All fun and games?

A quick coffee with the team, a relaxed lunch break or a casual meeting. In the office, a marketplace acts as the central meeting place for all your employees and visitors. It offers a wealth of creative freedom in terms of design, as well as sources of entertainment for its users.

In the heart of the hub.

You’ll generally find two basic zones in a modern New Work office. The home base is where the quiet, concentrated work happens. But the hub is the opposite – a public zone that is normally louder and livelier, and with a more creative interior design. As a space concept for hub areas, a marketplace often acts as a central meeting place for informal conversations between colleagues and a place to relax during breaks.

Office design as a pivotal selling point.

A survey of German office workers by CBRE showed that high-quality office design and versatile working environments play a key role when it comes to making workplaces more attractive. The comfort factor is becoming increasingly pivotal. Modern, open offices designed for agile working, complete with spaces for networking and communication are, according to CBRE, a real selling point over working from home (CBRE Live-Work-Shop Report 2023).

Playful. Creative. Versatile.

That’s a marketplace summed up in three words. But does that mean cozy and homelike? Lively and urban? Biophilic? Or with more of a lounge-esque club vibe? Marketplace design styles are as infinite as they are creative. You can pull different elements together to create atmospheres ranging from youthful and fun to sophisticated and elegant. Furnishings, colours, materials, art, entertainment, plants, aromas, acoustics and lighting can all be leveraged in the design. A marketplace often incorporates elements such as pool tables, dartboards, or other gaming equipment.

Focus on the corporate culture.

As communication-stimulating and light-hearted as that all may seem, a marketplace and everything within it must still align with the corporate culture or else it starts to look like a misplaced façade that never gets used. Sooner or later, internal tensions start to arise if the interior design doesn’t reflect the company’s true spirit. The concern many employers have about making things too comfortable, and thus impacting efficiency, is unfounded. Everyone benefits from having attractively designed meeting spaces away from the traditional desk environment – places to regenerate or switch off with a quick game. Office interior design is no longer just about the sum of its workstations. It’s about creating defined areas for collaboration and team building – just like a traditional marketplace.