Unless you’ve been living, or working, in a box for the past few years you will surely have come across a new concept in working and office design called coworking. Coworking spaces are places designed for different people to come and work, perhaps on a temporary basis or regularly day to day. There are shared spaces like cafes, break-out rooms and conference rooms, and workers typically have their own desk or cubicle in a large open-plan space. Coworking offers many advantages for modern businesses. Here’s why designers should look at the concept of coworking when designing for optimum productivity.

1. Coworking Generates More Creativity and Productivity

Designing a space for co-workers helps to increase the possibility of greater creative connections and more productivity. Offices that are designed with co-workers in mind are, according to Commercial People, generally more communal and more people from different working backgrounds can mix with each other more easily. The common areas and break-out rooms enable dialogue and connectivity.

2. Coworking Spaces Can Be Healthier

New office design trends go towards creating coworking and other office spaces with integrated attention to health and fitness. Employers know that fit, healthy employees are more likely to be happier at work, more productive, and take less time off. Many coworking spaces in particular are being designed to include gyms, swimming pools, and even climbing walls.

3. Coworking Spaces Are More Flexible

In today’s economy it is always helpful to be able to scale office space and facilities up and down when needed. Coworking spaces are automatically more flexible and can accommodate different numbers of people without much change.

4. Coworking Spaces Reduce Overheads

When designing a coworking space you can design in an economical way to give people the amenities they need at a price that can be accommodated into any budget.

Coworking spaces can be flexible, creative spaces for people to work. Designing a modern office with coworking principles in mind helps to solve many of the problems that affect people’s modern working lives. Looking into how coworking spaces can be incorporated into the modern office, even if the entire office is not for coworking, can bring about great improvements in staff mindset, productivity, and even health. Designers looking to create change in the workplace are increasingly utilising these concepts for better workplace design.

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