With the shrinking office footprint, how are designers changing their perspective on office design?

It’s no secret that the traditional office space is a thing of the past. Gone are the days of vast common spaces, expansive kitchens, private offices, and large conference rooms. In fact, according to this recent Bloomberg report, offices have shrunk by 8.4% in square footage per worker since 2019 due to the “densification” trend of the past decade – and then expedited by the pandemic.

With the unlikely return of space in offices, it’s time for workplace leadership to change the traditional perspective of what’s needed in an office. If nothing else, employees are even less likely to return to the office if they feel claustrophobic in it.

This evolving small-space office requires creative solutions to ensure employees are comfortable, happy, and want to come into the office – and most of it comes down to design. As offices shrink in size, thoughtful design becomes critical. Employees’ interest in returning to the office is largely influenced by the psychological impact of the office space on their well-being. Offices can be more comfortable from employees’ first step into it with the incorporation of large-format flooring. As employees navigate through their workspaces, the expansive look provided by wide planks can counterbalance the physical limitations of the office’s smaller footprint.

As the literal foundation of any room, flooring sets the tone for a space. Wide plank flooring has increased in popularity during the resi-mercial design movement for its ability to impart warmth reminiscent of residential or hospitality settings, and its visual ability to make smaller spaces look larger. Wider planks also reduce material waste by needing fewer cuts during installation and minimizing unused remnants, aligning brands with company sustainability goals – a major concern for the modern workforce.

The versatility of wide plank flooring extends beyond its visual impact. With fewer planks required per square foot, wide plank flooring is easier on design budgets, allowing for more flexibility in other areas of the office space. Saving costs on flooring allows designers to incorporate large windows for increased natural light, another crucial element of comfort in a small space.

In addition to the aesthetic, psychological, and cost benefits, wide plank flooring is a more sustainable product choice in the redesign of the office environment. While reduced material waste is the top benefit of wide planks, many brands, including Bjelin, are sourcing wood from FSC-certified forests and incorporating eco-friendly manufacturing technologies. One of the most modern technologies, Woodura by Välinge Innovation, makes it possible to compress and harden wood, producing floors that are three times stronger than traditional wood floors. The Woodura solution is an improvement on the technology used for the manufacturing of real wood floors – and it’s as revolutionary as the 3-layer parquet was in 1944. The hardening process provides a much stronger and dent- and water-resistant surface that never needs to be sanded. Using thinner surface layers in the production also enables us to create ten times more flooring from the same amount of timber. This makes the floor cost-effective while minimizing the environmental impact.

A company’s moral values are just as important as benefits in employee retention, and sustainability remains top of mind as employees decide what roles are best for them – according to this IBM study, 70% of employees (or potential employees) find sustainability programs make employers more appealing, whether in accepting an offer or remaining at a company. As businesses move into smaller offices and look to make cosmetic adjustments to bring employees in, the environmental impact of the space will have a major impact on whether personnel decide to utilize it.

As businesses adapt to the changing dynamics of the workplace, employee satisfaction is pivotal to attendance in office spaces. A comfortable and visually-appealing office environment plays a crucial role in a company’s return-to-work goals, and the shift towards smaller work areas requires a change in perspective in how the traditional office is expected to look. The new workforce needs a new workplace, and wide plank floors set the foundation for what the future of office environments will look like.

Photography by Wendy Benson of Robert Benson Photography

*Feature Image Courtesy of Bjelin