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Is your workplace a bit dated?
With corporate office culture shifting from fully in-person to fully remote to somewhere in between over the last few years, commercial office design has evolved at a breathtaking pace. And just investing in new furniture or a few plants won’t cut it. The most engaging commercial offices are one-of-a-kind environments that turn utilitarian spaces into memorable experiences.
A well-designed office is not just about aesthetics. It's a powerful tool that can boost productivity, foster collaboration, and inspire innovation. From creative wayfinding graphics to inspired elevator lobbies, staying ahead of design trends can be a challenge, especially when you aim to create a workspace that resonates with your employees.
So, if you plan to revamp your office in 2024, read on to discover seven commercial office design ideas to inspire you – each one brimming with creativity, functionality, and the potential to transform your workspace into a beacon of inspiration for your team.
The Best Commercial Office Design Ideas for 2024
Experiential design is everywhere. It’s not just nice to have, it’s expected. And if hospitals, hotels, and retail stores are embracing it, why not corporate office interiors? Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the most inspirational yet effective modern commercial office design ideas. Each provides a unique experience for employees and conveys the brand’s values and ethos.
1. Create Bespoke Environments
Airbnb took inspiration from some of its most popular short-term rental properties when it was time to expand its San Francisco headquarters. Each distinctive room is a unique immersive experience and invites employees to spend time in the space that matches their workload, personality, mood, or preference. It’s a move that ensures that no two days at the office are quite alike and a clever play on the Airbnb business model.
Airbnb’s Corporate Headquarters Expansion, San Francisco, CA
2. Help Employees Feel at Home
When the world shut down and most corporate offices adopted remote work, employees got used to the flexibility of working sometimes at the desk, other times on the sofa, and still other times on the back patio. Savvy employers, like Dropbox, realized they could help incentivize employees to return to the office by offering some of these same comforts in their commercial office spaces. (Minus the distractions of trying to keep the kids focused on remote school and the cat from interrupting your video call.)
Dropbox Office Sydney, Australia
3. Bring the Outside In
While incorporating nature into corporate environments is nothing new, Amazon upped the ante with Seattle Spheres. These geodesic domes are part of the company’s Seattle headquarters and provide employees with an immersive natural environment to call, well… work. With abundant natural light and more than 40,000 plants, Amazon has taken biophilia to a whole new level.
Amazon’s Seattle Spheres
4. Make Your Office a Homage to Your Industry
While infusing a space with industry references can easily become heavy-handed and gimmicky, Spotify’s NY Headquarters takes a classy approach. With themed workspaces inspired by iconic clubs and venues and even a hidden recording studio, their commercial office design reflects a deep love of music, songwriting, and recording that befits the streaming behemoth and reminds employees what it’s all about.
5. Feed Them Well
Do you know another thing those remote employees got used to doing? Wandering to the kitchen for a snack.
While providing sustenance on big tech campuses and other office environments is nothing new, modern brands are leveraging employee feedback to shape their offerings, recognizing that many live with dietary restrictions and allergies or simply prefer having healthier options available at work.
T-Mobile Headquarters Campus, Bellevue, WA
6. Design for Hybrid Work
Zoom, the great facilitator of remote work, has redesigned its London office to support hybrid workers. With 75 ‘work points,’ the brand’s hub invites employees to book the space that best suits their work style and day-to-day needs. The Zoom team has options for places to congregate and collaborate with others and more intimate spots for one-on-one and focused work.
7. Leverage Custom Graphics and Wayfinding
Wayfinding signage and custom graphics are a fantastic and cost-effective way to do several things for your employees: they invoke a sense of pride and personality into your commercial office design and help them visually enjoy the space. They can also help connect your company to the region or city it’s located in via references to major sports teams, iconic residents, or collaborations with local artists. At LinkedIn Chicago’s Headquarters, bold custom graphics fuse brand colors with Windy City landmarks, ensuring corridors and conference rooms are anything but bland.
LinkedIn Corporate Headquarters, Chicago, IL
Whether your office is 2,000 square feet or 20,000, these inspiring commercial office design ideas can help you reimagine your workspace, reenergize your team, and create an environment that is both invigorating and responsive to the needs of the modern employee. Whether you incorporate flexible workspaces, add an employee lounge, build a living plant wall, or leverage environmental graphic design to infuse your brand or industry into your design, there are myriad ways to incorporate these commercial office design ideas.
At Bridgewater Studio, we help corporate brands tackle commercial office design or redesign with our end-to-end strategy, design, and production services. From elevating your corporate lobby to fully reimagining your conference room design and beyond, our team will work closely with you to understand your goals, tell your brand story, and develop a strategy that aligns your objectives with your budget. Book a no-obligation strategy session with Bridgewater today to learn more.
