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Our 7 UK Workplace Design Trend Predictions for 2025

It’s time for our predictions for what this year holds for commercial interiors and beyond, with particular focus on the UK.

Following on from 2024’s shifts in workplace culture – such as the influence of concepts like ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘acting your wage’ – and with a newly-elected party in government promising great change, 2025 has the potential to truly shake up the workplace with radical shifts in employee mindset. In order to recruit and retain effective, productive employees, the following 7 workplace trends may find themselves front and centre in the minds of interior designers and business owners alike this year...

 

Trend 1 – Biophilic Design

To start, the biophilic design trend remains evergreen, enhancing both our workspaces and our wellbeing. A connection to nature is an innate human need, and greenery in the workspace is here to stay. Though, biophilic design is not just about greenery - wood, water, light, and other natural elements are increasingly finding their way into our offices and corporate spaces. Even the most urban environments are beginning to bloom, with urban regeneration bringing nature back to cohabit with us in our towns and cities.

A connection to nature is an innate human need, and Biophilic Design bridges the gap between urban spaces and nature.
A connection to nature is an innate human need, and Biophilic Design bridges the gap in the workplace.

 

Trend 2 - Warm, neutral tones

If Pantone’s Colour of the Year is anything to go by, in 2025 we can expect to see more warm, soft, and comforting colour schemes in our interiors. Similar to 2023’s theme, the colour experts at Pantone identified a common element of seeking comfort in the spaces we frequent, thus selecting Mocha Mousse as the colour to sate our cravings for cosiness. This year, we can expect commercial interiors to continue softening and incorporating a homely feel, with grounded, earthy colour schemes that are anything but cold, clinical, or overly corporate.

Tina chair in Pantone Mocha Mousse.
This year, we can expect grounded, earthy colour schemes.

 

Trend 3 - Inclusive Design

The heightened awareness for employeesmental health continues into 2025, and with a new government aiming to help the long-term ill back into work, it will be more important than ever to ensure our workspaces cater to everyone, not just the majority. Implementing sensory design, providing secular spaces such as prayer or meditation rooms, and generally making the office a more comfortable place will make 2025 a great year for employee retention, onboarding, and wellbeing. As a plus, an inclusive workspace attracts a diverse employee base, which enriches a workplace’s culture.

Trinity solo pods provide privacy and relief from noisy environments.
Making the office more inclusive improves employee wellbeing, and helps enrich a workplace’s culture.

 

Trend 4 - ‘The Human Touch’

With the rise of AI, 2025 may well be the year in which we crave ‘the human touch’. As algorithms rule much of our lives, and with online spaces filled with AI-written posts and AI-generated engagement, our interiors can serve to remind us of the value of the human soul. Introducing elements of connection, of creativity, and of play can provide a welcome antidote to the “dead internet” and boost employee wellbeing through crucial human connection.

The Soul range in Pantone's Mocha Mousse
Introducing opportunities for connection and play can boost employee wellbeing.

 

Trend 5 - Circular design

Sustainability endures as a top trend into 2025 (and, we can only hope, beyond). With the benefits to not only our environment, but to productivity, reputation, and even budget, the concept of the circular economy continues to gain traction – with innovation allowing sustainable solutions to evolve with our understanding of how we can protect our world. Increasingly, companies are opting to prioritise products that have a circular lifecycle – from design, to manufacture, to use, to end-of-life, then recycled back to manufacture once again, forgoing any journeys to landfill.

The Everly chair, a product with a circular design.
Products with a circular lifecycle provide benefits to our environment, budgets, and reputation.

 

Trend 6 - Multi-functional furniture

We mentioned previously that a new government may influence a new focus on mental health in the workplace, but political influences may also lead to a refreshed demand for multi-functional furniture as some companies find themselves tightening their budgets. This multi-functional furniture, or furniture that can serve a variety of purposes within a space or building, allows a designer or business owner to ‘do more with less’ – instead of buying and replacing furniture as functions and needs change, investing in multi-functional, modular furniture means that spaces can be configured and reconfigured without the need to purchase more furniture.

The Show range is a strong example of multi-functional furniture
Multi-functional furniture allows a designer or business owner to ‘do more with less’.

 

Trend 7 - Third Places

In the pursuit of a healthier work-life balance, many find themselves frequenting ‘Third Places’ – places that are neither home nor workplaces, to have a break from the demands of both corporate workloads and household chores. Though the concept of a Third Place is well-established, working its influence into workplace design in previous years, the concept is still subject to exploration and evolution. As workplace culture shifts to place higher value on work-life balance, 2025 may be the year this concept is pushed even further, past simply mimicking the concept and firmly establishing parts of a workplace as a true Third Place - with fully separate spaces for non-work-related collaboration, events, and decompression. Spaces such as gyms, games lounges, cafes, outdoor spaces, and libraries are increasingly being integrated into workplaces, in order to provide employees with a dedicated space to ‘switch off’ before they commute home, signalling to employees that their company respects their time and encouraging a balanced lifestyle that renounces burnout culture. In 2025, a 24/7 grind is slowly becoming left in the past.

The Aria table in a library setting.
A workplace 'Third Place' can help to tackle burnout.

 

As workplace culture continues to evolve, it’s clear that the static, traditional element of pre-covid offices is over. Workplaces are ever becoming more agile, inclusive, and inviting, as designers and business owners seek to build workspaces worth commuting for. Employees generally no longer just come into the office to work, and as 2025 goes on we are sure to see plenty of developments in culture, trends, and employee mindsets as we all explore and expand the limits of what a workplace can be.