What does design have to do with business and employee wellbeing? Everything, it seems.
Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer recently released The New Office Evolution: Office Build Out Trends, a report written by Liz Greving, the company’s research manager. Based in Richmond with seven offices statewide, Thalhimer’s alliance with Cushman & Wakefield, headquartered in Chicago, allows the Virginia-based company to leverage local knowledge with global resources to provide a wide range of commercial real estate services. Thalhimer specifically focuses on landlord and tenant representation of office, retail, flex, distribution and manufacturing facilities as well as the marketing and sale of institutional-grade investment properties.
The latest edition in their Research Spotlight series, this 23-page illustrated report analyzes evolving office interior trends in response to hybrid work patterns that have come to characterize certain sectors of the post-pandemic work life, though Richmond and Coastal Virginia have less office vacancy than some other markets. Four dominant trends surfaced from Greving’s deep dive: Flexibility, Company Culture, Brand Identity, and Office Destination, each illustrated with exemplary work spaces from Richmond, Roanoke, and Virginia Beach.
The name of the game appears to be not only enticing employees back to the office, but engaging, motivating, inspiring, and retaining them through business environments that boost morale and a sense of wellbeing by boasting all the comforts of home with the added benefit of community. Done right, office design can—and arguably should—also embody the company’s core values and brand identity. And all of that is a job too big for a desk, bookcase and credenza.
Collaborative spaces, lounge areas, well-stocked break rooms and, when possible, access to the outdoors and to a vibrant street culture complete with coffee shops, restaurants and bars are where it’s at. Rob Wright, senior vice president with Thalhimer in Virginia Beach, notes that there is not much a business can do to create an energetic street level vibe unless they are a Fortune 500 company like Dollar Tree who built their own vibrant mixed-use, live-work community at Summit Pointe in Chesapeake. As for the other corporate wish list items, “There is not a lot of new, high-end inventory in Hampton Roads,” he says. A generally tight market with limited “built out spaces with 2024 amenities” coupled with build out costs that can take five to eight years of rent for a landlord to recoup, means that employers must rely on other means to transform their spaces.
Entrance Showcases TowneBank’s use of graphic elements
From Wright’s perspective, though, what employees really want is an energetic, collaborative work environment where they can function as their best, most creative, content and productive selves. “People are craving opportunities to be around other people,” he says. And supporting company culture in this way is very achievable and reasonably affordable.
Brad A. Sipes, vice president at Guernsey Tingle Architects in Williamsburg, reports that employers continually ask, “How can we make this space feel as comfortable as home?”
And the answers are fairly simple—like creating conversation areas—even within a tight budget. As he explains, with more people conducting Zoom meetings from their offices, there’s not the same need for conference rooms. Some companies are taking square footage away from those outdated spaces in order to create lounge areas appointed with comfy sectional sofas, bigger chairs and coffee tables to pull people out of their offices for face-to-face conversations and collaborations.
Susan Pilato and Donna Counts, principals and co-owners of PC&A Business Environments, their interior design firm, and Mantra Inspired Furniture, are also seeing more emphasis on collaborative spaces and breakrooms and less demand for tall panels and cubes. “People don’t want to be isolated,” says Pilato. And flexibility is key. “People like to move around…they enjoy different surroundings.” Increasing in popularity and addressing the dual needs for a feeling of connection and occasional privacy are glass-sided pods or phone booths which create a movable room-within-a-room.
What remains of conference rooms, says Sipes, are now often glass enclosed for a literal sense of transparency and the ability to riff off the energy that accrues from the visible presence of other people. For privacy, horizontal bands of vinyl decals with the appearance of etched glass placed at eye level—open at the top and bottom—obscure identities and sensitive information. Nowadays, executive offices, too, are more often glass enclosed, centrally located, and surrounded by workstations with light from exterior windows flowing across all spaces.
Many companies, according to Counts, Pilato, and Sipes, are creating breakrooms with hints of home. Ten to twenty years ago, says Sipes, these afterthoughts were shoehorned into a dark back corner with a requisite counter, sink, refrigerator, and microwave. Now, these spaces are hubs: larger, more centrally located, and open to surrounding spaces. Counter height islands with solid surface counter tops are likely to anchor the new break rooms, complete with stools for talking, working, and eating. Outfitted with cappuccino makers, a selection of teas and flavored waters and a bowl of fruit, says Counts, these gathering places sound a note of health-focused comfort. Who says meetings have to take place in meeting rooms?
Upgraded finishes are another area where Sipes is witnessing a transformation. “Clients are willing to let interior designers push them toward more exciting colors…more lively. It doesn’t cost more, it’s just different choices.” Further, he continues, it is no longer uncommon for executives to be encouraged to personalize their office areas with custom finishes within a set colorway. Pilato seconds that: “People are ready for color…a more positive energy.”
Human-centric spaces at Thalhimer’s Virginia Beach Office
Bathrooms, Sipes says, are another area where upgrades are fairly affordable by maintaining the same general layout but, instead of stalls, creating mini-rooms or water closets with floor to ceiling walls. Some employers are even installing showers for employees who like to walk at lunch and need to freshen up. It’s more affordable than it seems.
According to Pilato, artwork can easily be switched out “and totally change a space,” infusing it with new energy and possibility. With sustainability a central focus of PC&A, Counts notes that if furniture is high quality enough—built to last—reupholstering can also be an easy and affordable way to update. Ditto throw pillows—though infrequently seen in commercial spaces—area rugs, and acoustic panels that can do double duty as design elements. “Tactile items make people feel good,” asserts Counts, as does wood and plants. Similarly, varying levels of light—lamp, task, and overhead—of the optimal amount, brightness, and temperature—warm, but not yellow—also contribute to a sense of comfort and well-being, while preventing eyestrain.
When companies who care about their employees, their clients, and their bottom line adopt straightforward, cost-effective design strategies to convey both their corporate values and their brand identity, everyone comes out on top.
