As companies reexamine the future of hybrid work and set requirements for employees returning to the office in 2025, they also face new questions about how to upgrade spaces or create new ones that set a fresh tone for company culture and morale. Architects, interior designers, and project planners play a unique role in helping companies determine what should be incorporated into their workspaces to meet evolving needs. To create a workplace that employees want to spend time in, it is essential that new and upgraded offices be designed in a way that centers on employees. Human-centered design principles are the foundation for creating work environments that offer a sense of productivity, safety, wellness, and creativity.

Design planning

Employees themselves are truly the key to designing a well-planned, appealing workplace. Surveys can be an invaluable tool for uncovering what employees need and want, both from their environment and the company culture. Feedback can assist architects and designers in understanding the operational needs of various departments, teams, and individuals who share spaces, resources, and amenities. It can also provide intel on different patterns of use, activities, and recurring events that take place in the building, informing which spaces may need to remain flexible or adapt to future changes. Companies that openly discuss the design process with their employees can often benefit from increased morale.

Architects can use surveys and focus groups to uncover the true problems by finding or evaluating what matters most. Sometimes, company leadership thinks it needs to move to a new building, but in reality, the workplace may require a less expensive renovation that ultimately helps employees feel more valued and empowered.

Company brand

Human-centered design can take a company brand – from its logo, tagline, colors, and mission statements – and reimagine it as a key ally in a workspace. For example, in the design for KinderCare Learning Companies’ corporate headquarters in Lake Oswego, Oregon, the brand’s colors were used in a renovation of the office space. This included increasing vibrancy in whiteboard collaboration areas and lounge spaces to assist creativity and impromptu meetings. Shapes from KinderCare’s logo were used to create lighting in the employee café. Biophilic design elements invited nature in through planters, living wall art, conference rooms, and lobby areas to create calming elements within busy work environments.

And as a bonus of biophilic design, natural light and greenery, sick days are reduced – and studies have even shown employees report increases of 15 percent more productivity, creativity and well-being along with 78 percent feeling happier and 65 percent feeling healthier, according to a study on workplace design.

These types of branding elements help employees feel connected to the company and its mission. Architecture and design play a pivotal role in telling the brand story in a workplace, and branding is one area where businesses can breathe new life into their longstanding identity.

Segmenting by use

Employee satisfaction can be enhanced through the creation of distinct “working neighborhoods” defined by use. Some companies create neighborhoods by department, while others focus them by activity. An “energy neighborhood” can be allocated for areas that involve more social activities. Think of a work lobby, café, outdoor amenity area, and print stations. These are places that buzz with activity, and employees can feel more included in things such as holiday luncheons, appreciation days, or routine activities where design can boost their mood.

Neighborhoods for collaboration need to be designed to inspire, spark conversations, and flex for how various teams or departments get things done together. Some might need whiteboards, while others need flat-screen TVs with tech add-ons, and oftentimes, there is a mixture of people sitting and standing. Accessibility is key for these spaces, and their placement must be intentional so that neighborhoods have ample availability for usage.

Focus and quiet zones should be designed with fewer elements to minimize distractions, and soothing visual cues help distinguish them from high-traffic areas. Creating acoustic and visual privacy is important for those employees who use the office as a destination for focused work time. Designers can test fit and use virtual reality software to model concepts and elements before they are ordered or constructed, which can go a long way to making a workplace ready for employees who want to commute in and succeed with the company.

Healthy workplaces

Employee satisfaction is also increased when design allows employees to be their authentic selves with strategies to support neurodiversity, accommodate different generations, and embrace different personalities. Architects and interior designers can help with change management strategies and participate in town-hall-style kick-off meetings to invite employees into new or redesigned spaces. From color cues to graphics and wayfinding, a tour day with staff makes everyone feel like the company is rolling out the red carpet and investing the time to make sure employees understand the intentions of the design and how to leverage the new functions and resources of every space.

Employee wellness encompasses physical, environmental, and emotional factors. While the pendulum has swung from remote and hybrid workplaces with open concepts back to everyone being on-site, smart employers will never lose sight of how a building and its spaces can positively shape their employees, clients, and communities for the long haul.

Darcie McConnaha is interiors project manager and a senior associate at LRS Architects.

Britney Hale is an interior designer and an associate at LRS Architects.