Top Considerations for Experiential Office Design

An office offering a variety of conference and breakout rooms offers privacy and flexibility.

In 2024, 90 percent of companies urged employees back to the office in one form or another. That said, most full-time employees still prefer a hybrid work schedule. To entice employees back into the physical office, cutting-edge companies are investing in experiential design that’s meaningful, uplifting, and flexible.

As a design firm specializing in thoughtful, forward-thinking office design in addition to residential and commercial spaces, Kuchar offers the below considerations for exciting, experiential office design that boosts productivity and promotes creativity while attracting and retaining talent in 2025.

Design elements in this Amsterdam office mimic the city’s iconic architecture.

Look to the landscape for inspiration and authentic storytelling.

At Kuchar, the story behind the design leads to the design itself. In a recent office project for an Amsterdam-based tech company, we made a point to immerse ourselves in the city with our eyes wide open. We walked the streets, took note of the architecture old and new, and amassed photos of anything and everything that caught our attention in terms of color, shape, and cultural significance. To create instant connectivity to space and place, we mimicked the curves of the canal helms for the office entryway. It’s subtle, but for the people who call this beautiful city home, the architectural language speaks to them on a subconscious level.

Non-work-centric gathering places allow for organic connection.

Lean into the cross-integration of design’s disciplines.

All of design’s verticals are speaking to one another, and the workplace is currently the biggest benefactor. Think about the last time you walked into a really chic boutique hotel — how it looked, smelled, sounded, and felt; how all of your senses were firing at once. To entice and retain the next-gen workforce, the workplace needs to be dynamic — a place where people want to go and spend time. It should feel good and create excitement. Café spaces, for example, are a popular addition for experiential impact. By creating a “collision zone” for socializing over lunch with a lounge that’s tailored to home-like work scenarios, community and collaboration will happen naturally.

Can you tell where we subtly paid homage to the Netherlands’ own Vincent van Gogh?

Use thoughtful color and texture to invigorate and inspire.

In addition to being inspired by the timeless textures of the city itself, we also looked to Amsterdam’s most famous works of art for design cues for this bespoke office project. From incorporating Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with A Pearl Earring” into the conference room lighting to pulling in the color palette of Van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait 1887” for the café, Amsterdam’s rich artistic tapestry is referenced throughout. We carried the muddy teal Van Gogh used for this portrait across various walls, furniture, and carpeting throughout, layered in bursts of burnt orange (the color of his beard) for invigorating moments of color, and then tempered all with soft wood and leather tones for a holistically warm, inviting space to work from day in and day out.

Workplaces that prioritize designing for neurodiversity often find heightened employee efficiency and satisfaction.

Factor neurodiversity into the design plan.

People’s brains work in different ways. Some people are most productive head down in a quiet space while others thrive off of group dynamics. Work environments that accommodate various work styles, and respect different learning and communication preferences, will enhance productivity for everyone — and companies are now seeing the value in providing a myriad of choices. From large conference rooms and mid-size video conferencing spaces to breakout banquettes, private phone pods, and lounges that replicate the comforts of home, today’s office should be a created instance where each employee is the creator. 

Even (and perhaps especially) the most productive office spaces need dedicated wellness rooms.

Design for the work taking place today and anticipate how we will work tomorrow.

The landscape for how we work is constantly changing. We need to be paying attention to how advancements in tech and team-working scenarios are evolving to create spaces that can do more than keep up. They need to adapt to be resilient. Flex spaces like hot desks, meeting and huddle rooms, or soundproof quiet spaces, that can easily morph into assigned desks or independent offices as business needs and modes of work change, will ensure that your office design endures well into the future.

If you would like to learn more about how Kuchar can transform your office into a hub of positivity and productivity, contact us for an introductory call.