4 Best Office Workstation Design Styles You Must Know

DDInteriors

June 11, 2023

Interior Design

What does the picture of an office look like to you?

Do you visualize a reception lobby, cabins, pantry, and conference room?

But, this picture would be incomplete without workstations.

Workstations provide the fundamental infrastructure for employees to work and collaborate. A workstation unit typically comprises a desk, adjustable chair, stationery holder, soft board, and side storage. But, office workstations are much more than their classic layouts. They have to be stimulating and encourage work productivity.

Workstation designs in contemporary offices are being rediscovered to support the dynamic needs of a millennial working population. Discover the best office workstation designs you can implement in your office.

Office Workstation Design Ideas

Office workstation designs can be categorized into two – focussed and shared. Focussed workstations are characterized by physically separated personal cubicles that let employees work in isolation. On the other hand, shared workstations provide the opportunity to co-work.

While both the styles of workstations have their own set of pros and cons, it is not necessary to stick to one. You can select a mix of 2-3 workstation styles based on your employee count and spatial needs. For instance, you can arrange focus-inducing desks in combination with round shared work tables to create a homogeneous office design.

Selecting the right workstation design for the office also depends upon the nature of your work and whether your office is designed as a closed or as an open plan layout. You must also consider the ergonomics of the human body to create comfortable and accommodating workstations.

Linear Workstations

Linear workstations are in-line workstations that are a good choice for offices that want to promote transparency, yet maintain work confidentiality. They have minimum visual barriers and are suitable for open floor office layouts. If you need to accommodate a large number of employees in a limited space, this office workstation design can do that for you.

You can choose to separate individual workstations by providing half-height glass partitions or keep the desk partition-free to make the office appear larger. You can explore sitting arrangements such as back-to-back, or headboard-to-headboard – all based on your requirements. By arrangement, linear workstations create an aisle in between making the office look disciplined and organized.

Pod Workstations

Pod workstations, also known as cubicles are the stereotypical office workstation designs. These are individual work units with half-height partitions that allow employees to focus on their work without interacting with each other. Although interaction has become integral to offices in the modern age, pod workstations now have a variation where 2-3 employees can share the unit. Pod workstations are usually arranged in clusters and available in various forms such as the L-shaped pods, hexagonal pods, and pentagonal pods.

If the work scope of your office is highly based on focussing individually, then we suggest pod workstations are the perfect fit for you. Solid partitions made in laminated wood or Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) can be the best suited for you. However, if you wish to make your office appear brighter and larger, you can opt for glass partitions above the desk. This also lets the employees occasionally interact with each other while not deviating their focus from work.

Shared Work Desks

Coworking has become the need of contemporary offices. It brings down the communication wall and tones down the spatial hierarchy in the office. Shared workspaces for team huddles and quick follow-ups are becoming a popular trend for formal interactions. Hence, they have become an integral element of office design today. A shared office workstation design comprises a combined work desk shared by 3-4 people. The shared desk provides the choice to sit with your laptop and discuss client presentations with printed reports and graphs spread over the table.

These workstations are popular across open office layouts in creative offices where collaboration is necessary to create stimulating designs. In recent times, high bar table office desks in ally with adjustable stools have gained massive popularity as shared workstations. You can also opt for organically shaped custom-made shared workstations. They can help in breaking the geometric monotony of office spaces and make the space appear abstract.

Standing Office Workstation Design

Standing workstations have emerged as the solution for health hazards induced by long sitting hours. They provide the liberty to move around and work while standing to ensure that employees do not feel sore due to sitting in the chair for long. Sitting in one position all day long can also penetrate the feeling of boredom and lead to a lack of interest in work. They also encourage collaboration and communication while enabling mobility and free-flowing circulation within the office.

Although you can’t expect employees to work while standing all through the day, you can install 1-2 standing workstations to provide flexibility of movement. If you have a generous amount of space in the office lobby, you can also host a standing workstation there to allow the floating crowd to work while waiting. A standing office workstation design can improve productivity and also let the employee feel that your company cares for their health.

Final Word

The right office workstation design can help in achieving efficient circulation throughout the office. While you can always get standard prefabricated workstations for your office, we suggest that you consider the needs of your employees and then personalize your workstation design. A modern-day office design tip here would be to opt for sleek non-bulky workstations that help to make the office look spacious and organized.

If you wish to learn more ideas about workstation design for the office, feel free to reach out to us here. You can also view our website to check out our relevant works.

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