Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1484548
HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 21, 2022 41 Workplace PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER & CONTRIBUTED Employers turn to amenities to lure workers back to the office By Hanna Snyder Gambini hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com A fter a long day of meetings in a tree house conference room or phone calls from a privacy pod, workers might want to head to the gym, hit a few golf balls, join colleagues for happy hour or find respite by a cozy, quiet fireplace. Thanks to ever-evolving innovations in workspace revamps, and employers recognizing the vital need for work-life balance, such amenities are becoming office-place fixtures. Trends in post-pandemic office space design are increasingly focused on communal collaboration spaces that offer many comforts of home or the corner cafe. Couches, overstuffed chairs and plush carpeting started replacing rows of cubi- cles in the early days of 2021 when the corporate workforce was emerging from the work-from-home trend. At Farmington-based Connecticut Wealth Management, Human Resources Director Debbie Hopper said as workers come out of COVID, they want larger, more open spaces, and an end to the cubicle way of life. The company, like many others, created a lounge-type environment with TV screens, couches, and high-top cafe tables. CTWM has a golf simulator and a kitchen with a bar, beer tap and stools. The ability to unwind and socialize in-house promotes continual team building by keeping employees together at the end of the day instead of making another stop for a round of beers or golf. The building also has an in-house gym so workers don't have to make another stop on the way home. Dawn Monde, senior vice president of office design firm Red Thread, said with the hybrid work model here to stay, workspace design is an ever-evolving art form. "Organizations need to work harder to encourage a return to the office, but more importantly support the new ways they work," Monde said. "We've learned that people won't put up with poor experi- ences," and "spaces are being designed with employee wellness in mind." For clients, she's seen "an explosion of hospitality and amenity spaces that give employees enticing options" rather than a sea of workstations. Communal spaces Trends in office space design include collaboration rooms, social areas like coffee stations, and more open, airy spaces. But as the push for beneficial communal space grows, so does the Farmington-based Connecticut Wealth Management's recently renovated office (shown in photos 1, 2 and 5) aims to make it more attractive for employees to come to work, with a bar, golf simulator and gym. Office design firm Red Thread recently redesigned its East Hartford home (shown in photos 3, 4 and 6) with an organic neighborhood theme. It features soundproof phone booths and Steelcase work tents. 1 2 4 5 6 3