Bringing Hospitality to the Workplace

Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA is an internationally celebrated architect, designer and president/founding principal of Rottet Studio. She has designed interiors for an array of settings, from cruise ships to landmark hotels, museums to corporate headquarters. Lauren’s expertise extends from master planning and interior architecture, branding, and ideation to graphics, art consultation, and product design. She recently teamed up with Haworth to introduce the Lauren Rottet Lyda™ lounge and Larkin™ personal laptop table.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Lauren spoke to Haworth dealers about some exciting shifts happening in the world of design and answered some of their questions. One change adding some fun to workplace design is the increasing influence of hotel and hospitality trends. 

Q: Work is evolving dramatically in the digital age. How is design responding to these changes?

LR: The lines are blurring. We all know the buzzwords: space fusion, resimercial, work-life balance or integration. It’s definitely 24/7 work, so it’s also 24/7 play inside the office environment. We tease that the next cellphones are going to have a social hub app at the bottom because people are like, “Where is the next spot I can go and meet new people, maybe do some work, eat great food, and listen to great music?” We call it the new “Alone Together” trend, and it's absolutely rampant. People need social. They need outlets, so they are really seeking that.

Q: Hotels and coworking spaces are raising the bar for amenities. What are the growing trends in office design?

LR: What I see influencing the office environment more than anything is food and beverages. It’s a foodie world out there. I see it coming in spades. Another trend is access to the outdoors. It’s part of a growing emphasis on health and wellness because statistics say that you are inside 90% of the time. Now, there is a big pitch toward healthy employees. The reason I became a landscape designer was because I was designing outdoor work environments for places. So, now we are starting to create them as part of buildings. Even high-rises have decks. The more outdoor spaces you can get, the more people want it.

Q: Increasingly, companies are expanding beyond traditional workstations to give employees more places to work. What do workers want: quiet spaces or social spaces?

LR: It’s a confusing scenario. At times, it’s going to be quieter and at others, it will be more social—which basically means more private spaces and more social spaces. There are going to be more personalized, private spaces. And the shared spaces are going to become more food and beverage meccas. So, it is going to be work-life integration that brings everyone together.