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The Workspace Design Trend for Returning to the Office
A high number of companies are trying to find ways to make their offices more valuable in an attempt to reduce work from home hours and bring back some face-to-face collaboration. The days of rigid workplaces focused on our desks, and only that, are behind us. Simply returning to the old normal won’t cut it. Hotelification is an emerging trend as the solution to encourage office hours, by making the space more appealing.
What is Hotelification?
Hotelification is the idea of turning offices into spaces that feel like high-end hotels. Think luxury amenities, comfortable seating areas, wellness zones, and collaborative spaces. This is all designed with the focus of making the office a place where employees want to be, rather than have to be.
The concept is simple: create a space where people would like to spend their time. After getting used to working from home, employees expect more from their workplace. They want an environment that offers value beyond what they get at home. This means addressing factors such as convenience and comfort.
How Hotelification is Affecting Office Refits
Employees needs are ultimately the main driving factor in this shift. This can be addressed through focusing on a few key factors:
1. Creating an Experience-Led Office
Instead of static desk setups, offices need to focus on flexible, multifunctional spaces that cater to various work styles. The main element to this is understanding what your employees need to do their job effectively. An office refit to incorporate hotelification should aim to reduce any frustration a working team may face, whilst adding design elements that can enhance social opportunities in some areas, whilst increasing engagement with their work in others. The general concept here is by boosting the employee experience, their work ethic then increases and their output improves.
2. Prioritising Health and Comfort
Well-being is at the core of hotelification. Today’s office refits will likely incorporate features that enhance both physical and mental health. Improved ventilation systems, better lighting, dedicated wellness areas, and even touchless technology. By prioritising health and comfort, offices support employee productivity and satisfaction, making the workplace a supportive and desirable place to be.
3. Introduce Amenities, Improve the Value of a Visit
Amenities are becoming highly valuable considerations for modern high-end offices. Features like on-site cafés, gyms, wellness lounges, and relaxation zones change the office from a workspace into a multifunctional environment where employees can relax, recharge, and socialise. These amenities provide conveniences that employees can’t access at home, enhancing job satisfaction and fostering a sense of community within the workplace.
This can be especially beneficial for employees likely to be dealing with long hours or stressful situations, and easily capitalised by modern contracts with flexible working hours.
The Future of Office Refits
Whilst the promise of hotelification seems amazing for the employee experience, the fact is that a lot of the features wouldn’t be ideal for every office. It requires a large amount of space in order to facilitate the various extra areas that we’ve discussed. This simply isn’t an option for a lot of companies.
It does beg the question however, what can we take away from the concepts of hotelification? It’s clear that if we want our employees to spend more time in the office, it needs to provide a value proposition. When considering an office refit, also consider what features can be added to simply improve the experience of the working team.
Is it Time to Refit Your Office?
If your office design isn’t meeting the needs of your workforce, it might be time for a change. By embracing the concepts of hotelification in an office refit, you can create a workspace that attracts employees back to the office and keeps them engaged. Contact us today to discover how we can help transform your office into a modern, dynamic environment your team will want to be in.
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