If you had a choice, how would you design a perfect office space for your team? Should it meet average employee expectations or more individual needs? Or maybe both? Before you say “impossible”, take a look at the compelling concept of an “experiential office”.
You’re probably sitting at your office desk as you read this, smelling freshly brewed coffee. Could you take a quick look around and answer these simple questions?
- What is the quality of light in your space? Is it too bright or too dark? Do you have an adjusted light source?
- Is the temperature suitable for you, or do you find it too warm or too cold?
- What about the noise level? Is your room quiet, or can you hear the city’s noise outside or perhaps your colleagues discussing something in the adjacent room?
Now let’s look at the graph below and see what people find essential in their work environment. Do you find any common touchpoints with what you think?
It’s clear that lighting, noise levels, and technical equipment are among the most critical factors in the working environment. But there is undoubtedly huge potential for improvement. Recent studies show that almost half of people are dissatisfied with the temperature in the office, and more than two-thirds complain about the office lighting.
A responsive office
But there could be a solution to this, and it’s the concept of the “experiential office” – an office that responds to individual needs. An office can adjust the lighting level at your desk or request a temperature change in your zone via a dedicated app.
Technology helps a lot here. Offices can be equipped with smart desks that automatically adjust to your height and tell you when it’s time for a break. Elevators that “know” what floor you’re going to as soon as you swipe your access card at the entrance. Sensors collect data on the flow of people in the building and can tell which conference room or kitchen is being used more than others.
Here’s how Samsung is using technology in its office to increase productivity and better align with the needs of its employees:
Diversity in space
However, an experiential or responsive office doesn’t mean crammed with technology. Studies show that half of the office workers worldwide need a change from working at the same desk daily. Therefore, it is vital to provide a variety of spaces, discuss the options with employees, and get the ratio of those spaces right.
Therefore, an office should satisfy this need for variety and include key design elements of the modern workspace: from coffee bars to lounge areas to standing meeting tables. And it leaves the choice up to people – they decide whether they need a quiet room or a lively communal area or whether they feel like going to the coffee bar downstairs. The idea is that they don’t have to leave the building – and can meet and network in different spaces within their own office.
Ask your teammates what they need
Maybe the time of pandemics and increased home office work is an excellent time to think about the improvements in space after we all come back to the office.
Sometimes small changes make a big difference. Good lighting can be worth more than a Prosecco Friday. And changes that contribute to everyone’s well-being are genuinely priceless.
If you’d like to explore and compare various workspaces, use our real-time & real price Search tool 🙂
