{"id":77508,"date":"2025-11-24T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.workdesign.com\/?p=77508"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:39:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T17:39:34","slug":"going-back-to-basics-have-we-forgotten-what-makes-workspaces-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.workdesign.com\/2025\/11\/going-back-to-basics-have-we-forgotten-what-makes-workspaces-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Going Back to Basics: Have We Forgotten What Makes Workspaces Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-start=\"498\" data-end=\"709\">Hybrid work isn\u2019t the problem \u2014 poorly designed workplaces are. As companies rush to reinvent the office, too many have forgotten what really matters: creating environments that help people do their best work.<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years, we&#8217;ve fixated on one question: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">where<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should we work? Home, office, or somewhere in between? But now that hybrid working has become the norm, the real question isn&#8217;t <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">where <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">people work &#8211; it&#8217;s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how well<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> those spaces support them. And in the rush to keep up, many organizations have lost sight of the fundamentals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees aren&#8217;t asking for gimmicks. They want the basics done <em>better<\/em> &#8211; workspaces that genuinely support their wellbeing and performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Keeping Sight of What Matters<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We&#8217;ve seen a huge increase in workplace experimentation over the past few years. Hot-desking, hybrid working, flexible zones &#8211; all designed with good intentions. But somewhere along the way, many workplaces have become more about the way they look rather than how they function.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unispace.com\/global-workplace-insights-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">latest global research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> confirms what many leaders already suspect: <em>too many offices simply do not work as well as they should.<\/em> <strong>75%<\/strong> of employees say noise, distractions and a lack of space prevent them from performing at their best, and <strong>80%<\/strong> find the office more distracting than home. <strong>1 in 4<\/strong> people say their workplace isn&#8217;t comfortable, and <strong>21%<\/strong> say it doesn&#8217;t support their role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These aren&#8217;t small complaints &#8211; they\u2019re a warning that some firms have lost sight of what really matters in workplace design, and that\u2019s <em>creating spaces that help people do their best work.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77518\" src=\"https:\/\/www.workdesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/LON_00312_N48-scaled-e1763052784725.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"626\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Serving People, Not Trends<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees spend 2.9 days in the office on average, with that number expected to drop to 2.6 days by 2030. That means every office day needs to count.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Too often, workplace design is driven by trends rather than what employees actually<em> need.<\/em> Big, open-plan layouts may work for some, but for others, it can be made exceedingly difficult to focus or relax. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all solution &#8211; the best strategies start with understanding your people and devising an appropriate workspace strategy, then designing for it.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent project we completed with <em>Tripadvisor<\/em> in the heart of London is a perfect example of a company putting <em>workplace strategy<\/em> at the forefront. Before any space planning or designs were created, they prioritized understanding the precise <em>needs of their people,<\/em> extracting crucial data and anecdotes to ensure they not only designed the perfect, future-proofed space, but that crucially, they selected the perfect building and location to begin with. The result? <strong>Spaces designed to energize and empower.<\/strong> The three floors are designed to flow like a waterfall of energy, with the top floor being the most radiant and social, gradually transitioning to calmer, more focused workspaces on the lower levels. This intentional layering caters to a wide range of working styles and team requirements throughout the office.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Great design isn&#8217;t about reinventing the wheel. It&#8217;s about getting the fundamentals right: creating spaces that help <em>people focus and perform their best.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.workdesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/LON_00312_N43-scaled-e1763052806448.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"646\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Immediate Solutions<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Noise was one of the biggest complaints, and it&#8217;s often the easiest to fix. For example, avoid having focus areas or teams that require complete quiet next to naturally noisy spaces like canteens. It may sound obvious, but layouts are often based solely on desk requirements or a predetermined general layout, rather than on how people actually work.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Understanding how your people want to work throughout the day allows you to create various zones that are genuinely fit for purpose.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once that&#8217;s in place, general design choices can make a big difference. <em>Furniture and biophilia can be powerful tools<\/em> &#8211; shelving, planting, and upholstered furniture all act as natural sound barriers. Speciality curtains and panels, as well as ceiling baffles, can also help absorb sound, especially in areas where hard surfaces or open ceilings cause noise to reverberate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don&#8217;t always need a huge redesign to improve the experience &#8211; just <em>thoughtful, practical interventions.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Comfort<\/em> is another overlooked area. It\u2019s not just about soft seating or temperature control. It&#8217;s about how <em>supported people feel.<\/em> That means giving them access to quiet focus areas, reliable WiFi, natural light, and clean, well-maintained facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best thing you can do? <strong>Listen to your people.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77519\" src=\"https:\/\/www.workdesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Tripadvisor-London-scaled-e1763052827118.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"645\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Designing for Diversity<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No two employees experience the workplace in the same way. For example, introverts, extroverts, and neurodivergent individuals <em>all have different needs.<\/em> As leaders and designers, we have a responsibility to create spaces that support those differences rather than force everyone to work in the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That means offering <em>choice<\/em> &#8211; a mix of quiet and social areas, collaborative spaces (informal and formal meeting areas) where people can focus or connect. It also means paying attention to the <em>small details:<\/em> lighting, sound, temperature, adjustable brightness and contrast on screens, the option to use noise-cancelling headphones, and seating away from busy intersections or corridors to minimize visual distractions and movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subtle as they may seem, these elements can make a massive difference to how <em>inclusive<\/em> a space feels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>93%<\/strong> of employees believe the office will still be needed in five years&#8217; time, but its <em>purpose is changing.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees want environments that remove friction, enable focus, and respect their time and energy. For some, that means coming together in person; for others, flexibility drives results. The workplace of the future must be designed around people, not policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hybrid work isn\u2019t the problem \u2014 poorly designed workplaces are. As companies rush to reinvent the office, too many have forgotten what really matters: creating environments that help people do their best work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2285,"featured_media":77516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[219],"tags":[27554,31920,30615,31919,31916,25162,1660,17986,31915,25759,31918,1641,381,31917],"class_list":{"0":"post-77508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-expert-insights","8":"tag-collaborative-spaces","9":"tag-designing-for-diversity","10":"tag-empower-employees","11":"tag-energize","12":"tag-flexible-zones","13":"tag-hybrid-work","14":"tag-inclusive-design","15":"tag-quiet-spaces","16":"tag-rob-frank","17":"tag-social-areas","18":"tag-tripadvisor","19":"tag-unispace","20":"tag-workplace-wellbeing","21":"tag-workspace-strategy"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.9 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Going Back to Basics: Have We Forgotten What Makes Workspaces Work? 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