The open concept office is more popular than ever, particularly in the tech and creative industries. This type of workspace encourages collaboration and creativity, and brings employees and managers together.
Open offices aren't just thrown together, however. Although they look fluid and relaxed, a lot of planning and hard work goes into creating them.
An open floor plan can drive efficiency in the office and boost morale, but only if you know how. This guide covers what an open concept office is, its pros and cons, and how to design one area by area.
What is an Open Concept Office Floor Plan?
As the name suggests, an open concept office plan creates one working space where a whole team or department works together. Everyone shares the same floor, although people may get a little privacy from partial screens and dividers.
Designed well, by people with first-hand experience, an open concept office encourages the social side of work. Sharing ideas and asking for help become more natural, and a real work community grows as a result.
Asking a team to share a single room and stay focused is the easy part. Making it work takes specialist knowledge, careful planning and the right office furniture.
The opposite approach is the cubicle layout, where each person has a workspace enclosed by partitions. Cubicles give more privacy and fewer distractions, but make it harder for people to work together. If that suits you better, see our guide to creating a cubicle office layout, or compare the options in our guide to office layouts.
Cubicles can also leave people feeling cut off from the rest of the team. A cellular office goes further still: people or small teams work in separate enclosed rooms, each with its own door.
You don't have to pick just one. Most open concept office spaces mix open desks with a few enclosed rooms for focused work and meetings. Good open plan office design plans for both from the start.
Remember: if you can't make an open office work in your current premises, it might be time to move to a larger office.
Origins of the Open Concept Office
One of the first open offices in the world opened in 1939. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed a workspace for the headquarters of SC Johnson in Wisconsin, and it quickly became a hit with employees. Covering around half an acre, this huge open room earned the nickname "The Great Workroom".
The idea spread in the late 1950s, when the German brothers Eberhard and Wolfgang Schnelle developed the "office landscape". It grouped desks on open floors according to how teams actually worked together. Open-plan layouts became more widespread during the 1960s and 1970s, and they have been part of office design ever since.
Advantages of an Open Office Floor Plan
An open office is still a controversial subject in some industries. Balancing collaboration with focus is hard to get right. But when it's done well, an open office has some impressive advantages.
Collaborative Breakaway Spaces
Sharing ideas and brainstorming are always easier in an open office. With no barriers, employees can talk through problems and hold effective team meetings at a moment's notice. And because conversations happen in the open, others can listen and, where it helps, add their own ideas.
Transparent Office Culture
There should be no secrets among peers when you're building a community spirit at work. Cliques and favouritism can quickly destroy morale and create division. An open space leaves nowhere for private huddles, so everyone is included in every part of working life. That kind of transparency is great for bringing a team together.
Uses Space Efficiently
Removing walls, full partitions and screens frees up precious space, which you can use for a layout that encourages communication and collaboration. Without separate zones and sections, you need less floor space to fit everyone in. With the right open office floor plan, you can keep your leasing costs down.
Fewer internal walls and doors also means less to build when you fit out the office. Allow separately for any enclosed rooms and acoustic treatment you still need.
Increased Communication Across Teams
Without partitions and walls, open communication becomes part of the team's culture. Over time, bouncing ideas off colleagues within earshot becomes natural, even expected. Good communication leads to collaboration, greater efficiency and trust between employees.
It helps new starters, too. Sitting near experienced colleagues makes it easier to ask quick questions and pick up how the team works.
Disadvantages of Open Office Plans
Of course, open offices have drawbacks too. Weigh them against the advantages before you settle on a design, because this style of workspace doesn't suit every business.
Removing walls won't, on its own, make people work together more or get more done. An open office works when you also give people quiet space, and keep checking with staff how it's working for them.
Increased Distractions
Open offices are full of distractions. Conversations, footsteps, moving furniture, printers, mobile phones and background noise can all affect concentration. It's easy for a tired employee to get caught up in what's happening around them, which affects their productivity. The acoustics and quiet-space tips below help.
Lack of Privacy
Not all ideas and conversations are suitable for sharing with the whole workforce. Sometimes sensitive issues that affect other employees need to be discussed in private. An office without partitions or walls leaves little room for discretion. We'd suggest our meeting booths, which provide both privacy and style.
Privacy is about screens as well as conversations. In an open office, anyone walking past can see what's on a monitor. That matters most for HR, finance and legal work.
Turn screens that show confidential information away from walkways and busy routes. Hold confidential conversations in an enclosed room with a door.
High-backed booths like the one above are semi-enclosed. They screen a small group from view, but voices can still carry, so keep them for quick team chats rather than anything that must stay private.
Shared Air and Surfaces
An open office means everyone shares the same air and the same surfaces. COVID-19 changed the way many businesses think about this. Keep it in mind when you plan desk spacing, ventilation and cleaning.
Respiratory infections such as colds, flu and COVID-19 can spread between people who share indoor air. The risk is higher in crowded or poorly ventilated spaces, and germs can also pass on surfaces that lots of people touch.
So plan for fresh air as well as desk spacing, and clean shared desks, door handles and kitchen surfaces often. GOV.UK's guidance on reducing the spread of respiratory infections at work explains the basics.
How to Design Your Open Plan Office Layout
Taking the time to plan your open office carefully now will save you time later. An open office puts space ahead of privacy, but it still needs logical thinking. The right layout suits the way you work. Break it down area by area, and plan each one around the needs of your business.
Open Plan Office Desks and Workstations
How do you want your office to work? Does every employee need their own desk? If so, choose compact office desks that combine style and function without taking up too much floor.
If you want people to share desks for regular collaboration and easy conversation, choose something large and designed for several chairs. Bench desks are ideal: two or more workstations share one frame, so a team sits together in a compact block.
Think about height-adjustable desks too. They let people change between sitting and standing during the day. Pair them with ergonomic office chairs that adjust to each person.
Open Plan Office Storage
Open plan office storage needs to keep the floor clear and the space tidy. Mobile pedestals sit under desks and roll out of the way when you need them to. Desks with built-in storage help too.
Low cupboards and storage units can double as dividers, marking out each team's area without building a wall. If people don't have a fixed desk, lockers give them somewhere to keep personal things: our guide to metal office lockers explains the options.
Acoustics: Keep the Noise Down
Noise is a common drawback of open offices, so plan for it from the start. Sound-absorbing materials such as acoustic panels and ceiling baffles cut down echo. Carpets, curtains and soft furniture help to dampen sound as well.
Desk screens between facing desks give each person a little privacy without closing the space in.
Not every screen soaks up sound. Purpose-made acoustic screens are built from sound-absorbing material, but a fabric cover on its own doesn't prove a screen will cut noise. Glass screens mainly divide the space. Clear glass keeps the view open, so choose frosted or opaque panels where you need privacy. Check what the product details say about acoustic performance.
Large plants can soften sound a little and help mark out zones. Treat them as an extra, though. Panels, baffles and soft finishes do the real work.
Light, Power and Technology
Make the most of natural light by keeping windows clear and using light-coloured surfaces. Add adjustable task lighting where people need it, and position screens to avoid glare.
Plan power and data before the furniture arrives. People need sockets and charging points at their desks, reliable Wi-Fi throughout, and screens or video calling in meeting areas. Desk power modules bring sockets up to the desktop, within easy reach.
For meeting rooms, think about an interactive display. Several people can draw on and annotate the same screen, which helps in presentations and in hybrid meetings where some colleagues join by video.
Collaborative Spaces
Collaboration is great for creativity, productivity and teamwork. Your collaborative space should be set aside from the everyday work area. A few reception sofas help people relax and open up. Add a few bench desks and single upholstered chairs, and leave space for presentations.
Formal Meeting Rooms
The focal point of any meeting room should be the table. An open plan office is great for everyday work. But a formal meeting room gives your get-togethers a more traditional setting, which is essential for serious discussions. Albion Studio Frame Meeting Tables are as stylish as they are practical, and they set the right tone for more formal working sessions.
To compare other options, browse our full range of meeting room tables.
Informal Breakaway Areas
A change of scenery often helps people think creatively and concentrate. Whether you want to brainstorm ideas with colleagues or put a few heads together on a strategy, an informal breakaway area is the perfect setting.
Soft seating and a range of small tables make this kind of space good for collaboration. If you like to hold working lunches (or non-working lunches...), choose a set from our breakout dining tables. Alternatively, a tub armchair strikes the right balance between comfort and function.
Dedicated Focus Areas
All open offices need areas for focused work in a quieter setting. These spaces should be carpeted, with formal office tables and chairs. Keep visual distractions to a minimum and leave plenty of room for solo work. A Titan Ergonomic Office Chair, for example, creates an upright seated position that suits focused working.
Social Spaces
A good open office strikes the right balance between work and socialising. Giving people a comfortable space to take a break and catch up with colleagues can help productivity over time. Put comfort first, but don't forget function and style.
Make a group dining set from our breakout dining tables the focal point of your social space. And add a few sofas and tub chairs to give your employees options.
Bring in some greenery. Plants or a living wall can soften the line between zones, and an outdoor break area is worth using if you have one.
If you have the room, set aside a small private room where people can rest or recover quietly. And encourage everyone to step away from their desks. HSE says breaks or changes of activity should let screen users get up and move around, or at least stretch and change posture.
Our guide to workplace wellbeing has more ideas. Finally, make the space your own: use your brand colours, graphics and finishes so the office reflects who you are.
Our Tips for Planning Your Open Office
What is an open plan office? It's a general term for a shared workspace, but what it means to you takes careful thought. How do you use your space, and what setup will get the best out of your team?
To help you maximise efficiency in the office, we've put together our best planning tips.
Optimise for Movement
The whole point of an open office is to encourage collaboration and communication. Your employees need to be able to move around freely to make that happen.
Create clear walkways to every area of your office. Choose office desks and chairs that are easy to move, as your first design might need tweaking. Experiment with different layouts and watch how people move around. If you notice bottlenecks, change things round.
Once people have settled in, ask them how it's going. Check noise, privacy, storage and how easy it is to get around, then adjust. Ask again whenever your tasks or headcount change.
Our guide to how much space to leave between desks has more detail.
Open Plan Office Space per Person
In the UK, the starting point is at least 11 cubic metres of room space for each person. That figure comes from HSE's Approved Code of Practice for the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The regulations say every workroom needs enough floor area, height and free space.
To work it out, take the volume of the empty room and divide it by the number of people who normally work there. Count any ceiling over 3 m as 3 m high. With a typical 2.4 m ceiling, that comes to about 4.6 m² of floor for each person.
Treat this as a minimum, not a target. Desks, storage and walkways all take up room, so many offices need more space per person. The 11 cubic metre figure doesn't apply to rooms used for meetings. HSE explains the rule in its guide to space at work.
Create Quiet Spaces for Focus
One drawback of an open workspace is distractions in the office. Sometimes people need a clear mind, a quiet room and no interruptions, which makes a quiet space essential. Choose a corner of your office as far from communal areas as possible. A formal office desk and chair set the right tone, and a meeting pod gives people a closed space for calls.
Some focused work can happen away from the office. Where the role and your working arrangements allow it, let people do uninterrupted tasks at home, if their home set-up suits it.
Keep Future Growth in Mind
You may already have a hybrid work model, or be planning for strong growth. Either way, you need to be able to flex your office capacity up and down. That calls for a flexible space and office furniture that's easy to move. Plan layouts for different team sizes, so you're always ready to react to big changes in headcount.
Modular seating helps here. You can split the units up or group them together to suit teams of different sizes: see our modular seating systems.
Set an Open Plan Office Policy
A few simple house rules stop small irritations from building up. Agree them with your staff, so everyone knows what to expect.
- Calls: keep conversations and calls quiet at desks, and take long calls to a booth or meeting room.
- Shared desks: clear them when you finish, so the next person can sit straight down.
- Meetings: hold long or confidential meetings in an enclosed room.
- Food: eat in the break area rather than at your desk.
FAQs
When did open office plans become popular?
Open-plan offices go back at least to 1906, when Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Administration Building was built in Buffalo, New York, with open office space around a large central court. Wright and, later, Wolfgang Schnelle blazed a trail in open office design, as they believed walls and partitions create division and suspicion in the workplace.
Are open floor plans more productive?
This depends on the nature of your business. Creative teams often thrive if they have the ability to openly communicate and bounce ideas around. Open plan spaces are also conducive to teambuilding, trust, and openness. However, businesses that rely on discretion, such as those in the legal profession, may not be suited to this type of working environment.
Where should a manager sit in an open plan office?
One of the great advantages to having an open plan office is the way managers and employees work together as a team. If your business is one that can benefit from collaborative working, the manager may find it’s best to change where they sit based on the day’s priorities. However, it’s always a good idea to have a dedicated space where privacy is guaranteed. Just make sure it’s somewhere that’s prominent and visible throughout the office.
How do you make open plan offices more productive?
Whether you choose a cubicle layout or a series of shared desks, there are a few tried-and-tested ways to make your open offices more productive:
- Be flexible in your approach — different layouts work for different situations
- Encourage collaboration and openness to create a culture of trust
- Create a quieter area away from your everyday desks for focused working
- Create breakout areas for group working and brainstorming
- Always include your employees in your planning — they’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t
- Mix managers with employees to instil a culture of cooperation
- Choose ergonomic seating that can be quickly adjusted according to the user’s preferences
- Don’t neglect office interior design — certain colours, styles, and materials are conducive to relaxation, concentration, and productivity
