Top 10 Corporate Office Design Trends in 2023

Updated May 4, 2023

In light of the pandemic, traditional workplace design and in-person coworking spaces took a hit, while private office designs and home office and remote working saw increased popularity. Now, recent data suggests that employees might be back in the office in strong numbers this year. If so, here are the latest corporate office design trends and ideas to note:

#1 More Informal Conversational Areas

Since remote work demonstrated that many office jobs could be completed successfully at home, the goal of going into the modern office is often for informal discussions, collaboration, creativity, and company culture building. As a result, you’ll soon be seeing more open space design elements in workplace design; think café-type seating areas as opposed to meeting rooms. It was recently reported that 60% of companies are redesigning their offices to accommodate the shift to hybrid work, with many eliminating private office spaces and devoting more space to café-like seating and open-space work areas¹.

As the authors adroitly observe in writing about the hybrid office layouts in The Harvard Business Review²: “The latter will become primarily a culture space, providing workers with a social anchor, facilitating connections, enabling learning, and fostering unscripted, innovative collaboration.”

#2 Modern Offices that Feel Like Home

Knowing that we got comfy and cosy in our loungewear over the pandemic, 2022 offices will reflect a home office-like atmosphere. Other office design ideas include plush carpeting, comfy couches, warm lighting, and even curtains!

#3 Office Designs with Health Considerations

Given recent health events, designers are incorporating health considerations for the interior space in new offices. What will those ideas look like? Expect to see office layout changes, such as more space between desks, surfaces that are easy to clean, and elevators installed with ultraviolet lighting that disinfects automatically. Buildings are also upgrading their HVAC systems to improve indoor air quality.

#4 Flexible Workspace and Flexible Furniture

Hot desking and activity-based working have taken centre stage as an office design trend. Simply put: hot desking is the term for non-dedicated, shared workspaces; employees have a different desk or space each time they visit the office. Of course, then, look to flexible furniture and hot desking equipment such as rolling whiteboards, file cabinets that double as a stool, height-adjustable desks, and mobile storage units to create “on the fly” workplaces. Google, for example, is experimenting with Team Pods to embrace this philosophy³.

A flexible workspace also means that a room can easily be converted from one purpose to another. A conference room might quickly turn into an after-hours lounge area or an innovation zone.

#5 A Green Office Offering Plants & Sustainable Materials

Workplace design trends may come and go, but going green is here to stay. Designers and management have recognised that plants are good for you and for them. Research suggests that a green workplace boosts employee productivity by 15%, helps clean the air, increases airflow, lowers toxins, and turns down the noise quotient⁴.

As Manasa Kovvali Rao, Sustainability Data Manager and Researcher at WAP Sustainability Consulting explains: “Adding plants to an office space has multi-faceted benefits. Taking a break from stressful work and tending to plants can have a calming effect on the mind. It also brings workers closer to understanding seasonal variations and their effect on vegetation.”

Biophilic office interior design will also play a key role in office design in the new year. It simply means incorporating elements of nature into the workspace. A modern office design will include natural woods, bamboo, stone, waterfalls, and even fish tanks.

#6 Turning Down the Volume

Employees today are looking for a quiet and productive office space. Of course, noise reduction starts from the ground up, with carpeting acting as a good sound absorber. Certain vinyl flooring also works to mitigate noise. Phone booths have also emerged as a soundproofing lifeline for noisy co-workers.

#7 Embracing Smart Lockers

Smart office features and innovative office technology are shifting from amenities to necessities. Without permanently assigned desks or cubicles in the corporate space, there’s a need for safely and securely transferring documents, badges, laptops, and other physical resources.  Enter Corporate Hub: a delivery model that leverages electronic locker solutions to allow for safe storage and retrieval of items within 10 seconds using a unique barcode from a users’ mobile phone. “Everyone wants to control their personal effects,” explains Jeffrey Gay, an architect and designer for MOI⁵. “With the open office colliding with the hybrid workplace, you don’t always know who is in the space. You want to know that your things are safely locked away.”

#8 Neutrals with Pops of Colour

Beige and off-white aren’t going away as a design idea, especially in offices. Instead, they act as the neutral base layer for offices with bright pops of colour added to doors, chairs, and window treatments.

#9 More Natural Lighting

Similar to employees racing to find outdoor space during the height of the pandemic, today, they’re looking for bright, natural light in the office environment to elevate their mood. Numerous studies demonstrate that natural light fends off depression, improves sleep, and overall improves health⁶.

#10 Wallcoverings that Add Colour and Texture

Say goodbye to the old image of wallpaper and hello to innovative ideas in wallcoverings for the modern corporate office. As noted by Paint & Color Trend Report7: “Wallpaper can really liven up rooms. It can create a design focal point, add character to a space, and set the tone for the entire room.”

Office wall murals are popular and often represent elements of nature. Art deco wallpaper is a rising trend, and we expect to see more of it this year.

Hybrid work is here to stay and these workplace design trends will help make the transition back to the office easier for your employees. When employees enter the workspace, they need a flexible, yet comfortable space. Most importantly, they also need a dedicated space to stash their property, documents, or files which is where smart lockers play a pivotal role. To talk to a representative about how to design commercial workplace lockers, contact a Parcel Pending representative today!

Sources:

1. Nohria, Nitin. The Wall Street Journal. The Post-Pandemic Office Should Be a Clubhouse. (2022, January 6). https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-post-pandemic-office-should-be-a-clubhouse-11641482830.
2. Fayard, Anne-Laure, et al. Harvard Business Review. Designing the Hybrid Office. (2021, March). https://hbr.org/2021/03/designing-the-hybrid-office.
3. Delgado, Rodolfo. Forbes. The Impact Of A Hybrid Work Environment On Real Estate. (2021, July 19).  https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2021/07/19/the-impact-of-a-hybrid-work-environment-on-real-estate/?sh=651ff89d2058.
4. Drake, Sandra. Parterre. Corporate Office Interior Design Trends [2022]. (n.d.). https://parterreflooring.com/latest-office-design-trends/.
5. Proctor, Carolyn M. Washington Business Journal. Post-Covid offices are bringing in welcome design changes. (2021, July 16). https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/07/16/post-covid-office-design-changes.html.
6. Boubekri M., Cheung I., Reid K., Wang C., Zee P. Impact of Windows and Daylight Exposure on Overall Health and Sleep Quality of Office Workers: A Case-Control Pilot Study. [(accessed on 23 February 2022)]; Available online: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4031400/
7. Miguelez, Cristina. Fixr. Paint & Color Trends 2022. (2022, January 21). https://www.fixr.com/painters/paint-color-trends-2022.