Office Design Trends for 2018

With new technology, changing demands in business and design trends evolving, we chat to some of our biggest suppliers to find out what they predict the office design trends for 2018 will be.

Collaborative Spaces

‘Collaborative working and helping customers find different ways of working is one of the biggest trends we’ve noticed from our customer enquiries. We provide this solution with booths, high tables, sit stand desks, low seats, fully adjustable seats, café/breakout furniture and bench desking,’ Verco.

Moving into 2018 one of the biggest trends noted from all our office furniture suppliers is the demand for collaborative or breakout workspaces. This trend has been led by the millennial generation and their preference for open working environments.

These spaces are designed to be flexible, improve relationships between teams, promote creativity and develop an engaged and productive workforce. Studies have shown taking time out in breakout spaces can also help reduce stress, improve morale and help revitalise employees.

This type of environment can be colourful, it might include bean bags, greenery, sofas, meeting booths, office pods and natural light.

This isn’t to say there isn’t a need for quiet spaces – these are equally important for staff wellbeing. Individual pods and private workspaces should still be integrated into the workplace for when staff need a break away from their conventional desks.

Height Adjustable Desks for Employee Health & Wellbeing

‘One of the biggest trends UK companies are looking to implement are height adjustable desks. Alternating between sitting & standing throughout the day can boost productivity & mood,’ HumanScale.

An estimated 8.8 million working days are lost due to musculoskeletal disorders and back pain (2015-16) costing the UK economy around £15 billion a year. This should be a huge incentive to move to height adjustable solutions.

Where it can be costly, HumanScale offer a retro fit solution, the ‘QuickStand’ in 3 specs, which can be fixed to your current desk.

Gadgets

‘The biggest trend for 2018 will be the importance of retaining staff by promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace,’(Dynamic Office Solutions).

Health concerns combined with wearable technology such as fitness trackers and sit/stand apps are driving the demand for a similar technology to be incorporated into office furniture.

Similar to a FitBit for your office, devices can monitor desk usage and send gentle reminders to sit/stand throughout the day.

New products, like the OfficeIQ from HumanScale, see the integration of sensors in desks and chairs which monitor your movement and can report on things like the number of calories you burn.

Businesses can analyse the data from these sensors and use this to identify how meeting rooms and parts of the business are utilised, then make changes based on this data.

You can even gamify the experience and compete with other departments.

Sustainable Products

‘Environmentally friendly products will be big for 2018. We evaluate our processes and constantly implement new strategies to improve efficiencies and minimize our ecological footprint, ’ Eliza Tinsley.

Many of our furniture suppliers are working to reduce their impact on the planet. Monitoring gas emissions, waste and energy consumption and working to minimise their impact on the planet.

For some, it’s less about mass producing and more about their commitment to high quality products and helping the environment.

Humanscale alongside Bureo pay fishermen in Chile to recycle their fishing nets. The pellets which are formed from the nets are then used in the manufacturing of their World task chairs. Each of these chairs sold helps clean our oceans and prevent ghost fishing.