20 Office Breakout Room Ideas for Your Workspace

In 2011, the University of Illinois conducted a study that proved taking regular breaks from a task can dramatically improve an employee’s ability to focus. The study highlights the importance of stepping away from your screen during prolonged tasks, as the brain is built to detect and respond to change.

Professor Alejandro Lleras, who led the study, suggests that prolonged attention to a single task can actually hinder performance.

“We propose that deactivating and reactivating your goals to stay focused,” he said. “Our research suggests that, when faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself.”

With this study in mind, we’ve put together a list of office breakout room ideas that will encourage employees to leave their screens. From practical office furniture solutions to modern design themes, you’ll find plenty of ideas to plan your office refurbishment and create an enticing space.

Read on for our top 20 tips…

Go Open Plan

Going open plan means that the breakout area is always in sight. Therefore, this serves as a reminder to employees that they should take regular breaks.

While you won’t be using walls in an open plan setting, a good idea is to create a breakout “zone” through the creative use of carpet tiles. As in the picture above, you can cut in a section that outlines the breakout perimeter.

This will also help you to save money on construction costs.

Want to see more of this project? Take a look at the Riverbridge House office fit out here. 

Install a Tea Point

If you work in an office, you will know that taking a short break often involves a tea or coffee. Therefore, it makes sense to offer employees a designated area where they can make a quick cuppa.

A tea point simply includes a hot water dispenser or coffee machine and commercial kitchen units for storage. As this doesn’t take up much space, tea points are ideal for smaller offices with spatial limitations.

Furthermore, a tea point will encourage those “water cooler moments” where employee can connect with others. This will enable mingling between different departments and connection building, helping to create a stronger team culture.

Related project: Crowe UK

Bleacher Seating

Bleacher seating is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing office design trends. As the name suggests, these are stacked seating areas like those you would see in old Baseball stadiums.

In addition to providing a nice breakout space, bleachers offer and alternative work setting and a place where business leaders can host team conferences. At Ward Security, the company used bleacher seating to do a combination of the three, situating it within its breakout floor.

The other great thing about bleacher seating is that it’s not limited to large offices. Take the Fastned Charging example above. The London-based firm made use of limited space to integrate a small bleacher seating area, giving employees an alternative setting despite being a smaller office.

Offer Catering

If you have the budget and space to offer catering, it can be a real benefit for your employees and business. In addition to giving employees an incentive to come into the office, a catering area can provide an alternative workspace that brings various departments together.

Over at Albion Fine Foods, the Kent-based firm transformed an entire floor into a breakout area with catering facilities for a CAT B office fit out. Check out the stone-effect servery in the image above, which is accompanied by a choice of dining furniture, from booths to coffee tables.

Another example is Blends for Friends, who went for a rustic theme with a bronze-top servery, Wagamama-style dining benches, wooden beams and pendant lights. This not only looks incredible but works perfectly in the countryside location.

Like these designs? Learn more about our office breakout area design service here.

Create a Chillout Zone

Another great way to encourage employees to leave their desks is to introduce a chillout zone. This is a casual space where employees can relax, chat with colleagues or even play games.

For inspiration, check out Hudl’s chillout zone in North London, which includes a ping pong table, media suite with a video games console, dart board, comfy sofa and shared dining table.

Look closely, and you’ll notice football badges within the decorative graffiti mural. As a sports technology company, this feature and the overall design was inspired by the company’s identity – something you can consider for your own project.

Want to see more of this project? Take a look at the Hudl London fit out here.

Create a Work Laptop Lounge

There is no reason why your office breakout area can’t double up as an additional workspace. For example, you could introduce furniture to create a laptop lounge so employees can work independently.

In an age where employee experience is paramount, we are now seeing more crossover between breakout area/workspace design. This is exemplified in the image above, which strikes the perfect balance between a relaxed, comfortable breakout space and work zone.

One highlight is the laptop area seating that includes stands for team members to rest their computers. This is ideal for making notes while conducting one-on-one meetings or brainstorming sessions in small teams.

Related project: Ward Security

Use Hanging Acoustic Features as Dividers

Sometimes, you have to compromise when it comes to office design. If you haven’t got the budget to create a private breakout area (or breakout floor, as some companies opt for), then you need to look for alternative solutions.

One thing you can do is keep the breakout area in an open plan space but divide it with hanging acoustic features. This not only defines the space but also helps to reduce traveling noise while adding an aesthetic feature.

For example, take a look at our Corporate Insurance client in Kings Hill. Unlike a solid wall, the leaf-shaped acoustic panels create a subtle divide between the kitchen area, main corridor and glazed fronted meeting room opposite.

Related project: Corporate Insurance Client Kings Hill

Optimise Small Pockets of Space

If you’ve got areas of dead space in your office, consider optimising them with some furniture solutions. These will create small additional breakout spaces that can be used for laptop working, informal ad-hoc meetings, and of course taking a break.

As shown in the pictures, you can do this simply by introducing a sofa or individual office chairs, making for an easy but effective solution. You could also opt for a modular sofa, which allows you to reconfigure the furniture in alternative setups.

Lastly, don’t forget to bring in coffee tables to complement your furniture. This brings us to our next point…

Go for a Coffee-Shop Aesthetic

Why go out for a coffee at lunch when you can bring the coffee shop to you? That’s exactly what Classic Collection did within its breakout floor at its office in Sussex.

One key feature of the interior design is the coffee shop-style banquette seating. This includes integrated power points, allowing employees to plug in their laptops for an alternative work setting.

Install Booths

Booths bring a subtly-retro aesthetic to a breakout area – and they’re very practical too. For example, they can be used for dining, meetings and individual or group working.

Like the Circle Square London fit out above, some are built with an enclosure-style design, offering a semi-private space that’s away from the main office buzz. This booth also includes integrated power so it can double up as space for individual work or small group discussions.

Note also how the booths are made with a wipeable material that’s easy to clean and maintain. More on this below…

See also: Albion Fine Foods

Purchase Wipeable Furniture

For hygiene and practicality, it makes sense to introduce furniture that is wipeable. This will enable you to easily remove any stains or crumbs created by people dining in the space.

Furniture options could be solid-top tables or chairs with wipeable faux leather finishes for soft seating solutions, like in the pictures above.

Make Use of Glass Partitions

Glass partitions are a practical way to divide breakout areas within an office. Given that glass is transparent, it maintains the depth and brightness that would be lost with stud partitions.

As shown in the images above, some go for a semi-enclosed setup, which maintains an open feel while separating the breakout area from the main office. Others go for a fully enclosed option, which offers more privacy and better acoustics.

Related project: Tony Gee
Related project: Crowe UK

Go for a Modern-Industrial Look

If your office has a modern-industrial design theme, then it makes sense to have a breakout area to match. This could include benches with a distressed finish, brick-effect walls (you can use brick-slips for this), dome pendant lights and raw or exposed elements.

We incorporate the modern-industrial look in many of our office refurbishments, including our design for a Manchester-based corporate insurance company. The idea was to create an office interior design scheme that was inspired by the city’s industrial past.

Add a Feature Wall

Feature walls offer an inexpensive way to add some vibrancy to your office breakout area design. Furthermore, your wall can encapsulate a certain theme relating to your field of work.

Take the feature walls in the example above…

Tony Gee is an engineering consultancy firm, so its feature wall includes an image of Aylesford Bridge, which was a feat of great local engineering in Kent.

Ignition Creative is an award-winning creative agency specialising in ad campaigns for films, hence why it opted for a giant Michael Caine graphic!

What will your wall feature?

Bring in Natural Elements

Introducing natural (or “biophilic”) elements allows employees to re-connect with nature, and this is said to have a number of positive effects. These benefits include increased happiness, improved concentration and lower blood pressure.

There are a number of ways you can achieve a biophilic breakout area design, such as introducing workstations draped in foliage or hanging a “living” moss feature wall.

If your budget doesn’t stretch this far, adding in a few plants will still help to create a welcoming and relaxing environment.

Build a Breakfast Bar

In addition to offering an option for a dining space, breakfast bars can double up as laptop stations. This is ideal if you want to diversify your seating options to offer more workstations to employees.

This ties in nicely to the aforementioned coffee bar design idea, as shown in the Circle Square example above. With the wooden finishes, stools and elegant breakfast bar, all that’s missing is a cup of delicious cappuccino to complete the look!

Build a Friday Bar / Event Space

When Friday arrives, what better way to ring in the weekend than with a drink? Not only will this boost staff morale, but it will also make your space look contemporary, inviting and on trend.

A bar will also provide a good talking space for new clients and contacts, as it will create a relaxed atmosphere. This is exactly what Crowe UK for its office fit out, as shown in the picture above.

Note the drinks fridge, breakfast bar island and high-end marble-effect finishes, all of which help to create a suitable breakout area that doubles up as an event space. See the Crowe UK project here.

Provide Recharge Rooms

For a modern addition to your breakout space, consider installing a recharge room. The idea is to allow employees to unwind and get away from the stresses of the job in order to “re-set” the brain. These can come in the form of electronic-free quiet zones, meditation/yoga rooms and chillout / game rooms.

For example, the recharge room at Hudl London (see above) offers an oasis of calm away from the fast-paced office environment. With its imitation grass wall, employees can regroup, organise their thoughts and come back to their desks feeling refreshed.

Implement Company Branding

Introducing company signage will help you to create a brand experience in your breakout room. This will strengthen your company identity and make a good impression on staff and visitors.

For an inexpensive and effective office breakout room idea, consider printing your company logo along with positive slogans that reflect your ethos.

Think Outside the Box

The great thing about coming up with office breakout room ideas is that you can have a lot of fun. We recommend sitting down and brainstorming some ideas, as this can result in you coming up with something unique.

Alternatively, consider attending one of the many interior design shows in London for inspiration. Clerkenwell Design Week and 100% Design are among our favourites, as these always offer plenty of innovative, forward thinking ideas . Take these stunning tipis and statement chairs, which will make a fantastic addition to a modern office space.

Tip: make sure you follow Clerkenwell Design Week and the Workspace Design Show on social media to keep tabs on the latest design developments.

Thank You for Reading Our Office Breakout Room Ideas Blog

If your office and staff is in need of a breakout space and you like the sounds of some of these ideas, then we would love to discuss your needs and have one of our interior designers create a space for your team. Why not give us a call on 01622 663232 or complete the form below and one of our team will be delighted to help.