Furniture plays an important part in office design. Aesthetically, it can draw people to a space with its beauty. But it can also promote increased productivity and connectivity when carefully chosen for functionality and arranged for comfort. There are hundreds of furniture options, but in this blog we’re going to explore bench seating. Take a look at three important benefits of using bench seating in your office space:
What is Bench Seating?
Bench seating doesn’t actually refer to a bench seat but rather a bench surface. Much like a dining room table, bench seating provides a long expanse of workspace to which employees can pull up individual chairs and complete their work. Over the past few years it has become increasingly popular, although post-Covid that might change as companies search for ways to keep members of their teams further apart and less involved in communal spaces. Nevertheless, the benefits of one long work surface over many individual ones can’t be overlooked.
Bench Seating is Affordable
One of the biggest benefits of using bench seating in your office is its affordability. Not only does bench seating take up less space than individual desks or cubicles — saving you from having to pay for valuable square footage — it accommodates more people, allowing you to have more workers in your space at one time. After all, the cost of doing business is less per employee when you add more people to a smaller space. Furthermore, the streamlined silhouette of bench seating keeps manufacturing and, thus, retail, costs down since there are no extra walls or barriers to make or build.
Bench Seating Inspires Interaction
When utilized appropriately, bench seating allows employees to easily collaborate. With no dividers separating individuals, people are free to interact quickly, sharing ideas in real time rather than having to get up and walk around to collect the information they need. Indeed, the efficiency of this organic sharing of data is compounded in value by the fact that it frequently results in more meaningful insights, as well. The quicker people can communicate, the quicker they can make profitable decisions.
Bench Seating is Versatile
Unlike many other types of workspace solutions, bench seating is highly versatile, capable of being easily rearranged to accommodate new employees and/or new office objectives within just a few minutes and with just a few (if any!) tools. It’s a lot harder to move walls and cubicles than it is to reposition a table or set out tabletop privacy dividers between employees. And in this crazy time of social distancing, being able to quickly reconfigure an office’s work areas according to changing mandates and safety needs with little effort or expense means companies can keep working and keep producing with the littlest amount of interruption.
Want to Learn More?
To further discuss the pros and cons of using bench seating in your office, please contact our team of design experts at Key Interiors. We work closely with all of our clients to plan a strategy for their office space design that best addresses their own unique needs. Our team can complete the look of your space with functional furniture and exclusive interior finishes that promote connectivity and productivity.
You might also wish to take a look at our Project Portfolio to get some ideas and see our latest design work.
