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  While we often focus on the practical and environmental aspects of office furniture, there is no doubt that furniture design at its highest level is an art form. The folks we mention here didn’t all design office furniture, but their aesthetics have impacted the look and feel of both offices and office design for decades. Let’s take a closer look at some of the pioneers in the furniture industry and why their craft is still relevant today. Charles and Ray Eames Charles and Ray Eames are two of the most influential furniture designers of the 20th century. They have contributed to the development of the modernist movement, which emphasized clean lines, simple forms, and functional design. The couple’s most famous work is the Eames Lounge Chair, which was first introduced in 1956. The chair is still in production today and is a favorite of design enthusiasts all over the world. The Eameses also designed a wide range of other furniture, including tables, chairs, and storage units. Th...

Bigger is not always better, especially when it comes to office space. Instead of looking for a bigger building to rent, it’s important to first evaluate your current office layout. Do you really not have enough space for your employees? Or is there too much clutter in the office that takes up valuable real estate? That’s where BE Furniture in New Jersey comes into play. In this article, our team has compiled helpful office product, organization, and layout recommendations best suited for smaller commercial offices. #1 – Clear Out the Clutter Just like our homes, our office spaces can quickly get cluttered up, affecting efficiency and how you use the space. First, do a full evaluation of what’s in your office, going through files, equipment, and furnishings to work out what you and your team really need. While there are businesses that can do this for you, it’s worth considering giving your team a quiet day of work where they come in and help to declutter. #2 – Rethink Your Layou...

Organizations are looking for ways to become more flexible in terms of where and how their employees work. From more creative and dynamic office designs to work-from-home policies, they’re adding variety and agility to achieve meaningful gains. One challenge, however, is how to properly support flexible employees – here’s what our contemporary office design team has to say. ·          Invest in good communication tools and policies: Working remotely doesn’t mean that communication should suffer – but it does mean that organizations need to invest in robust communication tools and policies. This allows face-to-face meetings to happen in real time, fostering collaboration and clear communication between team members. ·          Secure your tech: It’s essential to develop policies and data security strategies for devices that remote workers will utilize, whether the devices are supplied by your ...

There are a lot of factor that can be addressed if you want your staff to be more productive, from increasing natural light and investing in ergonomic contemporary office furniture to starting flextime and wellness programs. One area that often goes unnoticed, however, is the cleanliness of the office space. Here are some insights from our contemporary office design specialists. Healthy Employees are More Productive Employees Illness and sick days cost the US economy more than half a trillion dollars each year, so it clearly pays to help support employee health! Colds and flu can spread through an office like lightening, with germs and viruses surviving for up to 18 hours on hard surfaces like keyboards and desks. This means that companies need to put more hours into cleaning their office space, especially wiping down and disinfecting office furniture and computers, as well as water coolers, photocopiers and communal equipment. Another area to regularly clean is the air condit...

Whether you’re a medical professional, a wellness specialist or running your own practice, you need a relaxing, inviting and practical space to welcome your clients. Here are some  modern office design ideas  to help you create the ideal waiting room. Color scheme:  Color has a huge impact on our psychology, affecting everything from our moods to our appetite! This makes your color scheme very important, as it will dictate everything from wall color and fabrics to artwork and furniture. For waiting rooms, calm and welcoming colors are recommended as they encourage patience and relaxation. These include light blues, greys, browns and greens, as well as fresh whites and creams. It’s best to avoid very bold or bright color schemes. Comfortable seating:  Your clients may have to sit in your waiting room for a while, so it’s important that you have adequate and comfortable seating. One good idea is to mix and match your seating for a more home-like look, with a c...

Your employees are a fantastic resource for ideas when you’re considering an office remodel – after all, they use your space and support your brand every day! Here are some questions to ask your staff before your project begins, from our  contemporary office design team . Does your workstation work for you?  A workstation can make a job easier or much harder to do depending on its design. Asking this question will help make choosing workstations that improve productivity and benefit your employees. Do you have enough storage?  Clutter is distracting, and a disorganized office is an unproductive one. By adding practical storage where it’s needed, you can make your office more productive and more efficient. Who do you need to communicate with most?  This is about breaking silos and putting people into more efficient, more collaborative spaces. Bringing the right people closer together through practical office design makes collaboration and communication easie...

In an age of wireless, digital technology, the designs of our workplaces are still held back by miles and miles of wiring and cables. In the conference room where virtual meetings, group calls and presentations are common, this issue is even more apparent. Limiting Your Options – From Conference Tables to Flooring  The conference table is the focal point of the room, a gathering space that represents your brand to your clients, partners and employees. For many companies, the look of this important piece of furniture is immediately affected by the need for connectivity boxes for connecting laptops and devices and handling every type of video output on the market, from HDMI to mini DisplayPort. This makes minimalist design challenging if not outright impossible. Then, it’s about accommodating the wires that run from the table to the screen (or screens) under the carpeting or beneath the baseboards and through the walls. This fixes your layout in a permanent manner, making...

Designing an office is about much more than making sure there’s enough seating and desk space for each employee, it’s about creating a space that embodies your brand, smooths out work processes and enhances productivity and creative thinking. Here are some of the leading sources of inspiration for workplaces that offer it all. The Natural World:  For too long, society has treated work as separate to nature – but where do we all go to relax, re-energize and find inspiration? Nature. Natural light, plant life and fresh air have a significant impact on our wellbeing, health and happiness, and using it in the workplace has the same powerful effect. When there’s a strong presence of nature, people experience less mental fatigue, stress and illness. All these positive effects impact directly on your company’s bottom line through increased productivity, better employee mental and physical health, and increased loyalty and job satisfaction. Socialization:  Human beings are soc...

Contemporary office interiors and design  is not just about creating a pleasant work environment, it’s about adding functionality that’s specific to your company’s vision, operations and day-to-day needs. For the financial services industry, where attracting and keeping top industry talent is a must and tech is a driving force in the sector, office design can play a significant role in achieving broader company goals. Collaboration, Concentration and Contemplation  Rather than focusing on the needs of a single type of employee, office designs for the financial services industry need to create multiple spaces that meet many different needs. This means creating spaces where collaboration can take place (working on a new project, holding meetings or brainstorming sessions, etc.), quiet areas where employees can focus without interruption and contemplate on their work tasks, and areas that are designed around a single task, like a programming department. Office Design t...

Future-proofing is all about ensuring that your office design will be able to incorporate changes and upgrades easily as your company adapts over the years. While no one can predict the future completely, incorporating future-proofing into your design is the best way to avoid costly redesigns down the line and keep your space functioning smoothly as new technology and equipment is embraced. Here are some tips from our contemporary  office design team  to help your office fitment last for many years to come. Future staffing needs:  When deciding on your workplace layout, remember to incorporate space for staff who will join your company as it grows. Flexible layouts work well here, allowing people to hot-desk or work different tasks in different areas, so it’s easier to slot more people in than if you had a traditional cubicle or office system. Now is also the right time to think about implementing policies for flexible working conditions, so that you establish a...

Bloomberg’s new HQ in London, designed by Norman Foster, was unveiled in October 2017 and is often touted as the world’s most sustainable  office design . Located in the prestigious Square Mile, the building’s design and future mark a very real change in what commercial architecture means. Awareness of its Place in London’s Flow, Society and History  This project required two buildings to be removed from the site, namely Bucklersbury House and Temple Court. These buildings in many ways symbolized where commercial development used to be – from the shoddy removal of a Roman temple discovered on the building site to ignoring street patterns, breaking height restrictions and prioritizing parking space with little regard for pedestrians. In contrast, the new buildings showcase the change in commercial architecture and design to something that fits comfortably into the city skyline while still fitting in an astonishing 1.1 million feet of workspace. It offers a restaurant...

Modern office design  is all about creating a space that is more welcoming, more inspiring and more productive. So, is art an effective way to achieve this? Here’s what our team of contemporary office furniture specialists have to say. Art is an Untapped Source of Office Wellness  Numerous studies have shown that while modern office chairs, flexible hot-desking and even plant life have become a focus for creating wellness in the office, art is one area that has been largely ignored. According to a study by Leesman, an organization dedicated to evaluating how workplaces support and affect employee and organizational performance, 80% of office workers say they feel apathy or even hate for the current artwork in their workplace. Many office design companies as well as the organizations themselves treat office art as simple background decoration that’s not worth the effort to include in their wellness remodel – but this is a very incorrect attitude, and here’s why: F...

It wasn’t that long ago when the relationship between technology and office design was focused on making a big enough hole in a desk or partition for all those cables. These days, the relationship has evolved into something far more complex, exciting and interesting. Here are some insights from our specialists on contemporary office interiors. It’s Not Just About Enough Space and the Right Tech  Office design used to be about ensuring that you had enough space in the right area and then filling it with sufficient computers and office equipment for the staff you had – think the famous workspace of  The Office . These days, companies have realized that office design plays a pivotal role in the success of a business, and that technology needs to be an integrated part of that design, not just a tool for day-to-day business. The right office design promotes the mental, physical and social wellness of employees – not only to their benefit, but with a meaningful impact on ...

Activity-Based Working is a design philosophy that’s become a big trend over the last few years because it effectively contributed towards cost-savings on office real estate and furnishings – but that’s not the only reason. Even more significant savings over the long term can be seen in a far broader and more subtle area – the system’s ability to foster employee wellness on a mental, physical and social level. Modern Office Design Ideas and Our Natural Environment  Unlike traditional workplace designs like cubicles, rows of desks or even private offices, ABW actually emulates our natural environment. Biophillic characteristics, which are the instinctive human affiliations with the natural world, are an integral part of this design. These include the incorporation of natural lighting and diurnal working hours, the incorporation of plants and natural materials, access to fresh air, and much more. Even the structure of ABW spaces mimic our ancestors need to move from place t...

For a long time, the phrase “work-life balance” has been a buzzword for businesses, but the reality is that, for many people, there is a distinct disconnect between the quality of like they experience at home and the one they get at work. After all, most employees work 40-60 hours a day in the  office , under fluorescent lighting, in range of unhealthy vending machine options, in front of a computer for hours at a time, and unaware of whether it’s day or night outside. After a day’s work, achieving that essential balance is almost impossible – finding the time or energy to exercise, shop for and prepare healthy foods, and spend quality time with our loved ones and hobbies. It’s this imbalance that makes achieving these goals almost impossible – and the distinction between home life and office life makes it exhausting to even think about! The answer, according to specialists, is that  workplaces  need to catch up in terms of quality of life – and industry leaders ...

Amazon is the world’s biggest retailer, so it’s no surprise that cities are clamoring to have the new headquarters located in their own backyard. The giant will bring in over 50,000 jobs, investing $5 billion in the construction project and growing in time to equal the status of the Seattle HQ. Here’s some insight into the bidding war. Amazon’s requirements  Only certain cities in the USA and Canada will be able to qualify to make a formal bid, but these restrictions are fairly minimal and include that the city has at least a million residents, an international airport, and a stable, business-friendly environment. These generous terms have led to a huge list of over 238 contenders. Which cities are leading the fight to be Amazon’s next HQ?  Major players in the bidding war stretch far and wide, and include: Boston – With its home-grown talent, transit and great real estate. Atlanta – Focusing on its location as an international air transit hub, affordable hous...

It seems like every day we’re confronted with a new article about what Millennials are doing, thinking or ruining now, but the truth is that this generation is bringing some interesting changes to the workplace. Here’s some insight into the modern office design ideas that are changing the way we work. Office design affects the way we work  The Internet-first generation makes it easier than ever before to collect and analyze data from surveys and studies, and these have shown that there’s a clear link between an environment’s physical design and décor, and the state of mind of the people who work there. In fact, 77% of interviewed respondents on LinkedIn said that art in the workplace makes them feel happier, and that 27% said that good décor made them more productive. It’s true that the workplace changes with each generation, and Millennials are bringing their own brand of flavor to the workplace, including: Non-conventional workplaces: While Baby-Boomers were charact...

As  contemporary office furniture specialists `, we know that eco-friendly design has become a significant part of the modern workplace, from energy-efficiency and office furniture right to the very architecture and construction process of the buildings themselves. Recently, Bloomberg has revealed its new European Headquarters – known as The Edge – and is setting the standard for sustainable workplaces of the future. Designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, the building offers a massive 1.1 million square feet of office space, including three public plazas, a transportation entrance to the Bank tube station, and a dining arcade featuring bars and restaurants. What makes this building such a landmark for environmental sustainability?  Throughout the design and building process, low carbon, energy, water and resource intensity goals were kept at a priority level. Some features that demonstrate this conscientious approach include: Integrated lighting panels i...