In the past, all it took to have a cool office was a foosball table, a beer tap, and a few couches. Today companies are looking for ways to boost creativity, spark innovation, and motivate employees. Additionally, tech companies (which have carried the brunt of those foosball stereotypes) are thinking of their workspaces as physical representations of their brand—and as tech matures so too do its offices. In 2016, office design grew up and put on a tie. But the best examples we saw still maintained some punk soul. Here are our picks for the coolest workspaces of the year.

Via fastcodesign.com >

When Ticketmaster opened their London office, they sparked a flurry of interest with the introduction of an indoor slide for employees. For some, this represented an exciting and different way to inject a bit of fun and creativity into the office environment. For others, it was a gimmick too far. As the debate raged across the internet, one thing became clear: with many people spending in excess of 40 hours a week in the office, the need for dynamic, well-designed workspaces which engage employees and encourage collaborative working is paramount.

Via workdesign.com >

These days, engagement is what motivates employees, not perks: meaningful work, continued learning, career opportunities. 

Welcome Agile, a burgeoning management approach that’s also a timely development considering that Agile’s fundamental principles resonate with millennials, the largest demographic in the U.S. workforce.

But Agile isn’t simply about processes and org charts: It’s also about physical space. Agile principle #5 reads, “Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done." That’s not “environment” in a metaphorical sense, but a very real one: the workplace. So how do you “agilify” an office? Here are five ways, tied to key Agile principles.

Via dlrgroup.com >

People spend 90 percent of their time indoors, and much of that time is spent at the office: an average of 47 hours per week. From lighting, to acoustics, to how much time we spend sitting, employees’ workplace experiences can impact their mental and physical well-being, even after they leave the office.

The good news is design decisions can increase health and happiness at work, and mitigate negative consequences of environmental stressors. According to Stanford University researchers, the effects of workplace stress are comparable to those of secondhand smoke. Long workdays and short deadlines contribute to long-term increased risk of cardiovascular disease, along with depression, anxiety, and short-term losses in productivity at work and at home.

Via new.aia.org >

Today’s workplace is about much more than a physical place where work happens; it can be a strategic asset for companies.

For companies, therefore, the challenge is how to enhance the experience of work. Tactical wellness programs are nice, but comprehensive well-being initiatives can have a greater business impact.

Watch the video to find out more about why companies are increasingly realizing the benefits of delivering a better work experience for their employees.

It’s no secret that a well-designed workplace is a more pleasant environment to spend work hours than one that is poorly planned and decorated. However, spiffier digs could also have an impact on your company’s financial health.

A new survey by the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) found a correlation between office design and the bottom line. The survey queried 1,206 full-time U.S. employees at companies of various sizes. More than half are in managerial or professional level positions who spend most of their working time in an office leased or owned by their employer. Respondents to the survey exhibited attitudes that suggest there is a strong correlation between good office design and retention. 

A sense of place is a long-standing concept. At a grand scale, this has manifest in walled cities and specific architectural traditions. This parallels rituals, traditional garb and dress, and regional cuisines in defining cultures. With the exception of a few very high-level executives, this desire to develop a sense of place seemed to have been lost at the end of the last century in corporate culture. Recently however, we’ve seen a shift: more, and more, companies are emphasizing the importance of creating a meaningful sense of place in the office environment for all of their employees.

Via gensleron.com >

However much we know about the forces we expect to come into play in our time and however much we understand the various social, commercial, legislative, cultural and economic parameters we expect to direct them, most predictions of the future tend to come out as refractions or extrapolations of the present. This is a fact tacitly acknowledged by George Orwell’s title for 1984, written in 1948, and is always the pinch of salt we can apply to science fiction and most of the predictions we come across. This is the fundamental reason why a typical report or feature looking to explore the future of work and workplaces invariably produces a hyped-up office of the present. This has sufficed to some degree up till now because the major driving force of change – technology – has developed in linear ways. Its major driver since Gordon Moore produced his eponymous law in 1965 has been miniaturisation. If we can expect computing power to double every 18 months, as More predicted, we at least have a degree of certainty about technological disruption. Of course, this has already had a profound effect on the way we work and the way we use buildings. So too has the secondary prime technological driver of the early 21st Century, the digitisation of the past and present.

Via workplaceinsight.net >