Working From Home: Will it Impact Residential Design?
It's not new that working from home took over as one of the biggest and fastest growing trends in the professional world. The global pandemic has contributed to this work style, not by choice, but by obligation, and consequently causing an abrupt change in the company's logistics and generally the way communication and exchange of information is done. Computers have been brought from offices to people's houses, reams of paper in huge cardboard boxes, 10-meter Ethernet cables spreaded across the living room, and we could go on… And this begs the question, how can home-design and architecture impact not only the quality of work from home, but will residential design be submitted to new trends and changes due to the current happenings? This was the exact question TOTE SER's CEO Helder Pereira Coelho asked himself, while reporting for the weekly article on the company's website.
"The Covid-19 has made unprecedented damage to the economy, to the society and to our own habits. Never before in history were we forcedly submitted to be confined to our house, having to spend days and weeks inside. Therefore the impact of the pandemic has completely changed the way we see our homes - all of a sudden the average Joe doesn't leave at 8am to be home at 7pm, to then make dinner and go to sleep. Our houses need to make us feel more comfortable than ever, they need to be a place where we want to be and be ok with staying in for long periods of time - Other than the architecture , responsible for how the area is managed, the design is equally important."
Demand and motivations can vary, as we know. Nevertheless, one of the current most important goals is to create modular spaces, which provide flexibility to succeed both as a living room and an elegant and prepared space to host a meeting or have guests.
Working at home shouldn't be left out of that concept, which means that these factors will most definitely affect not only the performance, but also the creativity aspect.
Did you know that:
- High ceilings can help promote free and abstract thought processes, while low ceilings provide a sense of comfort and allow for a more specific and focused view of things.
- Natural light conveys a powerful stimulating signal for human alertness and cognition and has been routinely employed to improve performance.
- Spacious and open environment enhances the feeling of well-being and happiness, which translates into better performance.
- Colors applied accordingly to the millennial laws of Feng Shui reflect different energies when combined with sun exposure.
These are some of the few little-known secrets that TOTE SER has implemented for over 25 years. Our architecture and design goes beyond the visual effect, it culminates into an incomparable mix between style, quality, comfort and well-being. This is why we are investing our time and resources to come up with the most forefront insight on combining home-design and architecture with working from home. We firmly believe that this trend isn't going anywhere and deserves special attention.
Architecture in the Future
Working from home has changed a lot on the last few years. It wasn't that long ago that almost every house had an “office”, even if it meant having 2 desks next to each other with a printer on the side. These divisions had a purpose, it was where the PC was and where you could place the biggest amount of notebooks and stuff from work on the table. However, with technology and work strategies evolving, the use of paper and PC's has become more and more obsolete. This means that we don't need to confine ourselves into a particular spot to be able to work, since tablets, smart phones and laptops provide us with a whole new sense of freedom to move, making our workplaces even more diverse. A simple kitchenette can be a cooking and eating place, but also function as a boardroom by day and host a client cocktail party at night.
Also, with the ever-growing use of devices and the undoubted need of Wi-Fi, investing on home automation is becoming more and more important. Furthermore, we have to acknowledge that due to the COVID-19 situation the necessity of spaces outside the residential units need special attention, not solely for protection and prevention matters but also to maximize productivity in these areas.