Indesign #89, The ‘Magnetic Workplace’ Issue is now on sale. It’s our annual workplace design special issue and reflects Indesign’s decades-long deep interest in the evolution of the workplace. This has been a cornerstone focus for us since our very beginnings and in 2023 we find ourselves in some of the most exciting and challenging times yet, as far as workplace evolution goes.

What we’ve observed through hours of research, interviewing and deep listening is that much of the conversation around workplace, right now, centres on people’s reluctance to return to the workplace. In fact it’s not even mere reluctance, is it? It’s actually the make or break for workers and organisations alike.

At the recent Worktech conference in Melbourne, Worktech Academy’s Matthew Myerson referenced two key statistics in which 62 per cent of employees are unwilling to return to the office just to meet company expectation. Meanwhile 73 per cent of leaders are not confident about employee productivity.

One thing we do know is that hybrid is here to stay and everything is up in the air. As people return back to the office, they bring with them a greater appreciation for their personal wellbeing, an awareness for the critical role the environment plays in this equation, and an acute sensitivity for the comforts of home.

Choice has become the commodity of the modern-day hybrid worker and the very point of being for the workplace has been forced to shift, rapidly.

In Indesign’s ‘Magnetic Workplace’ Issue, we seek out the tangible and intangible qualities that will draw people back into the workplace. And we contemplate the new purpose of the office for workers of a ‘fair weather’ mindset.

We address this through five paradigms, starting with wellbeing: increasingly workplaces are being called upon to nurture and safeguard people’s health and happiness. In fact some workplaces, like MinRes in Perth by Milieu Creative, considers itself to be a wellbeing centre first and foremost, with workplace facilities provided as part of that.

Inclusivity: Workplaces have geared up their emotional intelligence in the past 12 months, and designers are leading the charge, helping organisations listen and better understand how an environment can inclusively support broader demographics and positively impact those with neurodiverse needs.

Comfort: Nothing beats working from home where we can truly be ourselves. So we go to the source – the home office, to better understand the secret sauce that makes working from home so appealing.

Purpose: Here we come to the heart of the matter. Melissa Marsden, author of The Next Workplace, refers to purpose as the “bedrock” upon which companies might succeed and elevate their ROI.

Belonging: When you’re connecting through a screen for the majority of your working week, it’s quite possible that you begin to feel disconnected from your company’s culture. In the absence of togetherness, that sense of belonging must be delivered through storytelling and empathetic leadership. It feeds productivity and gives people a common focus.

As Indesign approaches its 90th issue we, too, have been reflecting on our magnetic qualities: our ‘why’. Over 24 years, Indesign alongside Indesignlive.com, INDE.Awards, and Saturday Indesign has built an international and multidimensional platform of currency, integrity and intelligence that remains open-eyed to the world around us, and astutely attentive to our architecture and design community.

As we step towards our momentous 90^th milestone, we’re proud to be giving your voice and views, your ideas and expertise, and your projects and products the acknowledgment, recognition and exposure that they deserve.

You can purchase Indesign magazine #89 here, and reach out to discuss partnerships and editorial opportunities for our 90th issue, coming up!

Ready for more workplace? Read these 10 workplace articles now on Indesignlive.com:

Workplace projects

1. Tyro by Geyer
2. M&C Saatchi Group by Woods Bagot
3. Cox Architecture’s new heritage home
4. Riverlee by Studio Tate

Commentary

5. A spectre is haunting the workplace – the spectre of flexibility, with Jan Henderson
6. Good design is the solution to resenteeism and employee wellbeing, with Angela Ferguson
7. Five things I learnt about the future of work at Worktech Melbourne, with Alice Blackwood
8. Super-charged, energised and unexpected: Workplace design with Bradhly Le

Products and design solutions for work

9. 43 products to create your very own home office
10. 3 workplaces which redefine the potential of operable walls with Blindspec