Office Layout Ideas: 5 Modern Concepts to Transform Your Workplace

Designing an effective office layout is a strategic decision that shapes how people work, connect and feel in the space around them. Layout governs movement, focus and collaboration, and influences everything from energy levels to productivity. As hybrid working continues to redefine office use, leaders are looking closely at how layout can help their teams get the most from the days they spend together.

Many organisations know their space could work harder but aren’t sure where to begin. The options can feel endless. Open plan or neighbourhoods? Fixed desks or flex? Large meeting rooms or smaller collaboration zones? Each choice has implications for behaviour, team dynamics and culture.

This guide brings together planning principles and modern layout ideas drawn from recent workplace projects. The aim is to help you understand what will have the greatest impact, avoid decisions that don’t match how your teams actually work and build a workspace that delivers long-term value.

Headcount & growth forecasts

It’s only natural to start with the number of people in your office, both today and tomorrow:

• Start with an accurate headcount today, then model growth for 2-5 years.
• Use scenario planning, including best, expected and worst.
• Translate those numbers into dedicated desks, touchdown spaces and reserve capacity.
• If your headcount is expected to rise quickly, favour modular furniture and flexible zones rather than fixed cells.

Team adjacency needs

As the name suggests, team adjacency is about how physically close teams work. The aim is to create frictionless workflows, rather than adjacency for adjacency’s sake.

• Identify which teams need frequent face-to-face contact and cluster them near one another.
• Separate heads-down roles from high-collaboration teams.
• Use adjacency matrices during planning workshops with team leads. The idea is to map essential proximities and show which teams can be co-located or kept remote-friendly.

Acoustic and privacy considerations

Acoustics are the unsung hero of productivity. Almost a third (32%) of employees in our inclusivity survey said that excessive noise was a problem at work. Here are some solutions for efficient office layout planning:

• Balance open-plan energy with private focus. Acoustic pods, bookable quiet rooms, soft furnishings and zoning can reduce noise bleed.
• For sensitive work, ensure data privacy by locating confidential teams in enclosed spaces.
• Use sound-absorbing materials like acoustic panelling and noise-friendly flooring.
• Adjacency planning can also be vital to maintain calmer areas in the office for quieter teams.

Sustainability and wellbeing principles

Sustainable office design and workplace wellbeing are gaining traction in a variety of sectors. Maximising daylight access is a big factor for both. As well as having myriad wellbeing benefits, natural light will minimise your reliance on artificial lighting to reduce energy consumption. Using open floor plans around south-facing windows is a simple way to achieve this.

From a wellbeing standpoint, you can encourage movement by spreading out key amenities and strategically positioning teams throughout the office.

As for sustainability, it’s important to embed features like recycling stations from day one. This avoids them becoming an afterthought for your office layout design.

1. Activity-based working (ABW) layouts

Activity-based working means providing a landscape of different workpoints, so employees can choose a space that fits each task. These include focus desks, collaboration tables, project zones, quiet corners, call booths and social areas.

Doing so reduces space friction, giving people the right setting at the right moment. It also increases autonomy and supports varied workstyles. Not to mention improving collaboration without sacrificing focus.

Works best for:

• Hybrid teams
• Project-heavy organisations
• Creative and knowledge-based roles
• Companies wanting flexibility without expanding floor area.

3. Focus rooms and acoustic pods

Focus rooms are small, enclosed spaces designed for deep concentration, private calls or sensitive conversations. Pods are similar but often smaller, sized for 1-4 people. They can also be modular and movable.

These spaces improve acoustics and reduce cognitive load. Providing quiet, interruption-free zones dramatically increases focus time and decreases stress. This is crucial for hybrid days when people come in specifically for high-value work.

Works best for:

• Roles requiring confidentiality, such as analysts, writers, legal teams and finance teams
• Anyone struggling with noise in open-plan environments.

5. Bleacher seating and social hubs

Bleachers and social hubs bring energy into the space. Think tiered seating, café-style hubs and open social spaces. They’re ideal for town halls, training sessions and team briefings as well as informal collaboration.

Multi-functional social hubs are included in ‘10 Office Design Ideas for a Future-Facing Workplace’. Above all, they make all-hands meetings effortless. They encourage spontaneous interaction and support stronger social bonds. All of which correlate with higher engagement and retention.

Works best for:

• Growing companies
• Creative agencies
• Tech teams
• Organisations investing in community, learning and whole-company communication

1. Define your goals

Before sketching floorplans, establish the business outcomes your new layout should support. Typical goals include:

• Improving collaboration
• Enhancing brand experience
• Supporting hybrid working
• Reducing real-estate costs
• Boosting employee wellbeing

It’s important to make these goals measurable if you can. For example, you might want to increase cross-team interactions by 20% or provide 30% more focus spaces. Having clear goals will help you evaluate every layout decision objectively.

3. Collect employee insights

Gather qualitative and quantitative input from your people. After all, they’re the experts in how work actually happens. Use surveys, interviews, focus groups or quick pulse polls. This will help you understand preferred working styles, pain points and desired amenities.

Related: Inclusive Office Design: How to Seek Employee Feedback

This is also a good opportunity to ask about hybrid routines, collaboration needs and any frustrations with the current workspace. To get a balanced picture, you’ll want to gain insights from different functions, seniority levels and even work patterns.

5. Establish zoning

Once you understand interactions, you can start zoning your floorplate. This essentially provides the skeleton of your future layout. Typical zones include:

• Focus areas
• Collaboration hubs
• Social and refresh spaces
• Meeting suites
• Specialist zones like labs, design libraries or phone booths

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to place active, noisy areas away from quiet zones. You should also consider sightlines, light levels, acoustic treatments and accessibility as part of your zoning plan.

7. Prototype & test layouts

Develop two or three layout options and test them. This can be as simple as paper sketches or as detailed as digital twins and 3D walkthroughs. Share the options with stakeholders and employees for feedback. If possible, pilot a zone like a temporary collaboration area or a focus pod cluster. You can then monitor usage to validate assumptions before committing to construction.

Be the first to hear about new workplace trends when you join our mailing list.

JOIN THE LIST