Select Right Furniture for Your Open Office Designs

As employees return to work from pandemic, an open office layout is in demand by employers. Why?  Open office layouts allow for a larger number of employees to work on the same floor.  Employees returning from the pandemic are tired of isolation from working remotely.  Open space designs facilitate team collaborations, encourage open communication, and more. Open office furniture includes formal and informal seating areas. These have been planned to be modular, such that the spaces can be expanded or shrunk to accommodate large and small teams.  As social distancing is maintained, virtual tools are enabled in open meeting rooms to include those who are working remotely.

Here is our recommendation of the top ten pieces of open concept office furniture that you must consider.

Top Ten Open Concept Office Furniture

As you consider the top ten open office furniture, you can't miss the latest office furniture trends.

1. Standing Desks

The most important open office furniture is the standing desk. A critical piece for open space office furniture, standing desks make for the best use for employees.  Also called the sit-stand desk, these desks can be raised/lowered in height with an electric motor. Benefits? Medical research has shown that you are prone to various health risks as you sit for long hours. Body movement is essential to keep your blood flowing and not allow muscles to sleep. If muscles sleep, they can cause obesity, cardiovascular concerns, and many more. With steel frames, these open concept office desks are quite sturdy.  Our recommendation goes to the SmartDesk Core.

2. Ergonomic Chairs

Ergonomics is playing a vital role in employees' health and overall well-being.  As employees are happy, your company's branding and employee value proposition go up. The best ergonomic chair offers the user the highest comfort possible. How? The chair has adjustable features like seat height, seat tilt, armrests that can be lowered or raised, seat recline, which you can adjust for each user, and more. Ergonomics works on the principle that every user has a unique body shape that needs the best comfort. Even medical research proves that ergonomic chairs offer you overall better health.

Explore to buy an ergonomic chair that offers you the best support and recline with durability and value for money. It should be the must-have open office furniture in your workspace.

3. Office Pods

Office pods have always been in demand from large to small offices. Why? They are the best way for a small team to sit and work and blend into an open office concept very well. Most times, an office pod can give you the privacy you need, makes for an informal setting for serious conversations, and can ease conflicts. No more interruptions as you chose an office pod that offers you privacy, comfort, and more for your team meetings.

4. Executive Rooms

If you are an office planner, you may be challenged with ideas for office space for senior executives of a company. Gone are the locked and closed wooden offices now for senior executives. Instead, just like an office pod, senior executives may prefer to use glass cabins/rooms. Such executive rooms display trust, openness and enhance communication. In addition, a cluster seating or standing desk usually accompanies a standing desk to encourage team huddles and shorter meetings.

5. Modular Cabinets

You cannot miss a cabinet as open office furniture in your workspace. As open space offices are designed to accommodate flexibility in seating, storage spaces have changed. They are no longer the large grey or brown steel wardrobes or wooden filing cabinets.  A competent designer would always use filing cabinets as partitions in between two areas on the floor.  The desktops act as informal catch-up areas at times.

To get the best buys, you can always place bulk order office furniture.

6. Benches

The next time you approach an open and collaborative space, don't be surprised to see wooden or steel benches in the area.  Yes, a few companies are encouraging benches to increase collaboration amongst employees. How? Well, benches are low pieces of furniture and hence give you a feel of a larger space.  In addition, the low-rise benches allow employees to have informal chats with those standing or seated – no restrictions on whom you can see and whom you cannot. Wooden benches also bring human beings closer to nature, a feeling that most office designers would agree makes employees happy. With most benches being without a back, employees don't occupy these spaces for long periods.

7. Veranda Meeting Rooms

Aha!  Where possible, offices have turned their corridors into meeting spaces with designs that make you feel cozy and comfortable. For example, for lowering noise levels from meetings, they could be adorned with sound-absorbing boards on the ceiling.

8. ErgoStools

Here is another ergonomic open office furniture. Ergonomic stools are the best thing that gives employees great comfort and access to their desks. You can also see them being used in employee collaboration areas, with a wider variety of furniture like lounge chairs and sofas.  This mix of seating options makes the clustered seating look informal yet comfortable.

9. Sofas & Cushions

Bringing your home to the office, many companies are now offering sofas and recliners for employees to relax at work.  As employee productivity becomes a priority, companies realize the importance of offering informal workspaces. 

Some offices may offer cushions as informal catch-up spaces between workspaces. These open office furniture may be placed on top of individual filing space at the height of a chair's seat.

10. Lounge Chairs

Offices are now considering smaller clustered seating that encourages collaboration between teams. You may find that the numbers reduce to accommodate usually between four to eight folks. For larger gatherings, one could always book a meeting room. This informal set-up would usually have lounge chairs for easier access and to break the monotony from work. 

Here are a few more modern office furniture designs that you should just not miss! 

Summary

Open space office layout with proper open office interior design promote team spirit and employee collaboration across teams breaking silos.  Gone are the days of formal furniture only. Instead, informal seating spaces are being encouraged to facilitate the increase in employee productivity.