The modern office has completely changed in recent years, with everyone looking towards the ‘office of the future’ and what it will be like. People are trying to get away from the standard cubicle spaces we know and loathe today and who can blame them? People want funky colours in their workspace that perfectly capture their branding and amazing furniture solutions for collaborative workspaces. They want to stay ahead of the curve by having the latest in office furniture, so that they can get the best out of their colleagues.
This begs the question: What’s the latest in office furniture?
Funky Pods
Office pod solutions have played a big part in the modern office because of how versatile they are and how easy it is for them to be implemented into the workspace. They allow workplaces to be altered to fit anyone with incredible ease and this perfectly matches the modern office ideals. Office pods can even come on wheels in order to allow unlimited workspace optimisation.
The other reason that funky office pods have becomes such a big thing in office furniture is because of the range they come in and their practically unlimited uses. Some employees are even using office pods to take the workspace outside by using garden pods to benefit the mood of colleagues.
Booths
Booths are perfect for transforming redundant space into a funky breakout area for employees or for small meeting areas that promote department collaboration. These funky furniture solutions have been trending lately because employees have been recently expanding their current breakout area as a means to create a more productive place of work.
Collaborate & Customise
With open plan offices becoming the norm, collaborative working has become much easier now. Employees are starting to use office furniture solutions that can easily be adjusted for different working environments, including times in which they would be collaborating with departments.
Through adjustable glass partitions and desking solutions such as sit-to-stand and hot desking, workplace furniture has become more customisable. This is because employees have become less attached to the idea of having a desk of their own and would much rather move around in order to better collaborate and experiment with their current layout.
Technology
The modern office is seeing a real development when it comes to office furniture being integrated with technology. Now furniture has USB ports and charging areas built into desking and seating solutions, so that employees can work from a mobile device almost anywhere in the office.
Nissan recently unveiled their own piece of office furniture: the self-parking office chair. The technology behind this comes from the same premise as self-parking cars and the idea behind it is that employees shouldn’t have to waste time in their work day sorting out their office after collaborative working or meetings.
Although it does appear quite gimmicky and it’s doubtful to catch on until much later in the workspace future, it just goes to show how much technology can be implemented into our day to day office space.
Home Away From Home
Many modern offices are turning to the residential sector for inspiration as a way to make the workplace more like a home away from home. The idea behind this is so that employees will be more creative and productive in an environment that is reminiscent of a home office.
In order to get that cosy homely feeling in the office, it’s all about looking at what you can do with your furniture. Elements such as: Plants, odd soft seating & wooden desking are great ways of getting an element of the home office in your current space.
Colour Schemes
Pantone released their 2016 colour choice towards the end of last year and it came as a surprise to find that they were two pastel colours: rose quartz & serenity. Pantone also releases their own colour pairings for their colour choices, in order to get some fantastic finishes alongside the main colours.
This year’s colour palettes are much more subtle than the previous years, meaning that rather than having intense colours that affect emotion it’s all about creating subtle yet still wonderfully colourful office spaces. The colour palettes that Pantone have released help on deciding what colours you should have your office furniture, in order to get that subtle level of saturated colour in your current space.
Eco Friendly
As of late employers have been more concerned as to how environmentally friendly they are not just in the materials they use as part of their work but also their office spaces. As opposed to using synthetic materials businesses have been all about the natural materials in order to ensure they are more sustainable.
Not only are eco furniture solutions more sustainable but they can also look amazing for your business as well as from the eyes of the client. In fact when a client sees that your company cares dearly for the environment, it can have a big influence on their decision on whether to purchase from your business or not.
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