Designing or redesigning your workspace to make it welcoming is never a small undertaking. This process – which varies from one company to another, from one coworking space to another – involves a great many levers: architecture, structure, design, decoration, scenography, furniture.
So how do you turn a coworking space, or your own independent workspace, into a genuinely welcoming place? Whatever the context and the objectives you've set, you'll need to give fundamental importance to interaction. Your workplace – which is above all a place to live and collaborate – must make it easy for your colleagues to share. Here are 5 tips shared by Morning's design team for turning your office into a welcoming place and a catalyst for interaction.
Tip no. 1 for a welcoming space: give pride of place to shared areas
First and foremost, when drawing up the plan for your space, it's important to give a central place to shared areas. To make your coworking space welcoming, it's essential to create collective zones dedicated to sociability; places to relax, meet and share. Depending on these various uses, you can choose to lay out games rooms, gyms, canteens, a lounge, and so on.
To be very concrete, nothing beats a little figure. When laying out your offices – coworking space or independent workspace – the design team advises you to dedicate at least 15% of your total floor area to shared spaces.
Discover our coworking spaces in Paris designed to encourage interaction.
Tip no. 2 for a welcoming space: play the transparency card (and openness)
How welcoming a place feels also rests on its openness and transparency, two terms tied as much to architecture as to communication. Do feel free to place transparent partitions between your enclosed offices or meeting rooms. They offer a line of sight and give a sense of the life and interactions playing out beyond the walls. They also avoid carving up the space with corridors that always feel too closed-in.
Another idea for avoiding too many “cut-offs” is to create alcoves within the shared spaces. That way you make the most of the hybrid potential of these “nooks” that are at once open and private.
These two solutions (transparent partitions and alcoves) will let you establish a visual link between colleagues, who can see one another while remaining in an environment that lends itself to calm and concentration.
Tip no. 3 for a welcoming space: go for warm decoration
The visual environment unquestionably affects mood. Cold, soulless coworking spaces will unfailingly trigger a sense of gloom among the members, the kind of mood hardly conducive to interaction. Conversely, a warm and welcoming world will bring minds closer together, consciously or not.
To create such a climate, there are plenty of tricks. You could start, for example, by placing plants in the shared spaces; you'll soon realise their magical power! Lighting is an important point too. Ideally, of course, you'll have windows offering as much natural light as possible. But if that isn't possible, do feel free to add small spot lights in warm colours; the space's occupants will feel at home, and so more inclined to share.
Be careful, though, not to choose just any bulb! Keep an eye on your energy use and on the environmental impact of your coworking space (read our article: "And what about our impact in all this?")
Certain materials also help create a warm atmosphere, such as wood or certain fabrics. The options are so varied... Experiment with certain colours, be bold with materials to suit your mood and your company's codes, while respecting the place.
Tip no. 4 for a welcoming space: dress the walls!
The walls of your workspace are a prime canvas for expression. As such, they can play a key role in how welcoming a coworking space or an open-plan office within a large organisation feels. Little jokes on the walls, large murals, unusual objects, offbeat meeting-room names… So many simple details to put in place that will spread a positive mood among your colleagues. These touches can of course echo your company's editorial guidelines, or at the very least your culture. Do feel free to spark brainstorming sessions within your team to choose the messages to feature on your walls.
So there's no need to grab the first stickers that come along. Take the time to choose your messages, avoiding sticking them everywhere. An overload of messages can create counterproductive "noise" that will tire the eye.
Tip no. 5 for a welcoming space: invest in collective furniture
Do feel free to set out armchairs and sofas to make the shared spaces even more comfortable and inviting. You can also invest in collective work furniture. Large tables and benches for the shared spaces, shared offices and meeting rooms always make an impression (read our article: "The art of the table, by Morning").
The ideal? Having modular furniture to stay flexible and adapt to every situation. You can opt for shared desks that can be made individual, or even mobile stages for collective speaking at events. You can also set up a cabinet of curiosities within your shared space. These little installations filled with iconic objects are perfect for sparking conversations and awakening... curiosity.
Making your coworking space welcoming is essential. The explosion in remote work is leading companies to turn their head office into a genuine place for interaction and sharing. Individual, focused tasks will increasingly be done in home office, with colleagues coming to their workplace to co-build with their teammates. So the workspace needs to adapt to this major trend.
The Morning team is of course entirely at your disposal to support you in your project.
Looking for a coworking space in Paris that encourages a welcoming atmosphere and interaction? The Morning team is entirely at your disposal to support you in your project.
Our team is available to assist you.
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