Pavel Mrazek: How has the pandemic affected office design trends?

Pavel Mrázek is the founder of Hezkey, which deals with the design and implementation of commercial and residential interiors. We interviewed Pavel on the topic of office design, which his company specializes in.

You have been designing interiors for more than 8 years. Can you tell us how office design has changed since you started in interior design?

Companies are becoming more and more aware that the work environment matters and that their people are their greatest asset worth investing in. The environment affects the effectiveness of employees and thus the performance of the company.
When we founded the company, there was already talk of the "death" of open space, which the naysayers claim was created to save costs and constant scrutiny. Of course, this phenomenon hasn't died because most companies don't want to operate in smaller, enclosed offices, which are also not good for building company culture. But more and more companies are discovering that the classic open space doesn't really work.

What are the main differences? What has changed the most?

The intersection of work and "home" - this is related to the growth of the home office, where companies operate in a hybrid way (some people work in the office, some at home). The modern work environment no longer simply means an office chair and a large stacked desk, but more options - a bar or lounge seating for shorter work or the possibility to collaborate with colleagues in a multifunctional workshop room or relaxation zone.

What was the biggest trend in office design at the time? And what trends are you seeing today?

That was a time when the bar was set really high by Google and other tech companies that started making offices the kind of place you don't want to leave. Alongside a colourful environment full of diverse nooks and crannies, employee facilities such as a canteen and gym work to ensure that employees don't actually have a reason to leave the company. What many people and business owners remember from this concept are the minor but attractive details - the playrooms and slides between floors. They often wanted to incorporate these into their companies as well.

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A continuing trend is more emphasis on spaces outside the workstation, so various relaxation zones and kitchenettes with seating where colleagues can meet informally or work for a while.

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The pandemic has transformed everything, not least offices. Some of them are still empty because employees still work from home offices. Are companies turning to you more often lately to design offices that employees will be happy to return to?

Absolutely - management doesn't like the sight of empty offices. In addition, according to surveys - for example from CBRE, which was conducted in 8 countries in Central and Southern Europe, including the Czech Republic - 48% of people prefer to combine working from home with working in an office. Enlightened companies are beginning to understand that offices need to be redesigned and adapted to a hybrid working style.
Otherwise they will continue to pay large sums for unused space. Most importantly, they will lose talent that prefers to work in a comfortable work environment that allows them to be flexible.

How do you create offices that are adapted to a hybrid working style?

We start by identifying management needs. Then we link everything to the space and budget options and mix in our know-how and experience.
We aim to create offices that help people perform at their best. Each profession then has specific requirements - for example, for more creative professions like marketing, a coworking type of work is suitable - the employee does not need to have a permanent workplace, but appreciates variable zones, closed call booths and online meetings. Alongside this, accountants and lawyers, for example, still prefer a closed office for their largely independent work.

What is the key to converting an office to the now popular flexi office model?
A flexible office is a concept of work environment arrangement that allows a company to react quickly to the current situation. For example, when a company is growing, when some people have to be laid off or when a company-wide meeting needs to be held. For these purposes, they do not need a giant conference room, but can simply rearrange, for example, a relaxation area. The space can be easily rearranged using mobile dividers and furniture.

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What is the difference between flexi office and smart office?

Smart office is typically associated primarily with the transition from permanent fixed workstations - one chair and a large desk per employee - to a system of so-called floating workstations, which employees either book online or simply sit wherever there is space. It works with the idea that an employee doesn't have to sit in one place all day. He or she works with the team in a conference room for part of the day and then just needs to sit at an elevated bar seating or relaxation area for a few hours. By switching to a smart office, a company can reduce the space dedicated to offices by more than 20% and then dedicate the saved space to common areas or rent out the saved space.
Today, even more conservative companies, such as the headquarters of Komerční banka, are switching to the smart office model.

Interest in office design is growing.

Why should a company consider converting a standard office environment (most often open space) into a flexi office? What are the main advantages of this type of office?

A flexible office is suitable for any company that wants to be able to react quickly to change. The starting point for flexible offices is to avoid structural interventions as much as possible and, for example, to solve room partitions with furniture or green walls that can be easily rearranged. The key is that the client invests in their property, not in a rented solution. That's why it can be an interesting investment to invest in a portable phone box, for example, which is not always cheap but can be easily relocated when moving to new premises.

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Another advantage is better use of existing space. For example, we created a relaxation zone for Heureka, where you can relax, eat lunch, work or have a quick meeting at the same time. Alternatively, the space can be rearranged and used for a company-wide meeting or perhaps a yoga class.

How do you think it is possible to make an office both interesting in design and practical for use?

The task of a skilled architect or interior designer is to combine it well. It is certainly worth investing in offices and not leaving their solutions to the implementation companies, which are limited by the range of products supplied and often lack the necessary know-how.
Plus, design-interesting does not necessarily equal expensive. However, I would not recommend embarking on a search for a suitable solution without an expert.

How popular are so-called chill out zones in company premises nowadays?  

They are becoming more and more popular! And we like to design them. They make even more sense with the transition to smart office and hybrid working. They don't just have to have a rest function. You can work in them or hold team meetings.

A lot of companies entice job seekers with job ads for a foosball table in the workplace, but the reality is different - no one actually has time for it and the foosball table usually goes unused. How to design a chill out zone to be truly beneficial for employees?

It is really only worth buying a football for a company where employees are not afraid to play it. It's about company culture. For a lot of companies with a strict work culture, it's useless. For companies where there are informal relationships and trust, it can be a good initiator of meeting and relaxing.

Thanks to flexible office design, a company can save more than 20% of its office space.

Do you also design so-called fitness zones in companies?  

A separate fitness zone makes sense either for larger companies that want to keep employees in their premises for as long as possible, or for IT companies and startups that want to support their corporate culture or differentiate themselves from the competition.  

But what makes sense for a lot of companies is the possibility of creating a space for a yoga class or group exercise class. This space can be created, for example, in a relaxation zone, where a quick rearrangement of furniture creates a free space.

What is the price range of your office designs? What is the approximate amount of money a company with 100 employees should prepare if it decides to change its office from a tired open space to a modern flexi office?

Of course, this depends on the current situation and what of the current equipment can be used. Such a very rough price anchor is about 10 thousand crowns plus VAT per square meter of remodeled space. But it can move both ways depending on the customer's requirements. We are here to use the customer's resources as efficiently as possible and the customer only invests in what makes sense. Alternatively, the refurbishment can be done in stages and resources can be released gradually. However, a good interior design is essential.