WHAT'S UP Blog

Not every task requires the same environment. While openness and proximity can support spontaneous exchange, complex tasks often require quiet, privacy and a higher level of concentration. This is why modern workplaces increasingly offer different areas that employees can choose between depending on their task and personal needs.

This freedom of choice creates more than just flexibility. It allows people to actively shape their work environment, supports different phases of concentration and takes individual requirements for lighting, acoustics, proximity and retreat into account.

Nowadays, sustainability is no longer measured solely by design or material quality. Anyone planning or procuring office and commercial spaces must increasingly be able to demonstrate how products contribute to their own sustainability targets. ESG strategies, carbon footprints and public tenders now make transparent environmental information a decisive selection criterion.

A particular focus is on the proportion of recycled raw materials.

Fixed workstations are giving way to flexible space concepts; meetings take place spontaneously wherever ideas arise; and hybrid working models demand maximum mobility. Yet while furniture and spaces are becoming increasingly flexible, the power supply often stays tied to one location. With se:charge, Sedus offers a solution designed precisely for this.

Relaxed, Clear, Smart and Slow – the four design worlds featured in the current issue of #designcodes 1/2026 reveal far more than just colour trends. They illustrate how different room atmospheres can specifically support different modes of attention. This makes them a practical planning model for modern work environments that put people and their cognitive needs at the centre.

Not everyone experiences the same working environment in the same way. Whilst some staff members draw energy from lively, communicative areas, others need a quiet, low-stimulus environment in order to concentrate on their work. It is precisely this diversity that the term ‘neurodiversity’ describes.

We live in a working world that constantly demands our attention. Every message, every meeting, every glance at a screen pulls our focus in a new direction. By the end of the day, this often creates a paradoxical feeling: we were busy — but not necessarily productive.

Open spaces encourage interaction and collaboration — but they often make concentrated work more difficult. Conversations, movement, video calls and the lack of retreat spaces continuously interrupt attention throughout the day.

Today’s workplace design is shifting away from pure efficiency towards a more human-centred approach. Alongside collaboration and flexibility, mental ease, emotional balance and sensory wellbeing are becoming defining factors in office planning.

As part of this year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, Sedus welcomed workplace strategist Hannah Nardini from WKspace for an expert talk at the newly redesigned Sedus showroom in London.

In a world constantly competing for our attention, focus has become one of our scarcest resources. Notifications, conversations, visual stimuli - everything demands our awareness at the same time. And this is precisely where a new perspective on workplace design begins: not with the space, but with the human being.

More specifically: with the peripersonal space.

Working in green surroundings: The ‘biophilic design’ principle uses plants to create a pleasant office environment that protects against noise and poor air quality and helps improve concentration.

At the end of March, we had the opportunity - together with our partner ULISCHUH GmbH & Co. KG - to experience the keynote speech by Dr. Steffi Burkhardt. What she brought to the stage that evening was far more than just an impulse. Under the title “Mindset. Skillset. Toolset.”, she made key future topics such as artificial intelligence, generational change, and the transformation of work tangible - clear, direct, and relatable rather than abstract or theoretical.

Her core message resonates deeply: it is not the speed of change that matters most, but our mindset toward it. And that is where things became personal. Because the conversation shifted away from “the future out there” to a much more immediate question: how we as organisations, leaders, and designers of work environments must act today to remain relevant tomorrow.

Following the event, we had the opportunity to continue the conversation with her.

At the recent TrendOfis Summit in Istanbul, one idea stood out: the office is no longer just somewhere to work. It is becoming a place that needs to welcome, support and engage people in a much more intentional way. In this blog post, Sinem Beaujean, Global Engagement Strategist at Sedus and panel moderator at the summit, shares her insights.

Open-plan workplaces promote transparency, interaction, and dynamic exchange. Yet the more open they become, the clearer the need for retreat emerges - not as an opposite, but as a necessary complement.

Sustained focus cannot thrive amid constant noise. With digital stimuli and conversations competing for attention, every interruption carries a cognitive cost, making deep concentration harder to regain - especially in open environments.

The question, then, is no longer whether retreat is needed, but how it can be designed without compromising openness.

It often begins inconspicuously: with a cup of coffee, a brief exchange, a spontaneous thought. Yet it is precisely in these moments that the potential of a space becomes clear - one that offers far more than a mere pause. The work café is no longer a peripheral feature; it is evolving into a central component of contemporary work environments. A place where interaction and concentration are not in opposition, but actively reinforce one another.

Office trends for 2026 clearly show that the office has long been more than just a place to work. It is becoming a strategic tool for businesses – a space that combines culture, innovation and well-being. At the heart of this are New Work trends that combine flexibility, sustainability and new spatial concepts, thereby redefining the future of work.

The office is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation. For a long time, openness was considered the guiding principle of modern workplaces: communication, interaction and transparency defined spatial design. Yet with the growing density of digital stimuli and the rise of hybrid working, a different priority is coming into focus – the ability to concentrate.

In an environment shaped by constant connectivity, the office is becoming one of the few places where focused work can be deliberately supported. However, this challenge can no longer be addressed with standardised layouts. Instead, it requires a more nuanced and differentiated approach to space.

Collaboration in the office has undergone a fundamental transformation in recent years. Rigid workplace structures are increasingly giving way to flexible concepts that promote communication, creativity and productivity. At the heart of this development are collaborative spaces, which are specifically designed to foster teamwork and facilitate interaction between employees.

Contemporary workplaces are defined by openness, interaction and fluid collaboration. Yet wherever communication thrives, so too does the need for retreat, concentration and mental clarity. Productivity today no longer resides solely at the traditional desk. It emerges from a thoughtful interplay between focused work, informal exchange and restorative pauses.

This is precisely where se:hive comes into its own: a modular retreat that unites spatial generosity, comfort and acoustic performance in one coherent design concept.

Hybrid work models have redefined the office. For years, openness, interaction and collaboration dominated spatial design. Yet alongside this evolution, another equally decisive dimension has moved into focus: the ability to concentrate. The latest edition of Sedus INSIGHTS No. 20/2025 “Focus in the Office” makes it clear that attention is not a given resource — it is fragile, cyclical and profoundly shaped by its environment . Anyone designing workplaces today is, inevitably, designing attention. And this is precisely where neuroinclusion begins.