Over the years, more companies have been revamping their offices to create fun and productive workplaces that embrace a whole new architectural concept.
This includes shared spaces like gaming rooms, music rooms, and even greenery-infused areas. If you are not yet incorporating these ideas in your office, you are missing out.
The work-life balance is a myth for most Singaporeans where employees here work an average of 45 hours per week, more than South Korea’s 39 and Japan’s 33. This is why office design is important: smartly designed offices promote the welfare of employees, boost employee retention, ensures lower absenteeism, and enhances job satisfaction and creativity. In simpler terms, why would employees work 45 hours a week for your company when there are such dream offices in Singapore?
Perhaps you landed on this article because your current office outlook seems to be tedious and stifling and you want to change that. So how exactly do you liven up your workplace or make your own office one of the coolest in Singapore?
Table of Contents
1. Staff Pantry
First up, consider your office pantry.
The pantry is crucial in building a positive workplace culture as everyone loves good. Studies have even shown that three-quarters of employees feel a full pantry would make them feel happier at work, and 57% believe it would boost overall staff morale.
A pantry serves as a ground for fellowship between employees, fostering bonding and collaboration. More importantly, it increases productivity by ensuring that employees are kept well-fed, refreshed, and satisfied.
Here are some further reasons why an office pantry is important, and you can also check out this list of essentials that a fully stocked pantry should include.
2. Recharge Rooms
Maybe you’re more interested in having the cosiest office instead of the coolest?
Sleeping rooms may seem like a ridiculous idea for many, but power naps have been proven to help jumpstart productivity and alertness. A small, interior room that’s big enough for a hammock or a comfortable couch can do wonders for someone who is meeting tight deadlines or for those who put in some long hours beyond the usual 9 to 5.
Though this admittedly might not be applicable to some workplaces, having a cosy resting area to take a quick snooze is no doubt more desirable than sleeping on your table, especially if you’re someone who is known to sleep overnight at the office.
If not nap rooms, perhaps a meditation or music room might be more feasible to help you kick back and unwind. All it takes are either some yoga mats or a good music player system that is both varied and accessible like our jukeboxes.
3. Biophilic Design
Humans need to connect with nature. Yet, various studies have concluded that we spend about 90% of our time indoors. With more corporations recognising this problem, incorporating biophilic designs into workplaces has been rising in trend.
Trees, fountains, and waterwalls in your office are a great way to introduce this refreshing aspect to spacious offices. For those who reckon that these ideas are far-fetched, here are simpler ways to incorporate nature into your workplace:
a. Natural sunlight
Natural light and scenic views have a major impact on employee wellbeing, productivity, and energy levels. You can start by hammering down all your walls and installing full glass panels instead.
b. Potted plants
A simple and obvious solution: plant life. They can increase oxygen levels and adds to the workplace vibrance, decreasing mental fatigue. Dengarden has a great list of low-maintenance indoor plants for you. These indoor plants will also help to improve general indoor air quality.
c. Natural features eg. wood and stone
Natural wooden surfaces are considered great to enhance an office’s feng shui. For this, you can use wooden furniture, feature wall, and even wooden desks for a more practical choice.
4. Game Room
Of course, how can we miss out on a game room when it comes to listing out the features of what makes the coolest office?
Having a game room is a shorthand to communicate something about your brand and workplace culture. It’s about team building and de-stressing on a daily basis. Furthermore, it attracts and retains a certain demographic of employees.
You may insist that gaming is counter-productive, but the ‘work hard play hard’ culture has been proven to cultivate brighter and more energised employees. In turn, this allows them to produce better work results.
Here’s a further read on why you should invest in a game room.
5. Gymnasium
Who needs a fancy gym membership when you have access to gym equipment down the hall from your cubicle?
Office life can be sedentary, but it doesn’t have to be. Having workout facilities in your office can encourage your employees to stay active, fit, and healthy without having to compromise any time in their busy working schedule.
Regular exercise also helps to keep employees more motivated and energetic at work. The release of endorphins you get after a workout is favourable as well because some studies reveal that there is a positive correlation between productivity and happiness.
6. Colour Scheme
Did you know that our subconscious reactions to various colours in the office environment can influence behaviour, emotion, and state of being? Depending on your nature of work, here are some colours for your consideration:
a. Green – balance and growth.
b. Blue – tranquillity, clarity, and stability.
d. Orange – success and determination.
e. Red – passion, mental energy flow.
f. Purple – royalty, luxury and ambition.
g. Black – authority and control.
h. White – purity and cleanliness.
Using colour in an office design will not only brighten up your workplace but will also affect performance.
If you want to learn more about which colours to incorporate into your office, here’s a comprehensive post that covers these details.
7. Slide
Want to build the coolest office in Singapore? Be sure to include a slide.
At first glance, a slide may sound ridiculous but hear me out. I’m sure you know of Google’s trademark slides in their offices. Similarly, you can never go wrong with a slide; it saves electricity as fewer people use the lift.
Imagine making a spectacular entrance at the canteen before everyone else reaches! A slide saves queuing time. Sequentially, this time can be spent more productively (eg. doing work).
But the most important fact? A slide is just cool. In short, it’s the hallmark of any cool office.
Have any other crazy ideas? Feel free to drop us a message and share them with us!
