In the past, if someone were to ask you to picture an office space, you might have imagined rows of cubicles under fluorescent lights. Nowadays, though, office spaces in big and small companies worldwide have become creative, airy, eco-friendly spaces that include comfortable spaces to work, community-centric rooms, and even slides! As a result, there is a wide variety of things you can learn as you begin to design a new office space or integrate creative solutions into your office from some of the world's most popular offices.

12 Things to Learn from the World's Most Popular Offices

1. Google

Google is such a large company that covers so many industries that it requires a wide variety of employees to support its workflow. Part of its brand and success has been its identity as a creative business prized for its problem-solving and innovation. We have purposefully not specified which office spaces spread across the world since all of them have taken part in that identity and combined it with local culture to make people feel comfortable and engaged to encourage the ultimate creative, efficient workspace.

Inspire Creativity with Creative Surroundings

The drab interiors associated with the offices built in the '60s and '70s proved to be draining on the means of an employee's creativity. Consider the work your employees do and how to put a creative spin on it to make it more fun and engaging. Not everyone can install a slide from one floor to another in the office. However, you could put up swing chairs to encourage informal interactions or use unorthodox materials for decorations to encourage creatives to look at materials in a new way.

2. Selgas Cano Architecture Office

This architectural office is located in Madrid, Spain. Many of the other companies on our list are among some of the biggest companies in the world. This firm, though, is a small business with a flair for design. They have created an incredible, calming workplace that is airy and filled with light. This relaxing office is half underground and half aboveground in a forest to make you feel connected to the environment while working at your desk.

Integrate Nature into the Design of the Office

Everyone benefits from getting extra time connecting with nature. This office has taken this to a whole new, giving employees the means to connect with nature even while they are at work. Smaller offices can use this in their offices by taking full advantage of windows and views outside. You can also bring some of the outside in by putting up a living wall within the office. This way, you can harness some of the power of nature within the four walls of the office.

3. White Mountain Office

If Batman were real, he would be jealous of this office space. It is the office of a Swedish internet service provider called Bahnhof and turned a former atomic shelter into a data-centric, lunar-esque office. It is 100 feet below the earth's surface and filled with sleek metal and rough rock walls. This space encourages the mindset of an innovative researcher and scientist, putting employees in the mindset of the pervasive brand.

Support a Pervasive Brand Theme with the Office Space

You might look at the White Mountain office and think, "there's no way I can make our office emulate theirs!" While it is a more extreme example, it also carries a distinct message. The office space carries a lot of weight on the mentality of the employees and how they convey your brand. Consider your brand and the message you want to convey to your customers. Is that communicated via the interior of your office space? It should be.

4. Airbnb

Airbnb has created an office that gives a 'home-away-from-home' feeling. They have used bright colors, fun textures, and homey rooms to keep people engaged and comfortable. It is also the feeling that the brand wants to perpetuate throughout the homes and services they offer clients, maintaining the perspective that the world is a bright, engaging place to interact within a positive frame.

Use Bright Colors to Keep the Mind Awake and Active

Again, drab and dreary spaces are not conducive to a creative, efficient, and engaging office space. Use bright colors, art, and install plenty of lighting where natural light doesn't reach to keep people's minds active. Interiors like these also encourage positive emotions and happier employees are more efficient employees.

5. Nokia

Nokia promotes the use and catchment of color in their products, so they utilize the same principles in their office design. Each of their rooms is color-coded to help define and adapt the perspective of each of their spaces. "The Blue Room" becomes a space to relax, "The Red Room" for creative thinking, "The Green Room" for meetings. They recognize the power of colors to influence the subconscious and utilize that throughout the space.

Use a Color Theme to Define Space

Colors are powerful. Consider how you want people to feel in the office. You might want more of a subdued and efficient environment in which case you can use deeper blues and greens without going too dark. Look at Scandinavian interiors to convey this mood. If you want a bright, creative, happy space, then use brighter colors.

6. Bark

Have you ever gotten to the middle of the day around 2 PM and really fallen into a slump, only to get your second wind less than an hour before you leave the office? Animals keep you engaged, feeling at home and loved with their fuzzy faces and lovable attitudes. Bark prides itself on being the most dog-friendly office space in the world.

Animals Keep Things Energetic and Friendly

If you have the space for it, consider allowing people to bring their dogs into the workspace. They can have a specific part of the office if necessary. The presence of animals often brings people happiness and relieves the stress of having to leave a pet alone at home.

7. Corus Quay

An eco-friendly office allows you to create a sustainable work culture and mindset. This Canadian-based company takes this to the next level. They utilize stunning green walls to make their office space feel light, airy, and relaxing. Their building materials are eco-friendly, and they encourage greenery throughout the office. They use professionals similar to Zauben to install low-maintenance green features throughout the entire space.

Go Eco-Friendly to Create a Sustainable Work Culture

Opting for an eco-friendly interior with a focus on the environment encourages a sustainably-minded workculture. Using this idea might look like sourcing your decorations and interior materials from sustainable sources, installing a low-maintenance living wall, or using natural materials instead of plastics.

Taking Lessons from Growing Businesses

Are you interested in integrating some of these ideas into your office space? Zauben can help you install living, green walls into your current space without having to remodel anything or make expensive changes.