Social Spaces Outdoors
People are drawn to the places they make them feel the best and most productive. People looking to collaborate, create, and innovate value being in the workplace. The purpose of the office space has shifted from where we had to work to a place that’s more dynamic than ever. The workspace offers an opportunity to connect socially, leverage teams, networks, and processes that help them perform their best.
Flexible spaces with areas that are open and private are critical components of wider corporate real estate and portfolio strategy. Depending on your space objectives – creating an impression, nurturing your workforce, or supporting collaboration- certain social spaces are better suited than others for the activities that take place.
Planned times to work together, as well as areas that encourage unplanned encounters between individuals from different areas of the organization, foster diverse points of view for better decision making and problem solving.
We are social by nature, and social spaces span the spectrum. Whether your goal is to help people gather, connect, or restore – or maybe a combination of activities – flexible, inspiring spaces enhance the user experience. Depending on your space objectives certain social spaces are better suited than others for the activities that take place. Guide your design based on the intent for users to create different workspaces:
- High Impression: Spaces that set the tone and make an impression, impacting how people feel and connect with your culture and brand.
- Restore and Connect: Quiet havens or community spaces that help people refresh, rejuvenate, and interact to foster well-being.
- Team Engagement: Formal or informal collaborative spaces for idea generation, strategic activities, and learning, generally away from high traffic areas.
Work outside to collaborate and recharge
Social spaces range from indoor to outdoors, calming to buzzworthy. The first step in creating a social space that will draw people in is to evaluate the places of social context within your organization. Regardless of where work get done, switching spaces throughout the workday provides benefits, particularly when work it’s done outdoors. The one design trend that gets overlooked is utilizing the outdoors to work and collaborate.
Working outside foster well-being through inspiration, helps us focus allowing the opportunity to collect our thoughts and encourages our mind and body to rest and recharge. Outdoor spaces also provide alternative places for groups to restore and connect.
Social spaces that replicate the comfort of indoor gathering spots with access to Wi-Fi and power sources or the option to completely unplug are blurring the lines between heads down and work and rejuvenation.
What if your workplace does not have an outdoor workspace? You can always bring the outdoors in. Provide access to natural light, views of the outdoors, and fresh air offer improvements. Bring nature indoors for climates that do not allow year-round access to outdoor spaces. As people seek outdoor spaces to connect with nature bring indoor plants, natural light, and water features to help people focus, imagine, and collect thoughts.
Tate Outdoor Table
Forest Outdoor Chair by Haworth
