What will the office furniture of the future look like? | ABL

If you are interested in new, coming and trendy office furniture design trends, these are the ones to expect in 2016. Businesses need to stay on top of new trends in order to keep up to date and knowledgeable. Also, some of these trends focus on productivity and efficiency.

What will the office furniture of the future look like?

1. Furniture that Promotes Collaboration

This office furniture trend has really been picking up steam in the last couple of years. Offices are gradually moving away from cubical segregation into a more open working environment. The focus is about making the majority of the working environment a community experience, promoting the sharing of ideas and the forming of strong team bonds. Furniture that helps promote collaboration and sharing will grow in 2016.

Furniture that supports the agile working trend generally either encourages conversation and co-operation, or would look at place in both the home and workplace. This trend is consistently blurring the lines between home and work through the use of ‘the third space’ – a term in the workplace design community used to describe a theoretical place between the workplace and home environment.

2. Integration of Technology

Speaking of trends, how can we miss the technology? In recent years, many new desks come ready to become one with technology. More and more items of furniture become synonymous with technology. In addition to power outlets, USB ports, and USB charging ports can now be found on working desks. This makes for ease of connection so workers can quickly plug in and get to work.

Apart from the all-in-one desks, many contemporary office designs are gradually adopting lighting control technologies. The least energy consuming light source is one that is turned off. Therefore, lights that can be programmed to switch off when rooms are unoccupied, or even dimmed when a detection of natural light is available, will return savings in terms of energy consumption.

3. Minimalistic Environment

Minimalism has been apparent in interior design for many years, and this has now affected all kinds of locations including the office. When you’re considering your office design, think about how you can eliminate some of the clutter that messes up the office at the moment. Wires are one of the usual clutters in workplace. If there are wires trailing all over your office, be aware! Not only are these ugly, but they are also a safety hazard. Guests and workers can easily slip or trip over exposed wires!

Fortunately, there are a range of products available that offer a quick and simple solution to this issue. From specially-designed desks, to wire tubes and from wires hidden behind computer stands to wall-mounted displays, there’s an option for every office.

4. Designing for Well-Being

The concept of well-being will continue to thrive this year. As mentioned before, taking good care of employees’ health can increase their productivity. The office furniture can help you out.

Workplaces that integrate well-being into their design aren’t easy to find. From sit-stand desks to the placement and design of staircases, more architects and designers will use such methods to encourage movement throughout the day. For example, sit-stand desks have grown massively last year. Studies have pointed to positive effects such as relieving stress and increasing productivity. Moreover, how sit-stand can do to the employees’ health is to reduce musculoskeletal discomfort, such as back, neck and shoulder pain. This kind of pain often happens on those who have to sit in front of the desk all day. When the pain get more severe, it often results in absences. If the employers can have the office furniture designed for well-being in advance, this can help prevent the employee from having body pain.

5. Embrace the Nature

There is an enormous amount of evidence detailing the benefits of plants in the workplace. In some cases, researchers have observed employee productivity gains of up to 15 percent. It is therefore unsurprising that bringing nature indoors has been a common design theme in recent years. A particularly popular option is the green wall or vertical garden, featured in offices from Facebook, Zendesk, Deloitte, Microsoft.

As well as incorporating plant life, designers are moving towards raw materials and textures such as wood, brass and copper. The focus is on sustainability, authenticity and a better overall relationship with nature. Parliament, a design company in Portland, adopts a lot of recycled materials such as some wood from a barn.

To those in the interior workplace design industry or who just need some design inspirations for the office, we hope that the office furniture trends mentioned above can help you out!