A Space of Their Own

NEW PANELIZED WORKSTATIONS CREATE PRIVACY WHILE FEELING MORE LIKE HOME

BY SARA GRAVES

The landscape of how people work has changed drastically these past few years. With workers returning to the office, there has been a dramatic shift in what employees expect when working in the office, whether full time or on a hybrid schedule.

According to a recent Steelcase survey of nearly 5,000 office workers in 11 countries about what’s most important to them in the workplace, most are interested in having a private place to work:

64% – Spaces for hybrid collaboration 62% – Single-person enclaves for hybrid meetings 61% – Privacy 58% – Workstations with full or partial enclosure 57% – Reservable workspaces Ironically, a majority of respondents stated they were willing to trade remote work days to get private workspaces. When asked which they would prefer, 55% would work from home two or less days per week if they had an assigned desk in the office, while only 45% prefer to work from home three or more days a week and not have an assigned desk.

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Steelcase expanded its colors within the line “to inspire the designer while creating usable options across a range of products from furniture to vertical spaces.”

KARI MILLER, PRODUCT MANAGER, GLOBAL SURFACE MATERIALS, STEELCASE

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For many employees, having become used to working in the home, a dedicated workspace reflects their desire to have the privacy of a home office, but in an office setting.

“Unable to find the privacy they’re seeking at work; it should not be surprising that 45% of people prefer working from home. Their work-from-home experience during the pandemic has shown them the value of having a place to call their own—70% of people globally have either an office or a dedicated zone within their home where they have more control over their environment. While spaces in the office for hybrid collaboration ranked first on the list of things people feel are more important than before the pandemic, it’s clear that spaces where people can effectively work alone, without distractions, are critically important for people to feel their office is a great place to work,” according to Steelcase’s findings.

However, in the wake of many employees having a hybrid work schedule—working both remotely and at the office—many organizations have not received the memo on employees’ continual need for designated workspaces at the office.

Instead, many organizations have redesigned their offices without assigned employee workspaces.

“In fact, organizations are shifting to more unassigned spaces as they adjust to hybrid work and new office occupancy patterns. At large organizations (10,000+ employees), 15% of employees have lost assigned desks, compared to pre-pandemic; overall, regardless of the size of the organization, there has been a 10% decrease in employees with assigned desks. The unintended result is people feel a sense of homelessness if they come to the office and can’t find a place to work alone,” the survey stated.

Yet, the data is clear: “People want and need a place to call home where they can control and adapt their environment.”

This is where companies that specialize in laminated panels and configurable surfaced panel products have stepped in.

Steelcase is one of those companies that recognized the changing work environments early on with its introduction of products that enable employees to control and adapt their work environment to their personalized needs.

According to Kari Miller, product manager, Global Surface Materials, Steelcase, “The workplace is now requiring a range of spaces which, in turn, requires a range of material options,” she added. “By using compelling materials, screens and panels can provide visual interest (almost artistic elements) to a space.”

When the Steelcase Flex Collection was introduced in 2019, it included movable desks, tables, carts, screens and accessories that could be easily rearranged on demand to create dynamic spaces for collaborative teams.

More recently, Steelcase added Personal Spaces to the company’s larger Steelcase Flex Collection “so people could easily shift between individual and teamwork.”

“Personal Spaces ‘breaks the grid’ by delivering three application planning typologies—hex, blended and 90 degree—all of which provide varying levels of user flexibility and control, while meeting the fluctuating density needs of the workplace,” according to Steelcase Design Studios.

Two key elements—desks and privacy wraps—create Personal Spaces that make the workspace feel more like home, as well as provide a range of privacy levels and space planning approaches.

When combined, it can support over a dozen possible configurations and create clusters of individual workspaces within a larger team environment.

For instance, within the hex footprint, the 120-degree trapezoid shaped desk can be reoriented in four positions supporting varied work activities.

The desks offer an array of laminate and veneered desk options, including one style that features a high-pressure laminate with a 3mm edge profile to match the top’s finish.

The collection includes high-pressure laminate wood shelving units in 2-unit, 3-unit, 4-unit, or 5-unit heights that can be combined with high-pressure laminate doors, which are 3/5" thick, and either 15-3/4" wide (1 wide) or 31-1/2" wide (2 wide), High-pressure laminate infills can also be added to the shelving units.

In addition, Steelcase expanded its colors within the line “to inspire the designer while creating usable options across a range of products from furniture to vertical spaces,” Miller said.

“These are the types of spaces people really need now,” says David Cooper, director, product marketing at Steelcase, adding “we’re giving people the heightened level of privacy, control and comfort they need to effectively do hybrid work.”

Miller added that she expects in the future, surfaced panels will continue to provide visual and acoustic privacy and “the surface will be an opportunity for soft and tactile expressions.” s p

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