Workspace Studio: Companies invest in green spaces, terraces and generous socializing and relaxation areas

Workspace Studio, a company specialized in high-quality office design which became a Certified Dealer of the MillerKnoll group in Romania in June, recorded a turnover of 10 million euros in the first 9 months, up 50% compared to last year. The positive dynamic is due to the increased interest of companies in investing in interior design solutions, aligning with the new trends in the labour market, such as the orientation to high quality and the rethinking of workplaces, increasing of spaces for socialization, collaboration and mentoring, against of individual ones.

The projects carried out by Workspace Studio in the first 9 months of the year have as their main characteristics the orientation towards premium design, quality and ergonomics of furniture pieces, as well as the creation of a comfortable space, which supports a state of well-being and stimulates productivity, creativity and collaboration. Therefore, ergonomic furniture, along with specialized or premium solutions for collaboration areas, generated 75% of the company’s total sales in the first 9 months of the year.

After two years of changes and transformations, companies are now, more than ever, focused to give a new meaning to office spaces- to transform them into pleasant, comfortable, useful, practical and ergonomic spaces. Employees want office spaces that look better than the ones at home, they look for variety, both in design and posture. At the same time, everyone’s expectations and demands regarding ergonomics, air quality, light or the distribution of work spaces have increased a lot. Since the first months of the year, the tendency of companies to focus on design and high quality has become visible – declares Horatiu Didea, Managing Partner Workspace Studio.

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In the context of the economic crisis and working in a hybrid system, the total average surfaces decreased by about 15%. At the same time, the spaces have become airier, being allocated average surfaces per employee, increasing by almost 50% compared to the pre-pandemic period. If 2-3 years ago, individual work areas and individual offices were concentrated in 65% of the area of ​​development projects, currently the proportion is 55% in favour of collaboration and socializing areas.

In the first 9 months of the year, the average budget, which takes into account both the individual workstation and the related quota from the common spaces, reached over 2000 euros/workplace, up 10% compared to the same period of the year last.

At the same time, taking into consideration the return to the office and the increased interest in the quality of work spaces, the number of office design projects has increased significantly. In the first 9 months of the year, Workspace Studio carried out furnishing and design projects whose average value was 350,000 Euros, up 15% compared to 2021.

If the pandemic brought something goof, I think it can be the transformation of the office and the way of working. The transformation of offices into more beautiful and elitist destinations is irreversible. Companies invest substantially in green spaces, terraces, collaboration, relaxation areas and generous cafeterias. Employees expect the office to be an emotionally charged place, with a meaningful design, which offers both the tools and the layout to stimulate productive work, but also a platform for formal and informal interactions with colleagues, everything in a context where sustainability is very important – Horatiu Didea added.

In terms of product solutions, in the analysed period the most sought after were ergonomic chairs, acoustic architectural cladding and walls, acoustic booths, informal furniture for discussion areas, cosy and residential furniture and furniture for the cafeteria area.

We end these 9 months with very good results. The companies have decided both to release the frozen budgets in the last two years, as well as to invest in the quality of the work spaces in order to accelerate the return of employees to the office. The regional crisis, inflation and recession affected the budgets, of course, but even so the investments in quality, sustainability and well-being increased significantly. In addition, this year, several large companies decided to rearrange the office spaces, the value of the large projects being practically double compared to previous years – Horatiu Didea also declared.

With the diversification of product range, Workspace Studio addresses the market interested in quality in all verticals, both projects from the office segment, as well as complex projects from the premium commercial and residential sector. In the first 9 months of the year, B2B projects generated 90% of the company’s total business, and for this year, the Workspace Studio Group is counting on a turnover of over 14 million euros, with an increase of over 40% compared to 2021.