Does your organization’s interior design enhance your employees’ experiences? Poorly designed commercial interiors and workspace layouts aren’t just unattractive annoyances.
The environment companies create for their employees and guests can boost productivity and employee retention or act as a drag on both. Today’s most innovative companies recognize the value of building people-first spaces that support, inspire, and empower workers and help businesses win the battle for talent.
How are top companies crafting commercial interiors that add value for the people who occupy these spaces? Discover six tips for designing an ideal workspace in this article.
The expectations for what makes an effective modern workspace have undergone a rapid transformation over the past few years. Employers and employees are still adjusting to new technologies, the new normal of hybrid and remote work, work-life balance demands, and emergent economic and health situations.
As a result, flexibility is integral to modern commercial interior design.
Changes in technology and employee expectations are also critical drivers of corporate interior design. A high-end speakerphone in the center of a large conference room table or a row of identical cubicles simply doesn’t serve workers’ or employers’ needs anymore.
To attract and retain top talent, employers must deliver a positive experience with a comfortable work environment. Work Design Magazine calls this the “consumerization of the workplace” and it requires companies to listen to the voice of their consumer–the workers who will use the space.
How can your organization meet changing expectations and design its commercial space to maximize efficiency and positive experiences?
How to create progressive, productivity-boosting, people-first commercial interiors:
1. Incorporate ambient computing infrastructure and design. Ambient technology is a technology designed to be ever present, yet unobtrusive. Embed the technology into your surroundings—invisible but useful.
Ambient computing advances existing ambient technology best practices by adding features that facilitate interaction between various devices. Ambient computing builds support for the growing stable of “things” in the “Internet of Things” category in interior design.
Designing for the next generation of technology allows organizations to harness the environment to support business processes and insights without interfering with a space’s other functions. Technology is built-in rather than appended to the workspace.
2. Use environmental graphic design to tell a story and to help visitors navigate your space. Visual cues are a powerful communication tool. Color, texture, images, and words have the power to alter our moods, provide us with guidance or trigger creativity. Be intentional when choosing the environmental graphic designs for your commercial space to ensure they communicate your intended messages.
3. Go green. Consumers and workers expect businesses to walk the walk when it comes to sustainability. Brands should look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint and incorporate eco-friendly elements into their design. Increasingly, sustainable materials are also economical design choices.
For example, select window coverings that improve energy efficiency and provide building occupants with indirect sunlight exposure. Use flooring materials that are durable and made with recyclable or renewable materials. Choose flexible light and modular furniture and wall pieces that allow your organization to slim down, using only the resources they need at the moment.
4. Customize your space to reflect your brand’s personality and values. Environmental graphic design isn’t the only medium by which companies can express their personality. Modern design and fabrication technologies make it affordable for businesses to customize furnishings, artwork, and other elements within a built environment.
Often these custom elements cost the same or less than off-the-shelf items. Plus, instead of the interior being forced to accommodate the furnishings these pieces can be built to fit. Creating a one-of-a-kind interior design enables companies to maximize their use of space and differentiate their brand.
5. Make room for in-person and hybrid collaborations. Knowledge work is becoming increasingly complex and collaborative. Meanwhile, workers are becoming more dispersed. Ensure your workspace has ample room for in-person, remote, and hybrid collaborations with flexible conference rooms and project spaces.
Forward-looking designs should coordinate your organization’s present and expected ambient technology requirements with structural components and furnishings that can adjust to meet changing needs.
6. Incorporate value-adding amenities into your commercial interior design. Build a space designed to attract workers the same way you would build a space to attract customers. Consider amenities such as comfortable employee lounges, dining areas, showers, bike racks, lockers, private phone booths, and nursing, rest, and meditation rooms. Modern amenities not only enhance the employee experience, but can also highlight a company’s support for sustainability and diversity.
"Experience design for hospitality and commercial interiors combines form, function and spatial storytelling into a cohesive message."
A commercial interior is never just a place where people come to work. The best commercial spaces are built environments that tell stories, create memories, and deliver positive experiences to everyone who enters them.
Don’t let your interior deliver a lackluster experience. Design a commercial interior that delivers unexpected value and enhances your brand by working with an expert interior design and fabrication team that can support you every step of the way.
Find out how a full-service design and fabrication company can help you create a space optimized for your business needs and occupants’ experiences and get a free customized project plan by scheduling an introduction to Bridgewater Studio today.