Over the course of the past year, many employees have become accustomed to the adaptability of working remote. Now, to encourage a return to the workplace, companies must provide a work environment that cannot be achieved remotely. According to Forbes, “If companies want employees back in the office, everything will need to be reimagined.”
One paradigm shift in office design is a pivot towards flexibility. Many employees have a newly acquired comfort with varying at-home workspaces to best support productivity. There is also the emergence of the hybrid workforce to consider. A study by Colliers found that up to 70% of employees want to work from home at least one day a week, while strategists at the SmithGroup found 18% of survey respondents want a flexible schedule. To empower staff to work where and how they want, there has never been a more perfect time for interior sliding glass doors to “slide” onto the scene. Whether they’re open or shut, sliding glass office doors serve as versatile solutions to support the rapidly shifting needs of the modern workplace—and here’s how.
By Promoting Health and Wellbeing
Given the recent global emphasis on health, design professionals are looking to incorporate more wellness aspects into offices, such as ease of movement. Studies have shown that movement has been correlated to enhanced memory and learning. And open doors can help facilitate motion. By removing the traditional swing path of doors, open sliding office doors offer additional space saving efficiency that support freedom of movement as employees journey between conference rooms and across campus.
Equally as important, when sliding glass doors are completely shut to create focused work environments, natural light can still pour in through the panels to create a soothing and stress-free interior. As one study showed, the presence of ample daylight has a positive impact on wellbeing, which in turn is proven to increase worker productivity.
By Reinforcing Engagement
Open doors also foster innovation—a critical element of office design as many spaces now function as social anchors, enabling learning and facilitating unscripted collaboration. With a glass door that can easily slide out of the way, employees can temporarily remove the perceived barrier of a door, thereby broadening the available workspace and achieving an open environment where creativity can flow from space to space. This is particularly relevant amongst the hybrid workforce. Touchdown spaces can be personal and doors can glide aside to promote idea generation with team members when needed.
While open doors can help foster creativity, the reality is employees still need enclosed spaces where they can steal away to have private meetings or take personal calls. Sliding glass doors can accommodate this desire for privacy. Advanced offerings are now available with acoustic jamb gasketing and drop-down bottom seal technology to enhance privacy and reduce noise transfer. Such sliding glass doors allow for disruption-free spaces within an open format.
By Creating Adaptable Spaces
With office design becoming more hospitality driven, is there anything more welcoming than an open door that expands space? Building Design + Construction magazine says, “Office design to some extent will replicate the home environment with more comfort.” And with unimpeded space created by sliding glass office doors, employees can enjoy open lounge-like expansion fused with the workplace to give the whole office environment a hospitality-hub feel.
As much as open doors encourage a fluid environment, closed doors help create multi-purposed areas. In the opinion of Surface Magazine, the future of workplace might feature amenities such as, on-site healthcare, dinner party spaces, in-office childcare and even “nap zones.” By selecting sliding glass door with decorative glazing, resins or laminates and films, designers can provide the visual privacy and sound attenuation needed for the workplace while accommodating more of life’s activities than just work.
So, while ideas surrounding the future of the modern office continue to circulate, one thing remains clear—today’s office culture demands flexibility. Whether its opening interiors to daylight while providing sound attenuation, creating flex collaboration spaces or promoting privacy while maintaining an interconnected space, sliding glass office doors can help meet those demands. In search of additional office design inspiration? Check out our gallery of sliding glass office doors.”
