What will the shift in remote working mean for interior design?

Remote working is far from a new concept and has been rapidly on the rise for the past decade. In fact, according to Global Workplace Analytics, 80% of employees want to work from home at least some of the time and over a third would take a pay cut in exchange for this option.

Although many of us may already be familiar with working from home as a part of our regular work-life routines, most companies have been forced to test-drive remote working on a mass and unexpected scale (where possible). As working from home now becomes the ‘new normal’ under these very abnormal circumstances, we start to wonder what this means for the future of flexible working and how this could alter the landscape of the way workspaces operate.

Looking to the future with great uncertainty and wondering what life will be like post-lockdown, both employers and employees may be considering if working from home is a viable practice for them moving forward, and we may see even more companies adapting this operational flexibility into its business model with a more long-term view.

Whether an increasing number of us plan to continue working from home on a full-time or part-time basis after the lockdown has lifted, our daily lifestyles will have a significant impact on the interior design industry in many ways. For interior designers, consumer lifestyle trends are a significant influencer on how they design and curate interior environments for their clients. Is there likely to be an increased necessity for incorporating home offices into the designs of our homes? Will carving out space for study areas become an essential part of our new interior requirements? A report on the ‘State of Remote Work’ by Buffer showed that though remote workers have location flexibility, 84% of respondents still choose to stay at home as opposed to using co-working spaces, coffee shops or libraries.

From a dedicated office space to the corner of a bedroom, home studies can come in many shapes and sizes, and like most environments, there is an art and expertise to designing an effective workspace to suit your home, meet your needs and inspire productivity. The impact that social distancing measures will undoubtedly have on business and lifestyles is far reaching, but how we embrace remote working when the lockdown lifts – only time will tell. In the meantime, we pulled together a selection of inspirational home office designs from previous SBID Awards finalists to help keep you feeling inspired and start planning for a potential rise demand for home offices post pandemic.