By Dorothy Rogers-Bullis
For years, we designed offices around the work. Today, we have to design them around the people doing the work.
That may sound like a subtle change, but it is reshaping the workplace in very real ways. Employees have experienced a different way of working. They know they can answer emails, write reports, join a video call and complete focused tasks from almost anywhere. So if we are asking people to come into an office, the office has to offer something they cannot get sitting alone at a kitchen table.
The workplace now has to earn the commute.
I do not believe that means making every office look like a living room or filling it with trendy furniture. It means thinking much more carefully about what people need during the course of a workday and giving them choices. One person may need quiet, concentrated space at 9 a.m., a collaborative project area at 11 a.m., a private room for a video call after lunch, and an informal place to meet with two coworkers later in the afternoon. A well-designed office should support all of those activities.
For many years, workplace planning followed a predictable formula: private offices around the perimeter, workstations in the center and conference rooms down the hall. That model was built largely around hierarchy and assigned space. Today’s workplace needs to be built around movement, interaction and function.
One of the biggest changes we are seeing is the growth of smaller, more flexible spaces. Not every conversation needs a 12-person conference room. Employees need touchdown areas, two- and four-person meeting rooms, project rooms, phone rooms, comfortable collaboration areas and places where a quick conversation can happen naturally. Those spaces make the office more useful, but they also create something much harder to replicate remotely: human connection.
At the same time, we need to acknowledge where open office design went wrong. Removing walls did not automatically create collaboration. In many cases, it simply created noise and distraction. Acoustics, privacy and zoning have become critical elements of good workplace design. Collaborative spaces should feel energetic, while focused work areas should allow people to concentrate. Technology, lighting, materials, furniture and architectural elements all have to work together to create those different environments.
Flexibility is equally important. Businesses change too quickly to build an interior that can function only one way for the next 15 years. Teams expand, departments reorganize, technology changes and work patterns evolve. We are increasingly designing with movable components, adaptable furniture and interior systems that can be reconfigured rather than demolished and rebuilt. At drb Business Interiors, our work with Falkbuilt Digital Component Construction is part of that evolution. It allows us to think about walls and interior architecture as adaptable components rather than permanent obstacles to future change.
We are also seeing a stronger residential and hospitality influence in commercial interiors. Softer seating, warmer lighting, natural materials, plants, rugs and more comfortable gathering areas can make a workplace feel welcoming rather than institutional. But comfort cannot come at the expense of performance. A commercial workplace still needs excellent ergonomics, durability, technology, acoustics and easy maintenance.
The workplace is also an increasingly important expression of a company’s culture and brand. Employees and clients should understand something about an organization the moment they walk through the door. Materials, graphics, color, lighting and the way spaces are arranged can communicate who a company is without turning the office into a showroom.
Wellness has moved into the same conversation. Natural light, access to daylight, movement, comfortable seating, healthier materials and places to decompress are no longer simply amenities. They affect how people feel during the workday and, ultimately, how they perform.
The most successful offices I see today are not trying to compete with working from home. They are offering something different. They give employees access to coworkers, ideas, mentoring, energy, collaboration and a sense of belonging. They provide spaces for both concentration and connection, and they allow people to choose the environment that best supports the task in front of them.
The future of the workplace is not about one new product, one new color palette or one new trend. It is about designing spaces that are more responsive to people and more adaptable to change. When we get that right, the office becomes more than a place employees are required to go. It becomes a place that helps them do their best work – and a place they actually want to be.