The latest way companies are trying to entice people to the office is to make it a home away from home.
Architects and designers are being charged to create offices with relaxed vibes in mind in the hope that it will blur the distinction between home and office, making the latter a more appealing place for employees to spend time with colleagues. Convincing workers to stay in the office is hard at the best of times. But it’s made harder still by employees who are accustomed to working remotely, managing their own schedules, and staying in their pajamas until noon.
Perks such as bike racks, shower facilities, open layouts, and breakout sessions have helped make the workplace a friendlier place to be, but they fail to address why so many people enjoy working remotely: they save time on commuting, they can choose the type of space they want to work in, and they feel more at ease.
According to Gordon Wright of global design firm HOK, that means moving away from a workplace that’s “cold, slick, hard and uncomfortable” and thinking instead about the aspects of home working that are most appealing. “Let’s give them places where if they want to curl up on sofa and do email for half hour that’s acceptable,” he says.
San Francisco-based Studio O+A, for example, has been designing workplaces for Cisco, Yelp, and Microsoft that have a “residential feel,” so the office becomes a place where people want to hang out as they would at a trendy coffee shop or, indeed, on their sofa at home. At a recent office furniture trade show in Chicago, this trend was dubbed “resimercial.” Often this involves providing a “palette of postures,” where workers can choose from traditional desks to couches, soft textures, and cozy environments, to make people feel more comfortable. According to the Nicola Osborn, design director of London studio MoreySmith, diverse environments are key to fostering a collaborative and creative work environment. That’s why they made them central to its redesign of Coca-Cola’s UK head office, with the “relaxed and open environments encouraging interaction amongst colleagues.”