Workplace Design: 10 Amazing Ideas From Instagram
Your workplace design has a huge impact on your employees’ productivity and satisfaction. It’s also influential when recruiting new talent and positioning your organization as an innovative, forward-thinking company.
But sometimes we get so focused on the daily priorities within our office’s four walls that we forget how valuable it can be to look outside them for inspiration.
We wish we could take you on a grand tour of the world’s most amazing offices, but we can offer you the next best thing: the coolest workplace design inspiration we’ve seen on Instagram.
Here are 10 ideas we’re sure you’ll love.
10 Workplace Design Ideas From Instagram
1. Biophilia: Bringing The Outdoors In
Most of us spend about 95 percent of our time indoors, so it’s not surprising that we crave being outside more often. Research by Leigh Stringer, author of The Healthy Workplace: How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees and Your Bottom Line, shows employers can boost morale and productivity just by bringing more natural elements into their workplace. This trend, known as biophila, is spreading faster than kudzu vine in the South.
This coworking space in Warsaw illustrates one creative way to bring the outdoors in.
(Source: Trzoparchiteckci)
2. Outdoor Meeting Spaces
You can bring the outdoors in—or you can bring the meeting outdoors!
More organizations are considering outdoor space as part of their workplace design to give employees more opportunity to get some fresh air throughout the day.
Australia-based food company Carman’s Kitchen has a breezy outdoor conservatory with a landscaped garden that’s perfect for walking meetings.
(Source: Ewert_Leaf, Carman’s Kitchen)
3. Access To Natural Light
Employees crave natural light. In fact, employees said access to natural light was the No. 1 most important attribute in their workplace design, according to a recent survey by HR firm Future Workplace. This office kitchen, designed for Pocket Gems in San Francisco, lets in plenty of natural light through its skylight.
(Source: Actual AC)
4. Wall-Sized Windows
Wall-sized windows are another way to incorporate more natural light into your workplace design. They also make any space feel larger and more inviting.
(Source: Tangram Studio)
5. Comfortable Seats for Collaborative Spaces
As more organizations embrace an agile work environment, they’re taking a closer look at their collaborative spaces. That means investing in more comfortable seating that invites employees to sit and stay awhile while they share ideas.
Wouldn’t you love to sink into these cushy chairs?
(Source: Connection Seating LTD)
6. Coordinating Runners
The right color scheme can go a long way to make your workplace design more inviting. These Bandas rugs blend soft seating with coordinating runners and pillows, creating a space that really flows. (We love the plants on the wall, too.)
(Source: Office Images)
7. Inspirational Quotes
Your workplace design should inspire employees to do their best work and live their best life. We love this Maya Angelou quote on the wall of office furniture company Source Four.
(Source: Modern In Denver)
8. Meeting Cubes
Many organizations are eliminating cubicles in favor of a more open office layout with separate types of working spaces that facilitate activity-based working (ABW). However, it’s important to make sure employees still have enough quiet spaces to work independently, make calls or have important conversations with coworkers.
These semi-private meeting cubes blend privacy and openness.
(Source: Rendercube_Design)
9. Starburst Light Fixtures
No one likes to spend their workday under the harsh glare of fluorescent lights, but good lighting is a necessity. If natural light isn’t an option, your fixtures are going to make or break the room.
So when it comes to office lighting, you might as well blend fashion with function.
These unique starburst light fixtures add flair to the workplace while also illuminating it with soft, natural-looking light.
(Source: IIS LTD)
10. A Splash of Color
A few well-placed colors can work wonders to update an uninspiring or overly sterile office environment.
These colorful acoustic panels absorb noise while adding a touch of flair to the space.
(Source: Hunt Office Interiors)
Create A Modern Office Everyone Will Love
Workplace design is one of the three most important factors that shape the employee experience (along with technology and culture), according to bestselling author, Jacob Morgan.
At a time when employees can work virtually anywhere they have an internet connection, having a modern office design ensures they’ll actually want to spend time in your workplace.
Here are five tips for creating a modern office design:
- Consider your employees! Make sure you account for generational differences and individual work preferences. Get feedback from employees throughout the process.
- Consider your brand. Think about what impression you want to leave on customers and guests, as well as current and future employees.
- Think about your goals. What is motivating you to update your workplace design? Do you want to increase efficiency? Improve collaboration?
- Account for space restrictions and future growth. The best workplace designs are future-proof and able to accommodate your company as it grows.
- Find the right balance between quiet space and collaborative space. The Harvard Business Review’s Collaboration and Quiet Index is a good way to make sure you’ve achieved the right mix of both.
To see how some of the world’s most successful companies achieved an optimal workplace design, check out our eBook, Building the Workplace of the Future.
