The Top 8 Office Interior Design Trends of 2021 For NY Workplaces
Covid-19 took businesses for a ride in 2020, so what can they expect in the upcoming year? Although things are calming down, there are certain trends that are here to stay for the foreseeable future, and companies need to adapt. Fixed is a thing of the past. Flexibility and fluidity are the now and the future.
Looking for 2022’s top office trends instead? Check here!
1. Distance Will Dominate
At present, it’s unclear when the government will give the green light for businesses to return to work at full capacity. But no matter when they do, there is the lingering concern of health in fishbowl environments like offices and classrooms. This is why keeping employee workstations separate is expected to remain a big design feature. This can be a basic office reconfiguration or a total revamp depending on your needs. Either way, it’s best to bring in the experts at from ProfTech’s office interior design team for the best—and up to code—results.
2. Go Open Layout
Heralded for their innovative design that maximized space and increased employee collaboration by breaking down traditional workstations, the open office is the most popular workplace layout. With the rise of Covid-19, many business owners were wondering about the long-term practicality of this design.
We’re here to tell you that this layout is here to stay. Like everything else, it simply has to adapt to the needs of the times. This means limiting the number of employees in a “shared” space, and taking proper reconfiguration measures for the time being. In fact, if these adaptations are met, open layouts can be social distancing friendly:
- Workplaces with open layouts are easier for your janitorial crew to clean and disinfect
- Employees are easier to space apart when new capacity percentages are observed and enforced
- This design offer excellent ventilation simply by opening some windows
- Open office layouts are easily reconfigured with protective screen and barriers
3. Flexible Furniture For the Future
The name of the game for 2021 is flexibility, and this concept goes beyond work schedules and locations. The very nature of your office layout and office furniture must have the ability to adapt to any circumstance. This is why upgrading your cubicles to modern models is essentials. New designs and lines from Swiftspace Workstations and HON office furniture are engineered to be versatile, easily transforming to meet your desired aesthetic and necessary health standards. The best thing about modern, flexible furniture is that these new models combine the positive elements of both traditional cubicles and collaborative layout.
For Example:
In the summer months, coworkers have their workstations arranged in open & collaborative design. Then, during Flu season, panels and barriers are easily added to the office furniture, making health-responsible workspaces. Depending on the model of the system, you can even move the cubicles around the office for true social distancing.
Modern & Adaptable Cubicles By HON
4. Embrace Mobile Barriers
You can expect mobile barriers everywhere in 2021 because of their dual functionality. Wheeled whiteboards are the mobile barriers of choice. They are sleek, professional, and divide spaces while affording coworkers an invaluable brainstorming and organizational tool. They can even be used as temporary doors at individual cubicles, creating safe and enclosed workstations. Need to use your board for a meeting? Just wheel it into the conference room. Don’t need it for the time being? Just roll it into the storage closet.
5. Leverage & Invest In Workplace Technology
Open concept layouts and remote working have redefined what a “workspace” is and can be. Technology is continuously shaping how we work, making it faster, more convenient, smaller—this is why 2021 is the year to make the most of technology both to modernize your business and minimize your employees workstations:
- Providing employees with laptops or tablets to work remotely will both decrease the number of people in the office and give staff members a better work-life balance.
- Using floor mounted wireway systems to create convenient and separate outlet stations in the office will give employees more options to work around the office space. Hidden wiring is sleek, professional and creates instant workstations for anyone with a laptop or tablet. \
- No touch technology around the office, such as automatic hand sanitizer dispensers, entrance card swipes, creates a professional and sanitary aesthetic.
6. Videoconferencing Supported
Leveraging technology to make socially distant workstations is only half the battle. The second part is using technology to bring your employees together while they work apart. That’s right: videoconferencing is projected to remain a big feature of 2021. New interior design will incorporate small, designated rooms for video conferencing. This will allow those working in the office to have audio-privacy for their calls without disturbing the focus of others who are not party to the meetings. If you don’t have an extra room already in your office, then the easiest way to make this new space is to invest in KI walls. These are easy to install architectural features that quickly create separate professional workspaces & areas.
Compare videoconferencing platforms for your business.
7. Smaller In-Person Conference Rooms
By now you should have noticed another theme for 2021: less is more. This is especially true for conference rooms. If you have a conference room of twenty chairs around a long table, you don’t have to get rid of it, but you should expect to use less of it— perhaps 10 employees each in every other chair at most.
With so many employees working remotely and so few guests entering your workplace, businesses looking to redesign or relocate their office should opt for a much smaller conference room space. While this room can be combined with the videoconferencing room, it’s recommended to keep this space separate so multiple meetings, in-person or otherwise, can occur simultaneously if necessary.
A post-Covid conference room will likely look like one of these spaces:
8. Signs for Office Transparency & Procedures
Keeping Covid-19 and other illnesses at bay is (and will continue to be) a top priority. This is why a main décor feature in 2021 will be signage. Having a constant reminder to social distance and practice good hygiene will be imperative in the workplace. From mats to decals, there’s a sign to send the message you need, exactly where you need it.
Whether it’s the reception area, the breakroom or your entire office, there’re a lot of things to consider when reinventing your interior design for 2021. We’ve got your back! Our experienced office interior design team will help you create a beautiful New York workplace that’s up to CDC code and helps facilitate the new norm of work.
Maintain a healthy workplace with these CDC approved tips for business owners.
