Office Design Trends for New Year – Incorporating Technology
Office design trends are becoming ever more sophisticated. Incorporating the right technology into your commercial build can be as important as deciding where the walls go.
The influx of wireless technology into the workspace doesn’t stop with issuing every employee a laptop. Instead, office design itself is becoming more technological, as various sensor technologies, touch screens, and furniture redesigns make offices more comfortable, more intuitive, and more productive than ever.
Furniture for a Wired Age
The new furniture is built for a computer-driven workplace: from chairs that have specific ergonomic features for people who are spending time on computers, to conference tables that you plug in so that everyone at the meeting has access to an outlet right in front of their seat. These choices to incorporate technology into key features of the environment still have a strong design component, since furniture designers recognize that a long surge protector would also allow employees to plug in computers, but the sight of a big tangle of cords is far less beautiful and harmonious than the new trending furniture.
Touch Screens
Meeting rooms are increasingly turning to projectors, smart screens, and touch screens for everything from reserving the rooms to getting information. Touch screen smart thermostats are also growing in popularity, since they allow each individual room and group to choose the most comfortable temperature for themselves. These touch screens also allow for custom graphics to be displayed and presentations to be given, which creates a more personalized design for each office’s unique message.
Sensor Technology for Environmental Factors
As technology progresses, the trend is toward more light, temperature, and motion sensors being used in office design. These sensors help to collect data on what temperatures and levels of light generate the most restlessness or lack of productivity, and which make employees comfortable and happy. Motion sensors generate real statistics on how utilized different spaces are around the office, allowing design teams to pivot and create new uses for old space that is underused.
Other sensors are in the works that might be considered more invasive, like heart rate and gaze monitors to track focus and productivity, but for now the uses of such sensors are experimental, since some productivity decreases when employees feel overly supervised.
Antham Construction can help you make decisions about what technological advances can benefit your office design in the new year. For productive work environment solutions to better support your employees, contact us.
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