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Commercial property owners need to keep pace with emerging design trends to keep their tenants happy with a workspace that’s tailored to their specific needs and company culture.

With 2019 in the rearview mirror, Cochran & Mann has compiled the following report summarizing some of the commercial building design trends that emerged this past year.

The Marriage of Psychographics and Demographics

These days it’s not enough to consider the age, gender, and other demographic data of a tenant’s employees when planning commercial design. To remain leading-edge and to sustain your space’s marketability, understanding and integrating psychographic information is essential to creating an office ecosystem that retains existing tenants and attracts new ones, should that be necessary. 

According to marketing giant HubSpot, psychographics are “kind of like demographics. Psychographic information might be your buyer's habits, hobbies, spending habits and values. Demographics explain ‘who’ your buyer is, while psychographics explain ‘why’ they buy. Demographic information includes gender, age, income, marital status—the dry facts.” 

Coloring these dry facts with the collective personality traits of an office can make for a vibrant commercial design that helps companies retain employees and increase productivity. Designing a commercial space in a way that captures and appeals to a comprehensive profile—demographics plus psychographics—of its end users was an emerging trend of 2019.

Paint color choice and wall coverings can play an important role in designing commercial spaces based on a thoroughly researched psychographic profile.

In 2019, commercial paint color choices started to shift back toward vibrancy. Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year, “Living Coral,” was a perfect example of this shift.  

In the same vein as “Living Coral,” vibrant colors such as pink and lime-green have proven to be popular paint color choices for commercial design in 2019 according to Shutterstock’s most recent color trends report. Part of Cochran & Mann’s wallcovering services includes creating murals and foils for commercial building walls. Implementing meaningful and purposeful murals into your commercial design can be a great way to add to the aesthetic value of your space and further tap into the psyche of those who occupy the building.

Experiential Work Ecosystem

The retail and hospitality industries are masters at creating customer experiences. Corporate America, not so much. That started to change, however, in 2019, as more and more companies, both large and small, embraced commercial design that creates a positive experience for its employees. 

From meditation areas and interior green spaces to the use of fragrances and the inclusion of game areas, U.S. businesses have started to understand that happy and productive employees are essential to success. Creating a work environment that mirrors the culture a company wants to promote and one that is a place people want to work in is a big part of employee happiness and production.

Biophilic Design

Biophilic design is becoming more and more common in commercial workspaces. This 2019 design trend incorporates nature into the architectural design of a workspace. Moss interior accent walls, living rooftops or green roofs, water features, stone or even an increase in natural lighting are all examples of biophilic design. There is even a biophilic design accreditation program called the WELL Building Certification. 

Again, this 2019 design trend reflects the emphasis on wellness, both physical and psychological, and its impact on existing employee productivity and attracting and retaining top industry talent. 

According to a recent Ambius blog post, the growing popularity of the WELL Building Program and the growing acceptance of biophilic architectural design “is a sign of progress, and although there’s still a long way to go until businesses have fully embraced the occupant-friendly work environment, the path towards a Biophilic future has finally been realized. Businesses large and small are beginning to see the benefits of a future where the working environment acts as a catalyst for occupant optimization that leads to quantifiable results, and ultimately, higher profits.”

Commercial Design as Brand Delivery System

Workplace culture and employer branding is rapidly becoming a focal point of organizations. Commercial design and how an office reflects company culture or the personality of a company, is becoming more and more important as organizations learn more about how the office ecosystem can impact employee productivity, wellness and talent retention.

Commercial interior design is now part of a company’s brand delivery system, like an ever-present ad promoting what makes it unique and why it's a great place to work. The days of bland workspaces flanked by rows of mundane cubicles are over. On-brand colors, wall coverings, graphics, and color-matching are the name of the game; strong, brand-targeted commercial design is a major trend that has been gaining traction for several years and will continue in 2020 and beyond.

As we move into 2020, new trends are sure to emerge, traditional commercial design is sure to evolve and the Cochran & Mann team is certain to have its finger on the pulse of it all. To stay informed and up to date on the latest commercial design trends, subscribe to our blog. It’s an easy way to get the latest and greatest information delivered right to your inbox.