IBA editorial team In the world of hybrid work, the office becomes a hub and communication areas increase in importance. This means that office spaces must be redesigned in order to adapt them more closely to the requirements of hybrid work.
The following tips from the spatial psychologist and designer Uwe Linke can quickly bring about a positive change in existing office workstations:
Boundaries with a room
Closed-off areas are important means of motivating employees and helping them to work efficiently. Room dividers and privacy screens make it possible to create individual areas even in larger offices. They offer private spaces and opportunities for seclusion that supplement collective work areas.
Colour selection and light design
A positive workplace atmosphere and a stimulating environment spark creativity and enable employees to enter the workflow more easily. Office walls should not be uniformly white. Instead, they should be painted in attractive colours, and work areas should be equipped with bright light sources that can be used individually.
Sharing and infotainment
Little niches and seating areas for groups of four to eight people enable project-related interaction as well as efficient process work.
Authenticity and nature
Natural materials such as wood and plants create a special room atmosphere and promote creativity. As a result, offices become places where people like to spend time, and thus attractive alternatives to working from home.
A final tip:
Renting or leasing office furniture is another option for making offices future-oriented. At the very least, this makes it possible to test experimentally what kind of office design works for the employees and what they prefer.
