Executives want their employees at their desks more frequently, but the data shows workers aren't budging. The push-and-pull is leaving a permanent mark on office spaces, which are rapidly adapting to win the hearts — and feet — of a largely reluctant workforce.

Occupancy has plateaued at just over 43% for the last month in the 10 largest office markets, according to building access technology firm Kastle Systems’ Back to Work Barometer. Office use has flatlined despite significant upticks in business travel and business lunches being back on the table.

Architecture firm billings continued to experience strong growth in April. While the pace of growth slowed slightly from March, the ABI score of 56.5 for the month still indicates strong business conditions at most architecture firms (any score over 50 indicates billings growth). In addition, inquiries into new projects remained strong as well, as did the value of new signed design contracts. While both of these indicators of future work have slowed in recent months from the elevated levels seen in mid-2021, they remain very strong overall, and are a good sign of work in the pipeline for firms.

An inside look at theMART’s evolution as it takes on a new relevance to best serve the design and business communities of Chicago and beyond.

Changing our offices means changing the ways that we perceive success in an organization. Having an office, a permanent place to put your things or be alone, is a universal signal of value. It is an acknowledgment of commitment from employer to employee. It tells them that they belong, that they deserve a place. We even have a hierarchy for offices, particularly when it comes to the kind of people that are allowed to use them. The pinnacle of which is the corner office. “Corner office” has even become slang of its own, akin to “C-Suite” and “Higher-Ups.”

If coming into the office wasn’t expensive before, workers are definitely feeling the heat in 2022.

The attempted grand office return is not going as smoothly as planned — most employees still want flexibility in their schedule for a variety of reasons.

One of these factors is the rising costs of, well, everything.

The number of digital nomads doubled in 2020, and since then workers around the world have embraced a life on the road. We caught up with our Customer Success Manager, Fiona Frick, who’s done just that.

LINAK is dedicated to helping improve the experience in the office, whether that be at a desk or in a co-working space, while also keeping them active, healthy, and productive. This commitment is on display in the LINAK showroom, suite 10-100, at theMART for NeoCon 2022.

HAT Collective (11th floor, space 11-122) is unveiling Iku, its first-ever original ergonomic seating product, at NeoCon 2022. With the addition of Iku to HAT Collective’s robust suite of workplace solutions, workers are further empowered to work their way and can now create their own “360 workspace” – a comprehensive set of ergonomic products that complete a personalized and healthy workstation.

AIS’ showroom, located in space 1086 on the building’s 10th floor, will feature new products including: Chatham Cove(tm) Work Lounge,PowerBench, PET Wire Managers and Enclosures, and the Desktop Organizer + Suspended Caddy, further expanding its broad breadth of product solutions. In addition, AIS is refreshing its Colors, Materials, and Finishes giving dealers more contemporary choices for its extensive line of products.

Robin Weckesser of a3 Workplace Strategies shares some tips for a customized and strategic approach for the post-pandemic workplace.

Every new generation enters the workplace with its own nuanced communication style, and if you follow the media, each time the culture shock is greater than ever before. From viral TikToks about shocking email sign-offs to subtler yet provocative statements like “We rarely use email” (from a predominantly Gen Z PR company), clearly Gen Z’s entrée into the workforce will make its own waves. But what do we need to consider as we look toward recruiting, retaining, and even selling to the next generation of designers?

Currently, Gen Z represents approximately 30% of the total global population, according to the World Economic Forum, and by 2025, the generation is predicted to make up 27% of the total workforce.

As we move beyond childhood, humans spend less and less time outside. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, most of us spend only seven percent of our entire lives outdoors. This news, paired with the realization that adulthood brings with it more stress, less energy and changes in health and well-being, is concerning – but all hope is not lost. In 2021, the U.S. National Park Service reported over 297 million visitors to locations across the country, indicating that people are returning to nature and seeking out new opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.

This leads us to wonder: If there was a place you could go to offset negative health conditions brought on by aging, would you exert the effort and go? What if that place was just outside your front door? There have been countless studies documenting the amazing benefits associated with being outdoors.

This new building by Korean tech giant Naver was designed to experiment with the future of automation.

A Workplace Advisor & Service Designer at Colliers in Hungary shares his thoughts on workplace evolution, transformation, and flexible office spaces of tomorrow.

Newmark and Cushman & Wakefield also participated in the Series A funding round for flexible workspace tech startup Upflex.

Workers generally want more flexibility, but these things are also important to the youngest cohort of employees.

Architecture firm BIG has constructed a Passivhaus factory in a Norwegian forest for outdoor furniture maker Vestre, which is made from local mass timber and features a green roof and an exterior slide.

April usually sees a spike in demand for office, but not this year.

Debuting in the spring of 2023, Kimball International will be relocating from their current space at 325 N. Wells Street to the full-floor, 13,000 square foot showroom located at 318 N. Carpenter Street. In the new space, Kimball International will showcase their five workplace, education, and health brands: Kimball, National, Etc., Interwoven, and Poppin.

Teknion announced the opening of a new London showroom. Situated in the heart of Clerkenwell, the 6,000-square-foot (557 m²) two-floor showroom is a fully agile workspace that supports the community and partners alike. The space promotes collaboration, innovation, agility, health & wellbeing, and comfort for visitors and staff.

Steelcase said last Friday it promoted Michael Held to vice president of global design from his previous role as global furniture design director.

Held succeeds James Ludwig, who retired in late 2021 after 22 years with the organization.

In his new role, Held will lead the go-to-market leadership team and the global design studio as Steelcase continues to evolve its product development and launch process.

 

Held brings more than 18 years of experience in design, including the past eight years at Steelcase. Prior to joining Steelcase, he managed product design at Phillips Consumer Electronics Company.

A light-task or alternative-task solution, Pli supports contemporary workplace mobility behaviors while offering an approachable, appealing design aesthetic that is easy to integrate into any visual identity.

Meet Interplay, Particle and Imprint, a trio of Crypton Epure-powered water-based coated fabrics that deliver more depth of color and pattern possibilities than ever. Delve into patterns that play with soft geometries and layered details. Free of solvents, plasticizer, PFAS, antimicrobials, flame retardants, all the undesirables that top any environmentalist's no-no list.

The Oak Bok Cowork Desk, designed by Alain Van Havre, features integrated power and a wider design which allows for multiple people to work alone or together in a comfortable way.

Lockers are an obvious but often overlooked amenity in shared workspaces. As well as providing storage so that workers can enjoy an uncluttered environment, lockers can be used to define spaces and create boundaries between work and non-work areas.

From June 21 to 24, 2022, the Heimtextil Summer Special will take place in Frankfurt/Main coinciding with the Techtextil and Texprocess trade fairs. Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles and Textile Technologies, tells us in an interview what exhibitors and visitors can expect from the special format.

BOS Holdings teamed up with Ambius to transform their Chicago HQ into a natural and green space, incorporating biophilic design trends.

The idea of office work and the spatial concepts associated with it have changed fundamentally in recent years. As a result, new typologies have emerged, such as coworking spaces, which now exist all over the world. One example is the new coworking space "Unity" by the provider Walter in Bordeaux, which is located in the heart of the new Bastide Niel district. The space was designed by the French architecture firm Patriarche, who designed large, open and bright rooms for two hundred workstations on an area of around two thousand square meters. For the appropriate equipment, the architects chose furniture from Mara.

Google’s new Bay View campus is representative of what businesses are doing to remake their spaces for the evolution of work.

Have you ever sat there watching Selling Sunset and thought “gee I’d really love to bring that #balenciagabossbitch energy into my tiny WFH setup? Maybe you’re 17 episodes deep into a marathon watch, Christine Quinn is off on some elaborate party plan and you’re there eyeing off the décor of the Oppenheim Group office.

Japan’s declining fishing industry has left behind a constellation of discarded fishing containers. Now some of them have been reborn as chairs.

Find the best Contract Furniture Industry jobs and hire the best talent.