Office Design Trends for 2018

We work with a wide array of businesses on a huge range of office design and fit out projects each year. This puts us in a fantastic position to analyse the office design trends coming into play this year.

2017 saw many office design trends come into play including increased usage of ergonomic furniture, hybrid offices and breakout areas. Below you will find our predictions for the world of office design in 2018.

Whilst artificial intelligence has become very popular in 2017, it has not yet seen the boom that other technologies have seen in the past. 2018, we believe, will see the birth of a new age in office design. We predict we will need to start designing separate areas in offices to incorporate AI technologies such as virtual reality workstations. We’ll also see a change in the types of office furniture available as some companies may start building furniture that incorporates some form of AI.

This could also mean more offices incorporating smart assistants such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home into their workspaces.
This is a challenge we haven’t faced before, but we’re excited to start in this area!

2018 will also see a further increase in the number of millenials in full-time and part-time work. We predict that this will have a huge impact in the number of permanent workstations within office space. Millenials are often less attracted to permanent workstations, and are more drawn to softer, flexible seating so they can work with their laptops. Now, this does not have to be as whimsical as some companies such as Facebook and Google choose, but the key here is we will be seeing a decline in the number of permanently allocated workstations, and an increase in the number of sofas and soft seating we see throughout the office.

A decline in the number of permanent desks in offices will increase the number of unconventional working areas we will see in offices. While this may not mean that we will all be working in hammocks by the end of the year, it does mean that we’ll be seeing an increase in the number of wooden benches, sofas, bean bags and much more.

This is another trend being driven by the increased number of younger employees working in offices. Millenials are not keen on sitting at one desk for 8 hours. They’d rather be given a range of options where they can sit within the office and do their work (often on their laptops, rather than computers). We really do believe this will be one of the key office design trends of 2018!

Open offices have been used for years but 2018 will see the removal of even more closed spaces, creating a totally open environment. We believe that open offices will feature even less enclosed spaces than they did before! Whilst conventional open offices use many open work areas, they also feature closed spaces for directors and meeting areas. 2018 will see these enclosed areas being transformed into new, completely open plan spaces. Meeting space will be reduced to allow employees to hold more informal standing meetings.

2018 won’t see the total downfall of enclosed spaces as businesses still need closed spaces to hold more confidential meetings.

More hybrid offices appeared during 2017 in response to some employees not liking an open environment. The hybrid office works as it features both open and closed off spaces in the same office. Typically this means that employees use open spaces, while management has access to closed office space. However more offices now also feature quiet areas where more introverted employees can work.

We feel this will be one of the biggest office design trends of 2018!

The team at ACI are really looking forward to seeing what 2018 has in store for the office design industry! We cannot wait to find out what new challenges and possibilities lay ahead. Want to stay ahead of office design trends next year? We post a wide array of great office concepts on our Pinterest! Follow it here.

If you’re looking to incorporate one of the above ideas into your office, please get in touch. We have completed a wide array of office fit-out works across Nottingham, Derby, Birmingham and further afield!

If you think you are ready to move offices, but not sure of the steps you need to take, we have developed a completely free guide to answer all the questions you may have. Download it here.