A pleasing contemporary design of an office space is more than just bright and vibrant colors, glass walls, and modern furniture. Apart from focusing solely on the aesthetics of modern office decor, the workplace should first and foremost support the people who come there to work. Read how to create a modern workplace designed for productive private work and creative collaboration.
Key highlights
- The interior design and aesthetics of an office are only a single piece of employee-centric workplace design.
- Contemporary office design involving the functionality of different spaces, good acoustics, and smart technology promotes productive work and employee well-being.
- Modern knowledge workers prefer carrying out certain work activities at home if the office design at the workplace does not promote speech privacy and focus.
Design a modern office space
Employee-centric office design does more than simply looks nice and promotes the company brand to outsiders. Most importantly, contemporary office design promotes employee well-being, workplace satisfaction, and productivity.
Designing a functioning office space is far from simple, but the time and resources invested in meeting employees’ needs pay off every time.
Design the office for different functions
Just like any other workplace, modern offices should be designed to address employees’ needs and support their day-to-day work activities. Just like a skilled artisan would not work in complete darkness without the right tools, knowledge workers need an office environment and equipment fitted to their job just as well.
You can support modern office workers in their tasks by offering them different task-specific zones at the office. If their work requires intense focus, the environment should be devoid of distractions, such as noisy colleagues or constant notifications. Similarly, modern knowledge workers need dedicated spaces for group work when collaborating face-to-face with colleagues.
A modern office is a smart one
Smart technology is not used solely by employees to carry out their work tasks more efficiently. It should also guide the design of the office layout. Technology, such as smart sensors and workplace management systems, allows employers to make data-driven decisions when optimising their office space. For instance, office occupancy sensors allow you to identify which areas and meeting rooms remain unused and which are constantly booked.
Framery Connect™ helps offices optimize the workplace by removing the guesswork from contemporary office design. Get anonymized, real-time usage data for all your smart pods and other office spaces connected with the Framery Connect Sensors™. Place the Framery Smart Sensors™ anywhere in the office to map out every area of the workplace.
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Good acoustics enhance productivity
When designed with care and knowledge workers’ needs in mind, open offices can promote collaboration and spontaneous exchanges. These are essential for problem-solving and creativity. Unfortunately, for many, open offices lack the speech privacy required to carry out their tasks and not get burned out by constant distractions.
A common solution for poor acoustics in modern office interior design is to add acoustic panels, office furniture, and other design elements that supposedly reduce noise. These are part of the solution. Yet, sound masking technology is the most effective way to improve a contemporary office’s acoustic landscape and speech privacy.
The Framery One Compact, Framery Four, and Framery Six smart pods and booths come with our built-in Framery Sound Masking System™. The sound masking system creates a subtle background noise optimized to make speech in the office less intelligible.
The smart pods’ embedded sound-masking speaker distributes noise evenly across 5m / 16 ft outside the pods. By strategically placing Framery pods throughout the office, the sound masking effect provides extensive coverage for all key areas of the office.
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A contemporary office adjusts to your needs
Modularity and optimizability are two buzzwords of contemporary office design – and for a good reason. A modern office space should adapt to a company’s and its employees’ needs without requiring a substantial office renovation.
With their modular and portable design, Framery office pods can be relocated inside the office to move them where they are most needed. You can place Framery pods near workstations and otherwise noisy areas, thanks to their industry-leading soundproofing of 30dB speech reduction.
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Promote hybrid work
Certain tasks are best done at the home office if the workplace is not designed for its purpose. Survey data by Leesman shows that employees prefer attending planned meetings, doing individual focused work, relaxing during the workday, and engaging in creative thinking much more at home than in the office. For the respondents of the Leesman survey, only learning from others was better supported by office work than working from home.
Companies can encourage a return to the office by bringing the best aspects of remote work to the workplace – most importantly, providing the privacy employees value in remote work. When hybrid workers come to the office, they should be able to connect with those working remotely. Ensure the office has enough office phone booths and larger meeting rooms equipped with hybrid meeting technology.
Office ergonomics support employee wellness
When speaking of ergonomics in the context of modern office and knowledge work, many think of things found in an individual worker’s workstation, such as their desk, table and computer. Although ergonomic furniture is an important focus point in modern office designs, other aspects, such as lighting, ventilation and acoustics, are just as important for improving employee wellness and productivity.
With clean lines, spacious interiors, and a wide range of stylish colors, fabrics, and furnishings, Framery smart pods fit seamlessly into the design of any modern workplace. Built sustainably from high-quality materials and equipped with the latest smart office technology, Framery pods and booths turn a regular office into a modern one.
Designed for your workplace
Our modern and smart office pods feature with clean lines, spacious interiors, and a wide range of stylish colors, fabrics, and furnishings.
FAQ about modern office design
What are the key elements of contemporary office design?
The key elements of contemporary office design are functionality, smart technology, good acoustics, and a design that supports the needs of employees. Provide enough task-specific zones that cater to different types of work, such as collaboration, meetings, and focused work. Use occupancy sensors and other smart office technology to optimize the office layout and identify underused spaces.
What are the benefits of employee-centric office design?
An employee-centric office design promotes well-being, workplace satisfaction, and productivity. Such designs should address employees’ needs and support their day-to-day work activities. Designing the office based on employees’ needs encourages a return to the office by bringing the best aspects of remote work, such as privacy, to the office setting. Use office occupancy data to optimize the workplace for the people who work there.
What is the role of acoustics in modern office interior design?
Acoustics plays a crucial role in contemporary office interior design. Poor acoustics can lead to distractions that are detrimental to knowledge workers’ productivity. Use sound masking technology to promote good acoustics, reduce distractions, and as a result, improve workplace satisfaction. Sound masking technology creates a subtle background noise that makes speech in the open office environment less intelligible and, therefore, less distracting.
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