in productivity. Meanwhile, 63% of participants reported feeling much better after spending time in
the fresh air.

These outdoor lounges offer a range of seating options, from lounge to standing height, giving users choice and control in an outdoor setting. Umbrellas provide shade and screen glare reduction for better visibility on personal devices.

An outdoor oasis that supports users looking for a change of scenery and connection with nature. It provides a place for respite, socialization and connection with peers. Work tools like carts with markerboards can be used outside temporarily to support casual collaboration. Mobile work tools allow users to bring collaboration outside and back in when they’re finished.

A relaxed outdoor social seating that is ideal for building connections with colleagues and catching up on emails in a more laid-back setting. The overall environment provides adequate physical distancing and circulation. Varied postures give users choice of how they prefer to connect with others. Casual lounge settings can create a feeling of inclusion and trust amongst colleagues. A canopy created with an umbrella can define space and provide a larger shaded zone.

Real Spaces

Connection to nature can boost creativity and focus for employees while simultaneously increasing their well-being and engagement with their work. To help employees, the industry trends is to allocate 20% of office space to be usable outdoors.

Thoughtfully designed outdoor spaces can transform the workday experience, fostering collaboration and connection with nature.

When the weather allows, the hosting characteristics of your outdoor space can serve as an excellent tool to entertain you clients or appreciate employees.

Hosting is ultimately about making employees feel connected to the organization, their work and each other.

Outdoor working is in high demand as companies seek to coax employees back to the office.

Effective outdoor workspaces must be designed to mitigate glare and weather, include shaded areas, and cater to various climates.

Outdoor spaces like terraces, balconies, and loggias are becoming essential workplace amenities, offering areas for work, relaxation, and events.

Ensure your outdoor spaces are equipped with weatherproof furniture and equipment. Additionally, plan for noise control to minimize disturbances from traffic or nearby businesses.

The future of work involves integrating nature and sustainable design to create healthy, productive environments.

Maximize your office real estate by creating outdoor spaces that take advantage of what makes your location unique.

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In the latest installment of our thought starter series we will go through the impact your reception space can have on your organization. From colors and textures to sizes and configurations, we will help you learn all about receptions that make a good first impression on guests.

What Makes A Good Reception?

Your organization’s reception space is the first place to make a good impression with visitors and tell a story with your brand. Colors, textures, and postures can make a big different in making guests feel welcome and relaxed. By integrating technology in these spaces, organization can provide additional messaging to their waiting guests.

A welcoming and comfortable reception area can positively impact employee morale and job satisfaction.

Renderings

Today’s reception areas need to feel more like a clubhouse or coffee shop than a traditional waiting area. Create a welcoming, stylish first impression that aligns with modern expectations and enhances employee experience.

This welcoming, comfortable, and flexible environment supports a variety of users, postures, and activities.

Biophilic design principles, incorporating natural elements, are also enhancing these spaces, improving employee health and productivity.

Modular furniture makes it easy to reconfigure a space so that the layout can remain flexible.

Real Spaces

This waiting room setting provides a palette of postures through a variety of flexible furniture arrangements that support diverse user activities.

Adding color, artwork, and different textures as pictured in these reception spaces are great examples of how to create interesting and soothing environments that give insight into the company’s culture.

A well-organized reception area can streamline administrative tasks, improving efficiency and productivity.

Soothing colors, cleanable finishes and views to the outdoors help provide a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere.

Seating solutions like the one pictured allows companies to create unique and inviting receptions that make a good first impression. This space is one that many individuals can share simultaneously.

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Our next installment of thought starters will cover training and classrooms for active learning. We will showcase spaces that support flexibility, collaboration, focus work, and more.

What Are Active Learning Environments?

Training and classrooms for active learning provide students and employees options and tools to actively engage in the learning process. New design principles for these spaces include: Me + We: Spaces that equally support large groups, small groups and individuals Fixed to Fluid: Multimodal spaces support multiple purposes and pedagogies Open + Enclosed: More shielded “me” and activate more open “we” spaces Braiding Digital + Physical: Increase video use in “me” and “we” spaces.

Renderings

Ideal for higher education or large-group training, this traditional setup centers on a speaker at the front of the room, providing an optimal learning environment with clear focus and engagement.

This environment is a good example of the Me + We design principle in use. The seats in front of computers are “me” spaces for individual use or support a group lesson. Additionally, a collaboration space supports group work.

These two grade school classrooms create an interactive learning environment with their bright colors,
collaborative spaces, and seating arrangements. Teachers can easily transition their students from one
activity to the next thanks to furniture that supports multiple learning postures.

Fixed to Fluid is on display in this space. While the layout pictured supports a typical lecture format, the whiteboards and casters on these tables allow for fully functioning group work activities.

Real Spaces

Multiple studies have shown that students in active learning environments consistently outperform those in traditional lecture-based classrooms. Active learning has been linked to lower failure rates, particularly in STEM subjects.

Movable boundaries provide shielding in open classrooms giving students and educators more control over privacy.

In this hyflex classroom, students can choose to join the class remotely or in-person. Thoughtfully integrated technology improves both the in-person and virtual experience.

Active learning is still possible even when teams are separated by distance. This flexible blended learning space includes mobile furniture, markerboards, acoustic boundaries, carts and a digital display on wheels to get people up, moving and engaged. This is an excellent example of braiding the digital and the physical.

Group activities inherent in active learning enhance collaboration and communication abilities.

This node chair with an attached worksurface is the perfect “me” space. With the ability to move and work anywhere it can function well in an open or enclosed space.

Highly-mobile and versatile furniture in these classrooms supports fluid transitions between different learning modes for all the ways students learn.

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Today our series continues with Work Cafés. We will peruse work cafe renderings of and see how they support different activities. Then we will explore real culture boosting work cafés that serve as break rooms, game areas, and more.

What is a Work Cafe?

A Work Café is a dynamic space that connects people with colleagues, their work, and their organization. It transforms traditional corporate cafeteria real estate into destinations for connection, collaboration, focus and innovation. For companies seeking to create a destination for hybrid workers, work cafés are an excellent amenity to attract employees to the office and foster community.

Renderings

This work café can pull double duty functioning providing a coffee shop vibe for hybrid workers or serving as a collaboration space for large groups.

Transform your cafeteria into a welcoming environment designed to foster conversation, brainstorming, hosting, and socializing.

Real Spaces

Culture boosting work cafés should be welcoming and vibrant. Leverage design attributes that set a welcoming atmosphere and vibrant ambiance, reflecting the desired brand and culture.

A work café functioning as a meeting commons offers a system of spaces that promotes collaboration, both planned and spontaneous.

Biophilia can have a significant positive impact on employees in a workplace setting as well. Incorporating elements of nature into the design of a workplace can lead to reduced stress, improved cognitive function, increased creativity, better mood and well-being, improved physical health, increased employee satisfaction, and reduced absenteeism.

Integrating technology in your work café allows any worker, as an individual or as a group, to work and meet at any place. Access to power, presentation devices, and Wi-Fi is key for success.

A welcoming work café is an excellent resource for hybrid workers. It can support a community of mobile workers who learn and share knowledge with each other.

Spaces like these are important because employees who feel connected to their organization and valued are significantly more likely to stay with an organization.

A work café can function as a specialty zone supporting workers with dining amenities and various food options.

Creating a social zone in your organization using nourishment as an attraction increases opportunities for chance encounters and cross-pollination.

The hosting characteristics of your work café can serve as an excellent tool to retain talent.

Hosting is ultimately about making employees feel connected to the organization, their work and each other.

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This week we are focusing on how to create collaboration spaces that fit what teams need to achieve success. We walk thought renderings of different layouts and discuss what kind of groups they support. Then we will wrap up with real life examples of spaces that support hybrid collaboration among teams.

Supporting Hybrid Teams

Create better collaboration spaces for hybrid teams. Explore a range of spaces and technology experiences designed to support in-office and remote teams of all sizes – whether you need to collaborate one-to-one or many-to-many.

Renderings

A space designed for teams to use throughout their project fosters hybrid collaboration. Tall seating accommodates various postures, while movable furniture lets teams quickly adapt the space for hybrid meetings or in-person sessions.

Maximize natural light in your collaboration spaces while reducing screen glare. Use commercial window coverings to minimize glare and create a bright, comfortable environment for productivity.

This space supports multiple postures. From stools in the stadium seating to table height on the bench it is easy to switch up positions and take different postures.

This space makes collaborative meetings more approachable by removing the traditional conference table and replacing it with moveable tables. This room is perfect for informal discussions.

With movable chairs and tables, this space can fit a large group of people or be moved to accommodate smaller groups.

Real Spaces

This hybrid space reimagines the traditional conference room by shifting the configuration to landscape. The Ocular table faces the long wall, optimizing the Microsoft Teams Front Row experience for seamless eye-to-eye interaction between in-person and remote participants. The Tap Touch Controller enables easy meeting access, while the Rally Bar Mini below the ultra -wide display enhances visual engagement.

Spaces like these are important because employees who feel heard and valued are significantly more likely to stay with an organization.

This hybrid meeting space is designed for seamless hybrid collaboration among teams and connection with remote colleagues. Soft surfaces and acoustic tiles reduce sound distractions, while a cool-toned backdrop creates an appealing on-camera environment. The off-camera entry ensures minimal interruptions, making it ideal for focused, professional interactions.

The Everwall system of modular privacy walls offers a flexible and aesthetically pleasing way to design adaptable spaces. This reconfigurable solution allows for easy adjustments over time and eliminates the need for permits, making it a convenient choice for dynamic environments.

Effortlessly shift from focus work to a video call in private, tech-enabled enclaves that makes it easy to connect with remote colleagues.

This open collaboration space, featuring a Microsoft Surface Hub, ensures engaging brainstorming
sessions for both in-person and remote participants. The Roam cart adds flexibility, allowing remote
teammates to be positioned where the action is—whether viewing markerboards or presenters.

This conference room is uniquely designed to accommodate a variety of postures. Whether perching on a stool, standing, or sitting on a plush couch, this environment encourages open conversations.

Besides being more attractive, spaces with biophilia reduce stress by 15%, increase productivity by 6%, and help employees be 15% more creative.

These informal hybrid collaboration settings encourage open dialogue and comfortable, private conversations with both virtual and in-person participants.

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