How to revive your corporate offices with oodles of style

We are so excited to reveal the new workspace interiors that we've been working on for the past months. The focus of our refurbished office interiors is wellness: designing for health and productivity as well as employee engagement and happiness.

We’re sharing our refurbishment story to show what is possible in workplace refitting, and to inspire office interior designers the world over.

Read the first part of this office renovation series here >

The focus on wellness in office interior design

We refurbished our office spaces to welcome our employees back into our main headquarters following those years of fully remote working. We wanted our employees to see it as a home away from home rather than just offices designed only for productivity and functionality.

We believe in looking at small details that when combined result in something very special.

How have we achieved this? Let’s take a look!

Spatial zoning and colour in offices

With the emphasis on creating a hybrid working environment, we concentrated on establishing a greater link between outside and inside, with the boundaries between ‘garden’ and office blurring thanks to the introduction of lush vegetation, better acoustics and sound control, and organic colour schemes.

Our interior designers have created a visual zoning system in our offices as it contributes to an overall sense of flow, as well as helping our staff and visitors navigate the space. It also helps create clear boundaries between spaces, which can help improve communication, especially when it comes to the fact that the majority of our desk space is now flexible.

Related read: How office design is responding to the changing needs of employees >

Our former office plans relied heavily on the idea of large, shared workspaces like open plan offices where many people work together at once, decorated with mostly neutral tones such as beiges, whites and greys. The introduction of colour throughout the entire project resulted in creating workspaces that are warm and inviting.

We used colour as our primary tool to establish zones in our offices. For example, in different zones – ‘moss’, ‘teal’, ‘berry’ etc – specific colours are used throughout it, and by matching those colours with furniture or soft furnishing accessories we’ve given each zone its own unique style.

Acoustics are extremely important for office ambiance

As we wrote in an article on office interior design from 2019:

A whopping 70% of office workers, in fact, are not happy with the sound levels in their workplace, according to a finding by Leesman. Of all the aspects of an irritating workplace, bad acoustics is a heavy hitter.

We’re taking our own advice and let go of a minimalist office design to invite softness in. Hard flooring and empty walls affect the acoustics of interior spaces intensely: our updated office interiors address this with panache. Think in terms of casual spaces designed for team collaboration and informal catchups, to private ‘quiet zone’ spaces designed for deep work.

Careful interior plans support office staff in a variety of working styles

Our floorplans include smaller offices and larger areas to give a flowing, transparent impression. Employees who feel comfortable in their space, and actually like the physical aspects of their workspace, will be more productive at work.

As we already know, every employee is different. Some like to move around quickly with a lot of energy, chatting with their co-workers and sharing ideas, while others are glad to work alone all day with headphones on. Some live off long-term plans, while others execute in weekly sprints.

Related read: From Korea to the work floor: the rise of privacy as wellness >

Workstyle is simply the way a person thinks, structures, organizes, and completes their work. That could be linear, analytic, and planned—or more intuitive and flexible. – ProjectManager.com

These quirks and preferences are known as work styles, otherwise explained as the ways that your personality impacts your work. The most flexible workspace design takes these issues into account and offers employees the choice of working in the best way that suits their productivity style.

This can be achieved by designing a space with different layouts and alternative working arrangements in mind. All of this combined with the natural shapes used on the floor and ceiling, for example, contribute subtly to this overall feeling, resulting in a serene bubble-like atmosphere.

Related read: The four key phases of commercial interior design >

Supporting our staff’s wellbeing through design

Wellbeing and a meaningful life is not a short-term emotion like ‘happiness’; it’s an enduring state that can lead to productive, engaged and healthy employees. In this context, workspace matters to wellbeing. – WorkTech Academy

Designing for workstyles isn’t all about productivity, though: it also affects employee wellbeing, something that we put front and central in our overhaul plans. We realised that forcing everyone to work in the same way was like trying to fit all different kinds of shapes (because everyone’s personality and workstyle is different) into the same square hole – in our case, the open office, fixed desk and computer style of office design.

Incorporating all of these considerations into our office space re-design was no small feat. We’re proud of our collective efforts to support our employees’ wellbeing and help them to maximise their productivity.

Ergonomic furniture: did you know? Ergonomic furniture improves wellbeing by reducing fatigue and long-term health risk associated with poor posture or prolonged static postures – both of which are common issues when sitting at a desk all day! This type of furniture also increases productivity because it reduces stress on muscles while improving circulation through better blood flow around the body.

The importance of choice in our office interior planning

Along with colour zoning and catering to different working styles, we incorporated collaborative spaces into the layout where groups can work together on projects or brainstorm ideas without disturbing other areas.

These areas include:

• Fully-fitted café kitchens where employees can grab lunch during quiet periods, including a beautiful seating area outside filled with carefully selected native plants, shrubs, and trees to support the local biodiversity
• Lounges with comfortable seats that can be moved around at will, and coffee tables for informal meetings
• Quiet zones where people who need peace and quiet to concentrate can go without being distracted by others
• Meeting rooms where formal discussions take place, complete with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment to support hybrid working.

FibreGuard fabrics support healthy workers and inspired productivity

All of the materials used in this renovation work earned their place on the office floor because of their transparent sustainability, their proven durability in high-traffic spaces, and their undeniable visual or sensuous appeal. This includes furniture structures, desks, any carpeting, and, of course, fabrics used.

Related read: Eco-friendly architecture: the importance of sustainable design >

That's why we used our own FibreGuard fabrics in our office re-imagining, because at a fundamental level they are designed to stand up to everyday wear and tear—and even more extreme conditions. Our fabrics have been rigorously tested and proven to stand up against common household stains and spills without fading or fraying.

We also take employee wellbeing into account, so you know your team is going to be comfortable in their workspace. FibreGuard fabrics are also safe for human touch and contain no harmful chemicals or dyes.

Feeling inspired to reconsider how you design for work in today’s world?

The post-pandemic workplace should be a place that fosters health and wellness. We hope that we’ve demonstrated through our work refurbishment that designers have the power to create spaces that are healthy, comfortable, and productive.

Get in touch with our sales team to discuss our refurbishment and how FibreGuard’s easy clean, work-ready contract fabrics can join your refurbishment journey.