It is no surprise that after more than a year, people have become increasingly comfortable with their home-office situation and have shown some reluctance to getting out of their PJ’s and heading back into the city.
Although remote working was a positive step forward in team trust and showed proven productivity; business leaders and landlords are understandably eager to see their teams or tenants return to the office.
So, what will it take to attract your employees back to the workplace? We believe that the answer may be the rise of the ‘resimercial’ office design.
In simple terms, the aim of resimerical office fitout is to create a place
where staff want to come to, rather than a place they have to go to.
Basically, the comforts of home, with the benefits of the office.
Unlike the workplace prior to smart phones and internet, the blur between work and homelife is an inevitable part of life. Therefore, landlords and business owners suffering from rental commitments for empty offices must respond and adapt to create a place where staff can feel relaxed in a stress-reduced environment. These alterations would typically include:
- An agile workspace where employees can choose how and where they work.
- Creating zones and areas in which teams can casually interact and be social, perhaps over a shared meal or a cup of tea in a breakout spaces.
- Creating a blend of casual huddle areas, collaborative settings, quiet private rooms for concentrated work or 2 person clusters for teamwork.
- Creating a social environment with game rooms, a bar or a central townhall space.
- A softer environment using a variety of textures and finishes to make it look and feel less like a sterile office.
- Use accent and ambient lighting, bring nature and real plants inside with biophilic design, using natural materials and carefully thought-out space-planning to take advantage of natural sunlight and fresh air.
- Use soft furnishings, rugs and comfortable seating and sofas.
At the far end of the scale, some of the largest companies in the world such as Google, Nike and GlaxoSmithKline have adopted resimerical design to the maximum by installing nap rooms, fitness and shower facilities, fireplaces and third spaces to truly make their team feel relaxed and comfortable. And as we all know, happy and contented staff drives productivity and creativity.
The Growth design team embraced the resimercial concept when planning our new HQ. We are lucky enough to have a team who are collaborative, social and thrive on being together in the office, and we wanted to maintain and enhance this environment.
It may seem like a fad, but resimercial design effectively provides the ‘best of both worlds’ and could prove to provide a lasting and effective strategy for ensuring a happier and healthier workforce.
