In 2012, when Ethan Giffin was designing a new office for his Baltimore startup, he wanted an open floor plan that would encourage communication among his employees. But he also wanted to build quiet places where people could work without distractions.
“People have different needs throughout their day — times they want to collaborate and times where they just need to think by themselves,” said Giffin, 40, who is CEO of Groove, a marketing company.
So when Giffin built Groove’s new office the following year, he included a library — complete with bookshelves, couches, plants, a fireplace and an unspoken “no-talking” rule — as well as some smaller, more private workwspaces.
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Companies thinking about how to structure their offices should research what best fits their employees’ needs, rather than simply follow the latest trend, said Veitch, the environmental psychologist.
“Workspace should be designed as carefully as you would design the cockpit of the Dreamliner,” she said. “If you don’t give your employees the right environment, they won’t be able to do what you’re paying them to do.”
