The classic office is now facing stiff competition

The "New Work" megatrend is rapidly changing how we live and work: the conventional open plan office as the reference for the working world is yesterday, and so are rigid working models. Today calls for agile and versatile office concepts. And this also means: these days, every office workplace must be able to hold its own against the homeworking office.

Colours and surfaces

"The world should be made a colourful place."

Off into the realm of colour!

Digitisation

Video conference? Or metaverse after all?

This is how it works!

Multi-functionality

The office becomes a master of transformation

That can be changed!

Remote and home working

So the dining table is there for eating at again

Home to the office

Storage space in the office

Where to put my belongings?

Everything neatly put away

Goodbye conference room

Noise screening

Working without distraction

Quiet please!

Office ambience

Experiencing corporate culture in the "War for Talents"

Feeling good

Little ways to escape

Whether powernap or brief pause for thought

To the island retreat

Socialising

Everyone meets in the kitchen

A little chat?

Biodynamic lighting

Light uplifts mood

Head for the sun

Why should I still go to the office?

Answering this question, companies need to come up with good reasons. And so they should, because the office is still needed! As a place of interaction, teamwork, creativity, productivity and – not to be underestimated – as a place of motivating and letting staff identify with their employer. In vying for new skilled staff, businesses can also stand apart from their competitors with compelling office concepts.

"Let's create office workplaces that also make life good!"

Willhelm Bulling, Marketing at Hettich

 

The office becomes a master of transformation

Office spaces that are structured and furnished with rigidity simply no longer suit today's dynamic working environment. If only a fraction of the many set workstations in an open plan office are occupied on a regular basis, they become uneconomical for a business. And that deters even more employees from coming back to the office. The answer lies in multifunctional spaces that quickly adapt to permit all sorts of room constellations. This makes versatile furniture and variable room partitioning systems essential in every modern office concept.

Tip: Click here to find further information on the room2gather study presented in the following video

 

Colour therapy for the grey cells

"The world should be made a colourful place." – Also and particularly in the office. So, it's out of the white and grey monotony of outdated office landscapes and into a welcoming and homely working environment! Warm colours like yellow, red and orange stimulate communication and creativity. Cool colours like blue, green or violet create a calming work environment conducive to concentration. Besides this, surfaces from the home environment exude a new feel good atmosphere. Here are a few examples illustrating the successful use of modernday surface and colour trends.

New everyday office life is dynamic

This is why today's office must be capable of more: in the future proof office, the working environment is quickly able to adapt to users' changing needs. This demands a multifunctional outfit that provides flexibility for changing teams engaged in project work. And intelligent convenience that simplifies everyday activities and provides better ergonomics at the workplace. The design expectations on planners is growing too: the office ambience should be attractively designed so staff really can feel at ease there. Added to this, more and more people are also regularly working from home. This means the office must provide hybrid structures as standard, in which remote working seamlessly integrates into the various processes that are involved.

 

Digital, analogue or hybrid?

Video conference? Or metaverse after all? The working world is rapidly changing. But in many places office fixtures and fittings are still lagging behind this development on a fairly significant scale. Yet exciting and interesting options already exist for digitising the office setup. Besides workstations and storage space that can be booked on a flexible basis via smartphone, the significance of data based office optimisation is increasing, with usage being captured by sensors and cameras.

Tip: digital locks provide an important key to the versatile but secure use of office space – particularly when occupancy changes from one day to the next. Hettlock Bluetooth provides an easy way of managing, booking and using lockable storage space with the appropriate degree of flexibility.

  • Office management

 

So the dining table is there for eating at again

"Remote work" and working from home have recently made huge strides. The problem though: space at home comes at a premium, and only very few people have a separate room for remote working. How best to combine work and life in the kitchen, living room or bedroom? What's the best way to set up a workspace? – We show you attractive and practical home working solutions the dining table cannot compete with!

Tip: creative home working ideas, including CAD drawings and parts lists, are provided in our Design gallery.

 

Where to put my belongings?

Set workstations in the office are history. But where to put personal belongings when changing between workstations? Where can I keep my personal valuables and confidential documents quickly and conveniently? After all, the last thing I want to do is take my backpack, laptop case or handbag to lunch or a meeting. Practical solutions are already available for this too: transportable storage furniture or lockers are currently booming, which, ideally, are easy to book and manage via smartphone.

Here, a few successful storage concepts.

Tip: storage space solutions from the range of accessories available from our Steelforce desk support frames provide storage space for everything you don't want to carry around with you all the time.

 

Dynamic meetings

Who's not familiar with them, conference rooms with a large table in the middle, with chairs and a narrow aisle on all sides and a large screen up front. This may be the optimal solution when one person is delivering a presentation and the others are listening, or present for a quite show of hands. But to stimulate creativity and turn everyone attending into active participants, there are better solutions: demonstrating flexibility, the room adapts to its users and to the purpose it is being used for, breaks up rigid meeting structures and extends an invitation to gather off the cuff.

Tip: mobile caddies offer practical meeting inventory on wheels. Take a look at our Design gallery

  • Dynamic meetings

 

Working without distraction

For a place to concentrate, there's the home working environment, right? Because in future the office will mainly be a place for networking and communicating. Well, were it only as simple as that… Because with the hustle and bustle of family life going on at home, many people simply can't work in a quiet environment where they're not distracted. Situations we find work particularly well are these retreats to escape to from the turbulence of everyday office routine. Screened workstations and room in room solutions eliminate distraction, either working in isolation, in a video conference or as part of a team.

Tip: little area to escape to in a large space? Why not try out the "office telephone booth" with WingLine 230 in our Design gallery
Tip: Shhh! The Steelforce privacy screens and sound barriers are veritable noise absorbers.   
Tip: also whisper quiet for serene silence: Sensys hinges and Hettich Drawer systems with integrated Silent System

 

 

Experiencing corporate culture in the "War for Talents"

An office ambience that communicates a genuine and practised appreciation towards employees makes members of staff satisfied and staunch corporate ambassadors. Employers investing in upgrading office space now, paying attention to fixtures and fittings, promoting occupational health, safety and well-being, and who also take into account aspects of inclusion and sustainability, these are the ones who do most to foster a sense of belonging together. A workplace where people feel at ease helps to establish a positive corporate culture and maintain staff loyalty. – That's a worthwhile investment in the future, wouldn't you say?

Tip: our energy saving, height adjustable Steelforce desk support frames help to keep staff in good health and are conducive to letting them concentrate. Practical storage space and cable management solutions keep everything neat and tidy. Planters or wooden drawers made of sustainable bamboo give the workplace a look that couldn't be more homely.

 

Time for myself

Whether power nap or a moment to think – time out from emails, smartphone and the hustle and bustle of everyday office routine gets those batteries recharged and helps to let you identify new possibilities and perspectives. Offering wonderful comfort, these island retreats take you from your desk and let you unwind for a while.

Tip: Hettich can also give you fittings for adjusting upholstered furniture: discover Hettich's comprehensive range, covering everything from mechanical to electromechanical.

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Everyone meets in the kitchen

This isn't only so at home parties. The canteen, lounge area or cafeteria at work are also meeting places which are much more about grabbing a coffee or bite to eat: they are places for communicating and networking. They spurn informal and interdisciplinary interaction – and, in this way, help to create a sense of belonging. This makes them central hubs in a company.

  • Socialising

    Socialising

 

Light uplifts mood

The human biological rhythm is also influenced by path of the sun. Light plays a huge part in the way we feel and perform. So, why not start the day full of verve in the right "morning light" at the office workstation? Because the serotonin that's released, the happiness hormone, guarantees a well rested feeling, increases drive and has a mood boosting effect. Modern lighting design concepts, such as "Human Centric Lighting" (HCL), are based on the human biorhythm and follow the path of the sun in terms of light temperature, light intensity and light direction. Applied in a targeted way, accent lighting creates atmosphere and picks out attention to detail.

Tip: AvanTech YOU Illumination AvanTech YOU Illumination puts drawers in the perfect light This conjures an appealing atmosphere and elegant flair in the office.