Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “Five Things You Should Do To Design Office Spaces That People Love To Work In” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Warm lighting is number one in my office design playbook. Gone are the days of bad fluorescent lighting to “keep alert.” It’s detrimental to your physical health to stay in blue-toned artificially lit environment for prolonged periods of time — studies have shown that it throws off the natural circadian rhythm. Utilize natural light as much as possible and warm LEDs where necessary. It makes the space more inviting and therefore productive. Lisbon based architecture practice Aires Mateus has such amazing natural light in their offices, not to mention the incredible 18th century architectural details and murals they’ve preserved.
2 . Introduce breakout space and communal tables wherever possible. Most industries are encouraging collaboration and cross-pollination over cubicle-enforced tunnel vision in the workplace. I love the Crepuscule offices in Paris as an example. Moore Design made every communal and conference table different, colorful, fun, and inviting to use.
3 . The more lounge furniture the better! No stiff vinyl upholstered couches and bare armchairs from your dentist’s office. In the post-pandemic work environment, if you’re going to coerce people to leave their homes, please give them some semblance of a home-away-from-home. It needs to be cushy, comfortable — someplace they can find a moment of relaxation, and a break from the grind. Or maybe they got used to working from the couch and find themselves more productive with their feet up! Either way, it’s nice to give people the option. We made this a priority while designing the coworking facility Spring Place. In place of stiff seating, we used vintage pieces with residential grade fills for maximum comfort. Even in a home office, having one lounge chair in the corner to mix up the flow of your day makes all the difference.
4 . If sitting is the new smoking, then sit-stand desks are a must. Beflo design makes an incredibly sleek sit-stand desk and there are some great budget-friendly offerings on Amazon these days.
5 . A library on the workplace topic is such a lovely thing to offer. It can be as little as one small shelf of a handful of books to turn to for inspiration. We had the most incredible library of design and travel books when I worked for Soho House Design. Even if you work in finance, get a few vintage copies of the Wall Street Journal and keep them on display. It helps reinforce that the work you are doing daily is part of a bigger legacy.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
We’ve just gotten into salvaging vintage hardware and incorporating them into our custom furnishings. It’s exciting for us because no two pieces are the same, and it’s great for the environment, which is good for all of us!
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them 🙂
There are so many, it’s hard to pick! I do think I’d have an incredible chat with fellow disruptor Cate Blanchett. What an artist. She seems like someone who lives her life with great integrity, and style.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Instagram @studio_qasabian or www.studioqasabian.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!