Scandinavian Spaces Makes the Workplace Feel More Like Home
Most of us spend more time at our workplaces with our colleagues than we do at home with our families. And unless you work for a tech startup, chances are your workplace isn’t all that pleasant. We’re generally lucky to have more than a bare-bones setup of harsh lighting, communal tables, uncomfortable seats, distractions galore, and a general lack of privacy.
A massive cultural shift in work-life balance would be the ideal solution, but let’s be real, we probably aren’t getting that anytime soon. Instead, some companies are working to make our offices more like homes away from home. That doesn’t mean we can bring our cats to work, binge Netflix, or walk around in our underwear, but changing the vibe of a space really can go a long way toward making us feel more focused, energized, and content.
Scandinavian Spaces is one of the companies working to improve the well-being of employees through design. That means producing office furniture, lighting, and decorative accessories that address many of the complaints people tend to have about their workplaces.
Their recently revealed “Hut Lounge Collection” is a great example. Created for Swedish brand Götessons, the pieces offer mini rooms within actual rooms so employees can retreat to a protected, relaxed space to concentrate or rest.
Of course, there is a layer of rat race irony here: the sound absorbing house-shaped modules are inspired by imagery from the board game Monopoly (which was, in point of little-known fact, originally invented by a woman with the intent of drawing attention to inequality). But the effect is a nice one. If you work in a place that doesn’t offer a quiet place to withdraw, you can imagine how useful such a space might be.
The Scandinavian Spaces teams explains: “The Hut Lounge Collection offers convenient and comfortable spaces that suit many purposes. Combine The Hut Lounge with two benches and create an area for brainstorming, relaxed work, or a place for a short nap. Think outside the box and use pieces freely and in fun constellations. Mix and match the Free Bench with the Square Bench in an open zone, or create an entire lounge area with different sized huts and benches — whatever suits you. Thanks to the wheels attached to all of the benches, everything can be moved with ease.”
Another version of the hut encloses a desk with built-in outlets, so two or three people can work together without being too distracted by what’s going on in the rest of the room. You can also tuck a single desk inside it and enclose one wall, creating an even more private space that’s far superior to the average cubicle. Add glass doors and benches, and you’ll have yourself an intimate meeting room.
Other complementary products by Scandinavian Spaces include The Office Nap, an upholstered bean bag chair, active ergonomic seating in the form of Office Ballz, and “Bob Job” lounge modules.
It’ll never be your own familiar couch in your own home, surrounded by your own things within arm’s reach of your own refrigerator, but for some people, that can be a good thing, right?
