With today’s office furniture ranging from the gimmicky to the purely functional, the style that companies opt for sends visual cues about their brand, not to mention impacting on office ambiance and employee productivity.
It’s not just tech and creative set-ups getting experimental in their color and design choices. More professional services and financial services firms are kitting out their offices with standing desks, beanbag chairs and abundant indoor greenery.
While hammocks and deckchairs may prove a talking point in communal areas, furniture needs to support and reflect the task being carried out, says Neil Thomas, interior design team leader at Tétris UK, a JLL subsidary.
“Offering a bright, vibrant workplace has a big impact on attractiveness, particularly for companies employing younger staff – as well as an image for external visitors,” says Thomas. “Furniture creates interest and enables the introduction of color and texture. Interfaced with technology it transforms environments.”
“But with businesses looking to optimize their space and reduce the overall number of desks, the type of furniture being used around the office bears both a tangible and indirect cost.”
Furniture can account for between 10 and 25 percent of overall fit-out costs. And there’s more choice than ever before. The global office furniture market, including computer desks and swivel chairs, as well as workspace storage units, is growing with companies expected to spend US$84 billion by 2021, according to Statista.
Getting the right mix of office furniture is an investment in its own right, says Thomas, but while design trends come and go, what’s really important is ensuring the basics like desks and seating meet employee needs and make the most of the available space.
“Companies need to evaluate which types of furniture best support their employees’ day-to-day activities,” says Thomas. “For the employer, it’s about trusting your workforce and accepting that they don’t always have to be at their desks to do their job.”
There is, says Thomas, the risk that companies can get swept along by designs, such as sit-stand desks, that are not used to their maximum benefit.
“When sit-stand desks are consistently used in sitting mode – defeating their intended purpose – it may now be the time for areas to exist and booking systems put in place,” says Thomas.