Does it really matter where you put your desks?
Does it really matter where you put your desks?
Let’s be honest, designing corporate spaces is all about the bottom line. The old fashioned corporate approach to office design was to buy the cheapest furniture possible, in bulk, and arranging it in an assembly line fashion to accommodate the largest amount of workers in the tightest space.
Thankfully though, after a few silicon valley tech companies introduced ping-pong tables in rest areas and sofas for their employees to relax on, the business world realised that something needed to change. People actually WANTED to come to work!
As we know, our environment has a profound effect on our wellbeing. We have an innate awareness of our environment and seek out ones with certain qualities. This is especially true now that we are reintegrating back into our work spaces after the global pandemic.
We also look for physical comfort, such as an environment with the right temperature. In addition, we seek spaces that are psychologically comfortable: for example, environments that are familiar, but offer the right amount of stimulus.
Environment is everything
Retailers and the hospitality industries understand the impact of the physical environment and create atmospheres that promote a positive customer experience. They base their physical design on three fundamental principles: comfort, safety, and entertainment.
Research has also shown them that, by banishing the traditional layout, their employees will work more productively and ultimately generate a greater profit.
Considering the average Brit spends 3,507 days at work, including 204 days of overtime in their lifetime, making sure that it is an attractive and comfortable environment is crucial.
So how does art fit in?
Visual stimulation is at the very heart of our human experiences. A bland, austere space may be seen as efficient and task-focussed, but the reality (after numerous documented studies) suggests that adorning our work spaces with some form of artistic stimulus not only increases productivity, it also reduces fatigue and absenteeism.
The good news is that you don’t have to spend museum-like sums of money to bring well-thought out, contemporary art into the workplace. Far from it in fact.
A few well-chosen acoustic panels satisfies not just the practical impact of reducing ambient noise levels, it also ticks the box for introducing a contemporary, engaging feel into the spaces they occupy.
Any number of these can be swapped and changed - just as any other artwork can be - so the potential for a constantly changing, renewed and refreshed workspace is now within sensible reach.
Art is way more than making walls look pretty. Art creates expression, talking points and opinions. It helps us become more sociable and that’s becoming more important as we emerge from 2 years of work isolation.
Employers benefit. That’s the bottom line.
The role of colour
For all businesses and brands colour is perhaps one of the most important considerations. It shapes our subconscious and determines how we feel without even stopping to process that on a conscious level.
Getting colour right will have one of the biggest impacts on any space. I know this very well after ten years as a professional artist; it’s the single biggest thing that draws someone into an original artwork.
The same rule applies to your business environment.
Art should reflect your values but also be uplifting and inspirational. It should provoke thought but also comfort.
That’s why this exclusive, hand-picked range for AllSfär can be transformed into a limitless variety of colours and tones to suit every interior fit and design scheme.
Now is most definitely the time to put art into the workplace. As we welcome back people into our business environments it is even more crucial that we give them that feeling of positivity and engagement that has been missing for so long.
Swarez
Swarez is a self-taught UK artist (based in Gloucestershire) selling original art, and doing commissions, all over the world.Just 10 short years ago Swarez was delivering parcels for a living. Just goes to show what you can do with a small idea and big dreams. Swarez creates one-off original paintings; lovingly crafted, exquisitely detailed and filled with an honesty rarely seen in today’s disposable marketplace. What you see is exactly what you get. Every paint stroke is done by him. Learn more about Swarez
To learn more about how Allsfar can help you in creating innovative, design-led acoustic solutions that promote wellbeing, happiness, and success please visit https://allsfar.com/