2024 Office Design Trends

Each year, subtle changes in the business world create shifts in the most recent trends in office interior design. The need for flexible workplaces and a focus on employee well-being play a role in many of the office design trends of 2024. By incorporating some of these interior office design trends, your workplace becomes more enticing to new recruits, welcoming to returning workers and comforting to those who have worked for years in the space.

Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Office Design

Sustainability is an office trend we’ll likely see for many years as companies fight to reduce their carbon footprint. It is no longer enough to add greenery around the office and reduce paper waste. In 2024, companies will be even more dedicated to sustainability, which will have a substantial impact on office design trends. This includes incorporating more eco-friendly materials into office designs and improving energy efficiency.

Sustainable Materials

When designing an office, material choice is an area where businesses can increase their sustainability. If you’re renovating or rebuilding your office, you can use natural materials — such as bamboo and sustainable timber — and materials that contain a large amount of recycled materials during construction to make a difference.

Sustainable materials have also made their way into interior office design trends. Going forward, offices will contain more upcycled furniture and use recycled materials where possible, such as recycled fabrics on couches and carpets. There will also be an emphasis on investing in high-quality furniture that is built to last and repairing broken furniture rather than replacing it. All of these practices reduce waste and contribute to sustainability.

Energy-Efficient Solutions

Offices in 2024 will also seek to decrease their greenhouse gas emissions through energy-efficient equipment. The easiest way to achieve this is to choose appliances — such as printers, water coolers, air conditioners and microwaves — with energy-efficient ratings.

Office design can also impact energy use. With enough natural light, companies will not need to rely so heavily on artificial light sources. You can also replace existing lights with LED lightbulbs for further energy savings and install motion-activated light switches to turn off lights when employees leave the room. Smart lighting is another lighting solution that saves energy and increases employee productivity, as it mimics natural daylight patterns and adjusts light levels according to the time of day.

A great thing about increasing environmental sustainability is that you can save money while becoming more energy-efficient. Lights and equipment that use less energy can all help lower utility bills.

Offices With a Focus on Well-Being

A key trend in 2024 is office design and layout that supports employee health and well-being. Companies are changing their office layouts to promote movement, socialization and relaxation and altering designs to make offices more welcoming and homely. Ergonomic furniture is also increasing in popularity.

Wellness Layouts

Typically, company buildings contain offices, conference rooms and collaboration spaces. However, employees who work from home have the opportunity to manage their stress levels by moving around. When they get overwhelmed, it’s easy to step outside for fresh air or sit in a relaxing room for a break. To provide this same level of flexibility, companies are incorporating relaxation areas into their office layouts.

Relaxation areas can take the form of small, private nooks throughout office spaces. They often contain couches or even beds. Some companies are going one step further by creating libraries, meditation rooms and outdoor areas with comfortable seating.

Companies are also changing the layouts of their offices to promote movement and socialization. Strategically deciding where each department is located can encourage workers to move about the building and not feel too isolated. Companies can also place bathrooms, collaboration spaces and relaxation areas further away from workstations to make employees walk around the office more. The added steps and opportunities for interactions with their colleagues will improve employee well-being, especially for those who typically sit at a desk all day.

Making Work Look More Homelike

Another office trend brought on by remote working is creating a homelike atmosphere at work. Throughout 2024, office interior design will include softening the atmosphere with residential design elements, such as:

Open shelving
Framed artwork
Mirrors
Rugs
Curtains
Floor lamps
Coffee tables

These subtle but familiar changes can help make employees more comfortable. Sofas and lounge chairs, softer lighting, and wood flooring can add warmth to a workspace and make it feel more homelike. Ensuring your interior office furniture architecture reflects these comfortably homelike spaces can make your employees feel happier and more relaxed.

Pods and Privacy Booths

Interior office furniture architecture trends, such as installing pods and booths, are useful ways to add privacy in open areas and create spaces for quiet work. These pods may have walls or dividers to enclose the workspace, but they are typically not as large as private offices or as open as cubicles. They may have comfortable sofas and coffee tables to encourage small group collaboration or be a more homelike place for a single employee to work privately. Pods often feature:

Desk space and seating: Pods often feature small spaces away from the rest of the office. However, they should have enough room for employees to work alone or in a smaller group, as well as soft seating. Pods should also have enough desk space and seating for a single worker or a small group to provide flexibility in the workspace.
Charging stations: Pods or booths must also have outlets for laptop charging and good Wi-Fi connectivity.
Soundproofing: Some pods will provide even more privacy by offering soundproof spaces for confidential meetings or phone calls. This way, employees may hold meetings and talk to one another in a convenient, secure manner.

An alternative to pods is using wheeled desks and small seats that easily move together for meetings or pull apart to quieter spaces for individual working. You could also incorporate moveable walls and room dividers to create smaller booths or meeting areas. Desk pods can allow three to four workers to collaborate on one project, encouraging teamwork without disruptions from the rest of the office.

The versatility of these interior office furniture architecture choices can allow settings to be scaled up or down with ease. With hybrid and remote work popular today, offices will want to integrate booths and pods to accommodate a fluctuating headcount in 2024. Rather than maintain the open layouts of the past, these new features can support the emerging needs of both in-office and remote workers.

Ergonomics for Health and Productivity

Ergonomic interior design reduces strain on workers and can lower the chances of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries examined the cost and benefits of adding ergonomic elements to the office design. From 40 reports of offices using ergonomic design, the study found a decrease in injuries from WMSDs by 61% and a drop in employee turnover by 87%. Absenteeism and errors also fell while productivity increased.

Ergonomic design ensures the support of the body in its most natural position while working to reduce strain on muscles. However, remaining active is also vital while at work to lower the strain caused by sitting all day. Therefore, active and ergonomic furnishings are increasingly popular in modern office design.

A few examples of active office equipment include:

Treadmill desks.
Ball chairs.
Bike chairs.
Sit-stand chairs.
Adjustable height desks for use while standing or sitting.
Standing mats.

Active elements keep workers from sitting still or in the same position for too long, which can cause muscle stress and strain. Options such as bike chairs and treadmill desks promote movement even while working on a computer. This reduces the impacts of a sedentary desk job and improves overall health.

By reducing WMSDs in workers and encouraging movement through ergonomic and active furnishings, offices can keep their workers healthier and lower the time taken off for injuries.

Flexible Spaces and Furniture

Thanks to the rise of remote and hybrid work, offices and office furniture are adapting to become more flexible and customizable. In 2024, companies will accommodate hybrid workers through technology in meeting rooms and changeable collaborative spaces.

Accommodating Remote and Hybrid Workers

One thing that many workplaces have discovered in the last few years is the need to be as flexible as possible for workers to contribute from home offices. Flexible work locations appeal to people who may want to cut childcare costs or reduce commuting expenses by working from home. Part-time remote working still keeps employees connected with others at the office several times a week, so they gain collaboration opportunities while benefiting from working from home.

While there was an increase in workers returning to the office in 2023, there was also a rise in hybrid work models. The share of offices with hybrid work arrangements grew 10% from the first quarter of 2023 to the second quarter — from 20% to 30%. Going into 2024, more companies will offer hybrid work options, and office occupancy will fluctuate.

To accommodate remote and hybrid work, companies have started to create more flexible work environments. This means offering ways for remote workers to connect with others at the office when they’re at home. One way you can do this is by incorporating more screens in meeting rooms and using D-shaped tables that sit flush against the wall. Hybrid workers also need desks for their days in the office, but these sit empty when they work from home. This unique situation created a need for more flexible furniture options that employees can move around and change depending on their needs for the day.

Creating Flexible Collaborative Spaces

A key factor in modern office interior design is the openness of workplace plans. Having fewer dividers between workers stimulates interactivity and collaboration on projects. Improved collaboration is essential for research and development departments and other creative teams that require face time with others to discuss ideas spontaneously. Open-plan designs also reduce construction costs for offices as with fewer private, walled-in offices, as the floorspace requires less drywall.

Collaborative offices tend to avoid including multiple private office spaces and closed-off conference rooms. Instead, a centralized planning spot for meetings puts brainstorming sessions amid work areas. This allows for easy access to the people and ideas discussed. Anyone can chip in with ideas, enriching the discussion by bringing several opinions to the session.

Emerging office furniture trends within collaborative spaces in 2024 are related to flexible and modular furniture. Not everyone wants to work in a completely open office, and hybrid workers create fluctuations in office occupancy and workstation requirements. To accommodate this, companies are creating incredibly flexible collaborative spaces and work areas that workers can change depending on the day. Movable partitions, modular seating and adjustable desks offer the ability to create focus zones, collaborative spots and relaxation areas on a whim. This reduces the need for regular office renovations, as companies can easily change the structure of the office thanks to the movable furniture and open-plan layout.

Technology Integration

Technology is the cornerstone for many offices today. Whether integrating additional outlets so workers can use their laptops in various locations or allowing greater flexibility to access online meetings from home, upgrading technology and data connectivity is essential to overall office design and worker morale.

Adding or expanding wireless network connectivity and including several contactless options for operations make workers feel safe and more productive after years of social distancing. Technology trends for the year include:

Designated Technological Spaces

The technology in office spaces needs to allow those in-office and working remotely to collaborate effortlessly. Such connectivity may require special conference rooms for online meetings with electronic equipment to enhance discussions online. For some offices, upgrades may include spaces for using augmented and virtual reality equipment.

Contactless Technology

With a growing number of employees in remote positions, companies are promoting health and safety with tech upgrades such as contactless technology. These updates will only continue in 2024. Automated light switches and taps can reduce physical contact in the office, as can using apps or voice technology to schedule meetings and tasks. By allowing employees to schedule meetings and online spaces through mobile apps, everyone will have equal access to the office through their phones.

Collaboration Technology

Another trend of 2024 is utilizing collaboration technology. For instance, Google Chat is popular in offices because it allows employees to chat and share files easily. Businesses that consolidate their technologies and create a one-stop-shop platform can allow employees to work from anywhere and quickly communicate as needed. These platforms ensure company information, files and documents can be coordinated smoothly.

Blending Aesthetics With Functionality

An office interior design trend that will gain popularity this year is functional and aesthetically pleasing installations. Living walls, sound-absorbing art pieces and color psychology all play a role.

Living Walls

Biophilic workplaces, or those that incorporate natural elements in the building’s design, often utilize living walls. These interior gardens bring indoor office plants away from potted ficus trees in corners and turn them into visual focal points for rooms. Plant or water walls and other natural biophilic office design elements can also enhance the feeling of bringing nature indoors.

On top of their aesthetic benefits, living plants require care, and workers can take needed breaks from their tasks to tend to the plants. Caring for plants can break up the stress of work and benefit employees’ health and mental wellness. Plants within living walls and throughout the office also improve air quality through plant photosynthesis, reduce noise by softening hard walls and floors, and boost productivity.

Sound-Absorbing Art Pieces

Offices are noisy places thanks to all the people talking, typing and using office equipment. Especially with more offices adopting open-plan workspaces in 2024, there is a need for effective sound absorption. Sound absorption measures involve adding soft materials to walls and surfaces to absorb sound waves and reduce noise levels.

One interior design trend regarding office sound management is aesthetic art pieces that double as sound absorbers. Art adds visual interest to offices, and when it’s made from soft materials, it will also lower noise levels.

Lighting and Color Psychology

Natural lighting and light wall colors are trends in office interior design that are sure to persist in 2024. Lighter colors, such as grays, neutrals and greens, enhance the natural feel of an office. Colors displayed in a workplace can also impact productivity through color psychology and create different zones in the office for different types of thinking. The following are how colors might impact how we feel:

Grays connect to impressions of style, sophistication, productivity, functionality and simplicity.
Green colors bring to mind nature, peacefulness, serenity, calmness and comfort.
An orange accent wall in a collaborative working area can promote creativity.
Blue is a good color for lounge areas, as it encourages relaxation and calmness.

Natural lighting from skylights, windows or other sources allows for more growth of indoor plants. Studies show natural light in the office can also boost your employees’ moods and productivity. Workers in an environment with plenty of natural light had reduced eyestrain, headaches and blurred vision. Natural light also translates to more alert employees and less drowsiness.

Natural light can also reduce energy use for lighting and provide a softer alternative to harsh indoor fluorescent lights. However, not all offices have large windows or access to natural light, especially sites in the interiors of office buildings. For such spaces, using diffused light, choosing natural-looking artificial lighting and using nonreflective surfaces can lower the glare of indoor lighting and make the light in the area feel more natural.

Office Designs That Reflect Brand Values

Offices are the home of companies and brands. As such, they should reflect the brand’s value through their layout and design. A trend that will be increasingly more prominent in 2024 is office interior design guided by brand values.

An easy way to incorporate brand values into office design is through the color scheme and images/artwork on the walls. These elements may include information about the history or culture of the company to create an impression of belonging for current employees or build excitement for prospective workers touring the facility.

The following are some examples of company values and how office design brings them to life:

Creativity: Companies that value creativity and innovation should bring these elements into the office space. Art on walls, floors and even ceilings, trendy office furniture, and innovative technology are elements that encourage creativity.
Collaboration: Open-plan offices with flexible layouts and seating areas foster an environment of collaboration.
Employee mental health: An office that focuses on supporting employees and reducing burnout could have gym facilities, relaxation areas and healthy dining options. Some companies even include nap rooms and quiet rooms with reduced lighting and noise.
Socialization: Lounge spaces filled with activities and games allow employees to socialize with each other naturally and can ease stress by burning off tension. They also provide a much-needed break from the day’s tasks and give workers’ eyes a rest from screen time.

Collaborate With WB Wood for Office Design Excellence

A better-designed workplace makes the office a more pleasant place for full-time in-office workers, remote workers and those with flexible schedules. Upgrading an office interior design with the latest trends may improve productivity and employee satisfaction. Get the latest and top office design trends incorporated into your office, and if you need extra help designing your workspace, WB Wood is a furniture service provider that can assist you with your office space design and architectural needs.

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