In 2022 it was all about coming to the office, and feeling good while you were there. No surprises – 2022 marked a year of new workplaces that were bold, beautiful and not at all your typical office.
Afterpay by The Studio* Collaborative
December 21st, 2022
The 2022 workplace was all about feeling good at work. Spurred on by COVID lockdowns and work-from-home mandates, employers had to make sure the office was an inviting place to return once restrictions were lifted. Although many businesses adapted a hybrid model, the workplace itself had to work harder than ever in order to make employees want to return. As a result, new office designs echo home, target employees wellbeing and appeal to a relaxed holiday frame of mind.
So we give you Indesign’s 10 best workplaces of 2022 – in no particular order, but guaranteed to make you want to work there.
Today’s fun workplace is understated in its playfulness and has a sense of sophisticated inclusivity that makes everyone feel welcome. Case in point – Bean Buro’s design for Japanese brand Unicorn Stores’ Hong Kong headquarters. There’s nothing alienating about this interior, which teams pastel colours with blonde timber to create a serene effect that is contemporary, warm and friendly.
Warren and Mahoney’s bold, confident design is enough to make anyone who works at Dexus Place feel empowered. The themes that underscore the concept are hospitability, flexibility and intuition and all three are evident in the outcome, which also has just the right amount of flair and dynamism to make it stand out from the crowd.
Related: Here are 5 destinations where people just happen to work
An ambitious project that transforms two adjacent historical buildings in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, Sub Station No. 164 has all the appeal of a wonderfully gritty, popular laneway café. There’s texture and visual intrigue at every turn and chances are the oh-so-cool interior makes everyone feel like work is anything but a chore.
This office in India is situated on a small 140-square-metre site, but step inside and it feels like you have all the space in the world. Charged Voids has created a seemingly life-size sculpture that features plenty of natural light and ventilation via a series of generously sized windows, skylights and courtyards. A floating metal staircase adds to the lightness, which is offset by white marble and Sivakasi gold granite.
Is this LA’s newest organic vegan restaurant? No, it’s a workplace and a damn good looking one at that. Evoking all the feel-good vibes of the City of Angels’ newest health-focused eateries, Afterpay’s Melbourne office is crisp, cool and thoroughly inviting. It even has a yoga room and parents’ room, which along with the generously configured layout and abundant potted plantings support the company’s focus on wellbeing.
With its palette of tactile materials, muted colours and plenty of lush greenery, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Wyer & Co’s new workplace for a holiday retreat. It’s exactly this vibe that must make the landscape design practice’s employees feel like they’ve been transported elsewhere, as well as keep them smiling five days a week.
This beauty could very well be mistaken for a wellness centre or spa. Arent & Pyke’s poetic curation is well and truly on show, from their stunning selection of furniture to the ease with which each element sits within the overall scheme. It’s evocative interior design that immediately soothes (and entices), and if you worked here and didn’t ever want to leave, we would not blame you at all.
So much about ABN Group’s new Perth headquarters and showroom feels like home. Not surprisingly, Woods Bagot’s brief was to create an interior that was welcoming rather than corporate and they delivered just that. And like any comfy home, there are plenty of spaces to sit quietly, including a café and a sunken lounge, in a wonderfully playful nod to the grooviest of suburban 1970s abodes.
Templewell design studio’s fit-out for Expedia Media Group is another exquisite example of the current trend for workplaces that look like home. This one has a distinct coastal vibe and takes its aesthetic cue from Sydney’s tranquil beaches. The muted colour palette, rich materiality and breathtakingly beautiful furnishings mean that returning to this office will never be a chore.
RMIT’s administrative offices are the spatial equivalent of a pure rush of adrenaline. Peppered by objects, sculptures and paintings from the RMIT Gallery Collection, this hub of eight different business departments re-energises all who enter. It doesn’t feel like an office space and while it has a sense of fun about it, there’s also sophistication, delivered via a scheme that masterfully combines colour, form and materiality.
Love all these workplace projects? Continue exploring the best of workplace in 2022 here.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Bidding farewell to mundane and uninspired office spaces, colour has transformed our workplaces into layered and engaging environments. So we sit down with Karina Simpson, Hot Black’s Workplace Lead, to talk about the influence colour has on the workspace landscape through the prism of Herman Miller’s progressive colour philosophy.
Living Edge definitely has the edge when it comes to supplying furniture for the education sector. With a plethora of brands and collections at their fingertips, Living Edge provides the perfect solution for any learning environment.
Natural forms meet technological sophistication to produce GH Commercial’s Pattern Perfect® Native Collection of carpets. Step inside the factory to see how local flavours inform the design.
Whether it’s enhancing the sculptural volumes of the Cass Bay House, or creating a Piet Mondrian-like geometrical feature across the Pegasus Bay’s Esplanade Home, Neolith helps Massimiliano Capocaccia Architecture Studio augment the imaginative language of these coastal dwellings.
Is it really February already?! With 2023 already well on its way, it’s time for our first On The Move round-up of promotions and hires across the design industry. Who’s moved in 2023?
How is the horizontal plane rising up to meet complex needs within health, wellbeing and sustainability? We discuss colour, texture, environmental credentials and the influence of materiality on the wellbeing with four globally leading carpet manufacturers.
Takt is designing architecture that is sustainable, sensitive and desirable. This studio is leading the way as a beating architectural heart in the regions and is in sync not only with the landscape but with the local communities who call it their home.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
A new destination in Hong Kong provides all that is required to support health and wellbeing. PANORAMA Design Group has created a wonderful environment that is anything but ordinary.
Not content with recent awards for Brookfield Place in Sydney and 80 Charlotte Street in London, this employee-owned practice is on a competition winning streak.
Want to make your mark in regional Australia? With the Bridge Art Project, Echuca-Moama Art Gallery receiving funding, it’s time for the creative juices to flow and architecture to shine.
The devastating 2019-2020 bushfires forever changed Australia’s physical and spiritual landscape – especially for rural communities such as Clifton Creek, Victoria. Architecture firm AOA Christopher Peck recently delivered a message of hope to the people of Clifton Creek with the rebuild of its beloved primary school.