What employers want their modern offices to look like and why

Before the pandemic, Chayil, a content creator at a social media agency, believed where she worked looked nothing like a real workplace.

“The whole office space feel wasn't there. The green walls made it look like a school,” she recounted.

After the lockdown in March 2020 was lifted in Nigeria and people returned to the office, the team had to discuss. Clearly, she wasn’t the only person that felt that way.

Thankfully, the conversation was championed by the co-founder who listed several things wrong with that office on both personal and team levels. People found the space unappealing, and some employees came to work with throw pillows to support their backs while seated because the chairs caused back pain, among other issues raised by other members of the team.

In summary, the disorganisation in their work processes was obvious. After the meeting, the team stayed home for another two months while the space was worked on.

Chayil shares that the wall paint was changed from a weird green colour to white and the kitchen feels more practical with appliances and it now has a garden.

Everyone on the team had their space, complete with drawers. There was even a room for the whole team to brainstorm without disturbing other people using the space.

"I felt like I could now be proud of where I was working. Besides, I could take pictures with a background that looks like an office. We could say things like, 'put it in MY drawer' and 'drop it on MY table'," she explains proudly.

After the revamping, the previously cramped space had extra spaces that could be converted into shared workspaces.

"They carved out a shared work area, reception, extra changing room, etc. The place was so nice that although it was a 2-day work-from-the-office arrangement, some of the team members preferred to work from the office. The workspace became a community with other people who came to work there."

If you asked the business owners if it was all worth it, they would say it was definitely money well spent.

An office has always been a part of the average adult's life, whether the version we see now or what existed in the past.

The traditional concept of an office is a place where people go to do tasks and carry out responsibilities assigned to them by their employer. And that's all an office has been about through the centuries.

Along the line, employers are mandated by labour laws to make sure the place is safe for working for their employees. This includes providing a healthy and safe environment, safety equipment, training, and support for workers injured on the job.

While this is quite the basic definition that explains the concept of office, it provides a basis for how the ideal workplace is expected to be today, and this also includes the "extra" features the workplace has adopted, especially in the past decade.

Let's consider the two key points highlighted in the definition of an office: the capacity to accommodate accomplishing tasks (productivity) and keeping employees safe and well while doing the tasks.

Florence Chikezie, Founder/CEO of Redahlia Workspaces and Entrepreneurs.ng, a business development company, discusses the considerations employers often look out for before considering a place to put their employees.

Aside from cost and location, the third consideration on the list are the amenities provided in the space, such as Internet and power. These considerations speak to the primary elements mentioned earlier.

Now, does it mean if the space is affordable and close to where my employees are and has these amenities, it supports working?

It appears that the answer to this question should be “yes”, but the evolution the modern workplace has experienced begs to differ.

Like in Chayil's case, they had a place to walk into daily, chairs to sit on, and desks to put their laptops on. In fact, they had Internet and electricity, but they still couldn’t consider it truly supportive of work.

Hold that thought. Let’s make a quick segue…

Agreeably, the way the average workplace looks has seen a complete shift, going from isolated cubicles to more flexible, tech-enhanced spaces.

This change reflects how organisations now rethink their values, the influence of tech, and a better understanding of what really drives employees' performance and satisfaction at work.

At a point on the evolution timeline, open-floor plan offices were the trend, then came cubicles to give the semi-private feel. But by the early 2000s, we were back to the open-floor plan office concept but with a twist. Companies started to embrace the open office layout made popular by tech companies in Silicon Valley.

This time around, they completely took down the walls or used transparent glass walls to symbolise collaboration. However, this came with challenges that have ultimately become the bane of on-site work: noise, lack of privacy, and a constant struggle for focus.

This ushered in the flexible workspaces we see today. Workspaces now incorporate quiet areas and lounges to balance privacy with interaction, letting workers adapt spaces to their needs and work styles throughout the day.

Of course, the tech in office design cannot be ignored. From ergonomic setups to smart devices, tech also plays its role in reconfiguring office spaces.

Ergonomic furniture, such as adjustable desks and supportive chairs, encourages comfort and health. Meanwhile, smart technologies like automated lighting and IoT-enabled systems save energy while enhancing the overall experience.

It is clear from the evolution story that what form a workplace takes follows the needs of the people (employees) who will use the space. Before Chayil’s space was revamped, the employees were carried along in the decision-making process. The same workers who had endured working in that space until a rework happened to show them it could be better.

"There’s no clutter when you’re coming to the office, and it doesn’t feel like you’re under duress. That really helps with thinking. You’ll probably not go the whole day without talking to someone. There are no cubicles here, no false sense of privacy, or some thin wall between you and the next person," said an excited Kuda Bank employee following the Nigerian neobank's move to its new office in 2021.

Clearly, the new space addressed the pain points of employees, without whose input management might have missed it with the office design. This highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement when such moves are being planned and executed.

Spazio Ideale brought Kuda's design plans to life; the design company was also responsible for Paystack's office design.

Temilola Oyenuga, Head of Design, Spazio Ideale, shares how important it is to have a brief with the leadership of the companies they work with to understand their vision, needs, and preferences.

"One of the major questions we ask them is what their project objective is. We want to find out what success will look like to them when the project is done. We usually get different responses from different clients. Every client has their own need."

She lists employee productivity and comfort, client impression, and brand association as some of their clients' most important needs.

Spacefinish, the brain behind the Venture Garden Group (VGG) and PwC office revamp, uses a similar approach.

Page Tsewinor, a Lead Interior Designer at Spacefinish, explains that the startup offers workplace strategy, allowing them to help clients meet their operations and business goals.

Companies that reach out typically want to know how to optimise their spaces to accommodate their current capacity. They also plan their spaces with projected workforce growth in mind.

In addition, they reveal team demography (different generations in the workforce), leadership structure, company culture, and how departments interact. Another consideration is what, if anything, should be preserved from the old design.

"If you had a pool of a hundred companies and you picked one out of them, there are certain things in terms of function that you would always find. Usually, they need a workspace where the staff can sit and work together — a shared workspace.

“Other common things that you find are requests for personal storage, shared storage, and dedicated storage locations in cases where they want to protect sensitive data," Tsewinor explains.

Oyenuga agrees and says that's why they ask specific questions during the briefs to encourage them to think deeply and consult with other team members.

During their initial discussion, companies like Spazio Ideale and Spacefinish often suggest trending design elements that are mostly functional for the company's unique setting.

"Other things that are highly in demand now are what we call micro efficiencies," Tsewinor notes. “You find out people don't want to have to go from one office or meeting room to the other carrying all their chargers around.

“So you could pre-install a commonly used charging system so that people can have a lighter way to move around. Those common charging systems come with a cable management system. These systems are becoming more commonplace. There are also little details around mechanical and electrical provisions that go into the furnishing."

Interestingly, employers are now more aware and concerned about their employees' wellness, probably because of how it affects performance.

Gallup studies reveal that employers have now noticed the impact of wellness on employee retention, employee engagement, work-life balance, and reduced cases of burnout and fatigue.

Oyenuga confirms this and emphasises how creating adaptable workspaces can help them achieve that. Post-pandemic needs for hybrid work arrangements have also further magnified this need.

In February 2024, Stanbic IBTC officially opened its newly completed and magnificent 12-floor building which now serves as the company's Nigeria head office. Dubbed The Windsor, the project started just before the pandemic and is situated on a 12,000-square-meter land mass in one of the high-rising locations in Lagos, Victoria Island.

Reviews of the office complex reveal that it's designed as a high-end, A+ grade office space, with innovation and sustainability. Meanwhile, the building holds a 4-Star EDGE certification, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainable building practices and energy efficiency.

Yemisi Ayeni, Non-executive Director, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, revealed during the opening that 2.6 million man hours went into the construction and design without any lost time due to injury.

The complex is the result of the combined expertise of ITB Nigeria, the main contractor; James Cubbitt, a Nigerian architectural firm; and SVA International, a South African design company.

The implication of this newly opened work complex, as disclosed by two executives who spoke anonymously with Techpoint Africa, is that all workers — some of whom were hybrid workers before then — are now expected to work from the office at least five days a week.

"From the perspective of leadership, it's not like there's an issue with productivity; they would just prefer to have more people around now because why would you have such a large space with no one to occupy it?"

One of the execs, however, finds the overall look of the space astounding. describes the space as dynamic—encouraging collaboration, socialising, and relaxation; there are also provisions supporting parents with kids—like nurseries and creches.

On whether this has largely increased collaboration, the executive couldn't confirm as the team he belongs to has largely been actively collaborating.

Addressing the possibility of bumping into colleagues from other departments considering how optimised different parts of the building are, he says it's unlikely, "but it helps to randomly run into a colleague from another department during your lunch break at the cafeteria."

Ultimately, everyone still gets to feel they belong. This largely fulfils the company's goal when it started the project in 2019. An EY Belonging Barometer report in 2023 revealed that 75% of respondents felt they'd been excluded at work.

Another example of a business that showed intentionality in its workspace design is Paystack. With branches across six countries and the Lagos office as its headquarters, the company has replicated the idea of a space designed to be functional, inviting, collaborative, and comfortable across its branches.

This was the same idea it communicated during an office tour by Techpoint Africa while still using its first HQ in 2017. The company opened its current HQ in 2018, and it has turned out to be a space where different tech mixers and meet-ups are held.

Though the budgets for these structures are undisclosed, it stands to reason that they cost a lot of money. Should a huge budget then dissuade new startups from erecting aesthetically pleasing yet functional offices?

Chikezie doesn't believe so and is a firm advocate of making moves based on where a business is in its growth process. She uses Redahlia Workspaces' evolution as an example.

"We officially launched on March 3, 2017. After research, we tried to make a co-working space purely for business development. We also had a beautiful lounge which we made art-friendly.

“But as reality set in, we turned the lounge into a training space and demarcated the open spaces to become private offices because we found out that people loved them. We listened to what people wanted and found a balance between those needs and what our business needed to survive."

She advises early-stage businesses, especially startups, to consider getting private offices within co-working spaces while they are still testing the waters. And as the team grows, they can get more spaces until they are sustainable enough to rent or build their own office spaces.

Tsewinor thinks slightly differently.

The financial implication of ensuring that a workspace is functional and attractive depends on the value the employers attach to it, usually in terms of welfare, health and safety, productivity, collaboration, and innovation.

"When you can see that your staff is operating more effectively, you will know that you'll be making more returns. So from a financial standpoint, it's important that we tie it to the value."

Tsewinor also referred to the scenario with Chayil's workplace where revamping the space made it possible to see other economical ways to use the space.

"If your space is underutilised, that is, you are not using up to 50% of the space effectively, that means you are not making as much money as you can. So if people feel they can only operate for two hours effectively in the office, and you have a utilisation rate of about 80%, your office is only practically 20% utilised.

“Basically, if you are earning ₦1 million per month from that particular business unit, that ₦1 million is only 20% of what you can actually earn.

"So, if you help improve the operations, you are giving them a pathway to make, in this case, ₦2 million upwards. When you see that, it begins to make sense to invest in improving that workspace or in building a workspace that helps them meet that business goal."

One of the top strategies companies use to get their employees back to the office is creating an appealing work environment. And this is where style comes in.

However, Tsewinor advises that while style is important, it shouldn't be a trade-off for functionality. Thoughtful designs will definitely include a blend of colours, lighting, and materials because they have a way of influencing the moods of people working in those spaces.

"If you are working in a place where there is noise interference in the meeting room or where people need to do focused work, you will be impeding on the productivity of your employees.

“We advise you and provide optimised test feeds, that's the layout of the furniture with respect to the space that is available, the circulation that is required, and then the other external factors such as noise and lighting that's provided because these little things influence the overall productivity."

For overall mental and physical health, workspaces should also incorporate ergonomic furniture, as well as plants, natural light, and artwork.

For Chikezie, the artwork on the walls around ReDahlia was intentionally chosen.

"We wanted it to be more art-friendly. We wanted something that could speak to people, not just borrowed things. These were made by a friend of mine. Initially, the theme of each art was based on the color and name of the room. And people love it. In over seven years, we've not had people complain."

The return-to-office (RTO) concept sparked the idea of approaching productivity issues differently and considering what could make people willing to return to their offices.

In 2021, Zoom's chief people officer during the pandemic, Lynne Oldham, said the company was ready to support every employee on how they wanted to work — hybrid, remote, or at the office every day.

However, the company's decision changed in 2023 when it announced a structured hybrid policy mandating employees living within a 50-mile radius of the office to be in the office at least twice a week.

Critics questioned Zoom's move, especially because it created a tool that facilitates online remote collaboration. However, it might be a sign that fully remote work isn't possible, yet.

As part of the strategy used to welcome people back to the office, Zoom opened the London Engagement Hub back in August 2023 with features designed to encourage in-person connection and cooperation.

These ranged from creative furniture to library-style benches and agile tables for collaboration and traditional desks, among others.

And it wasn’t only Zoom that used that strategy.

One of the considerations companies have in mind is collaboration whenever they imagine the kind of place that'll attract employees back to the office.

Many companies want to provide a home away from home, and this has led to the inclusion of food courts, dining areas, bars, health and wellness facilities, and pool halls, while some just stick to the cafe feel, which is also now adopted by workspaces.

LinkedIn's new headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, was designed with a focus on hybrid work. The office has areas for different purposes, ranging from focused individual work to social events. The layouts are flexible enough to accommodate a diverse workforce that embraces a more relaxed and inclusive professional atmosphere.

RTO controversies are not huge in this part of the world and may not be the main reason companies look to make their spaces great. But Spacefinish has noticed an interestingly different trend.

"The scenario that we face more often now is organisations trying to provide solutions for multiple work modes. They usually want to accommodate flexible and hybrid work models, focusing on creating adaptable workspaces that can be reconfigured.

“They come looking for solutions that cater to everyone. Requirements such as modular furnishing, movable partitioning, and multipurpose areas that support both individual and team collaboration." Tsewinor explains.