Office Space Design: Tips From The Tech Giants

Many of today’s leading technology companies love to push the envelope when it comes to office space design. The stuffy corporate offices of the past have been abandoned for open spaces filled with natural light. Although we may not be able to replicate the grandiose office designs of the tech giants, we can take some of their design elements and apply them to our offices.

Office Space Design Tip 1: Bring Outside Inside

Recently, office space design has incorporated outside work environments into their office design. Having a place to work outside can help alleviate stress. Apple has taken the trend of incorporating outside elements to a new level with their new “spaceship” office building. The Apple Campus in Cupertino will be a large ring-shaped building with an entire courtyard/orchard in the middle and natural ventilation. The outside of the building will feature large panes of glass to allow plenty of natural light into the space.

Not all office environments have the ability to add a tranquil courtyard area or a rooftop garden. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t give your office more of an outside feel. Adding plants can brighten up your work area and reduce air pollution within a space. There is also the therapeutic aspect of caring for and maintaining healthy plants.

Office Space Design Tip 2: Open Up Your Space

There is certainly something oppressing about the traditional cubicle setup. Modern office space design has incorporated an open office,  encouraging collaboration between employees. With Google’s office space design leading the way on the open office concept, many companies have started doing away with the partitioned workspaces.

The open office concept has drawn some criticism for cutting down on productivity. At a smaller company, the issue of having everyone working in the same space may not be such an issue. Working in one large open space can also help to connect employees and remove the sense of hierarchy and exclusivity of the traditional “corner office” setup. Finally, It is important to maintain areas within your office interior design for private calls, meetings with clients and peers.