The Coronavirus has turned the office world upside down, and experts agree the home office will continue to be highly valued in the future. But what does this mean for everyday working life and our collaboration? How must room concepts be designed to make employees want to work in the company office again? And how can lighting help? We asked someone who should know: Omar Rabah, Application Manager Office at TRILUX.

1. Home office advocate or passionate office worker, Mr Rabah, where do you prefer to work?

I prefer to work where I can best complete my day-related activities. That means I usually decide whether to work at home or at the company office, depending on my tasks. Currently, I am in my home office twice a week on average.

2. Many employees would like to continue working from home and are quite willing to change their workplace if they are dissatisfied with their companies' home office offerings. Do we still need offices at all?

Just as we don't want to give up the home office in the future, we shouldn't give up the corporate office as a workplace. The pandemic has changed the way we work. And the corporate office will take on different functions than in the past. It will serve less as a place to silently "work through" tasks and more as a place for personal meetings and exchanges. It's where connectedness and trust are fostered and will remain the main stage for creativity, innovation and communication. Visits to the office may be less frequent, but they will be more valuable than in the past.

3. Are lounge furniture, a fancy cafeteria and fruit baskets enough to keep employees returning to the office?

The trick is to turn the office into a place employees like visiting. Three factors play a major role here: space, technology and organisation. The new office world can be flexibly adapted to the needs and wishes of employees at any time. There is no blueprint for what this might look like in detail. Instead, companies should work with their employees to develop the right concept for good and sustainable collaboration.

 

 

4. What contribution can lighting make?

Individual, intelligent lighting solutions are a central component of New Work concepts and crucial for employee satisfaction and loyalty. Holistic office lighting concepts offer customised light that can be flexibly regulated and precisely adapted to users' needs. In addition, light greatly impacts employees' sense of well-being and ability to concentrate. Optimal working conditions include lighting that maintains and improves the workforce's health. More and more companies recognise this.

 

5. Do you have an example of this?

Among other things, we equipped the new headquarters of BNP Paribas in Brussels with our Human Centric Lighting solutions. When designing the new office building, the employees' satisfaction and health were prioritised. Our HCL luminaires change their luminous intensity and light colour analogously to natural sunlight, i.e. from cold white light in the morning to warm white in the evening. This strengthens the human biorhythm and well-being.

6. TRILUX is converting the office area on the second floor in Arnsberg to New Work. What are the basic principles behind this?

We want to create a flexible, future-proof and sustainable working environment in which employees feel comfortable and can work in a motivated and creative manner. Their needs and wishes are at the centre of the design of the Multispace areas.

 

7. What are the strongest levers and arguments we use to score points in New Work projects?

TRILUX is the market leader for professional lighting in Germany, with 111 years of experience. Our high-quality standards can be found in all our product and lighting management solutions and our services. In close cooperation with our customers, we develop customised, modern solutions that sustainably contribute to the workforce's well-being.

8. Which other applications or areas in an Office project are most frequently requested?

The change in the working world clearly shows that workspaces are becoming living spaces. This means that office landscapes are becoming increasingly attractive and "stylish". As a result, luminaires are also taking on an ever greater role as "design objects" and don't just blend in excellently with the existing architecture but help shape the space attractively. For this purpose, we are happy to draw on the portfolio of our retail subsidiary Oktalite or our special luminaires from the TRILUX Architectural team.