Interior Design, Office Design News, Trends & Tips

25 August 2020

How are we adapting offices for now and the future?

The Covid change culture is here Despite our Prime Minister’s pleas, not every office has been ready to safely welcome its employees back to work. Staff, as well as visitors and clients, need to feel comfortable in their surroundings, so a...

23 March 2020

A right royal branding mess

Branding stories rarely make it out of the design, marketing or trade press but earlier in 2020, one branding issue made a number of newspaper front pages. Step forward The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and their bid to retain their ‘royal’ moniker....

19 March 2020

Respect veganism through better office design

Workplace discrimination has moved into new realms. While employers are familiar with fairness concerning race, gender, religion, sexuality, and disability, a new ruling in January 2020 means businesses may need to be careful where food is placed...

20 February 2020

Is the ‘woke’ workplace what 2020 has in store?

2020 is shaping up to be the year WeWork goes ‘woke’. So what is woke? It is an annoying yet trendy word used to describe anything and anyone aware of injustice, with a strong ethical conscience and moral compass. Recent news indicates a...

20 February 2020

The ‘office of the future’ is now

As we enter a new decade, many offices are in danger of being caught napping – too busy thinking that radical changes in work patterns and behaviours are something in the distance or for another day. The reality is, your perceptions of work are...

13 January 2020

Interior design ideas: a serious case of the blues

Pantone has announced its Colour of the Year for 2020 and we’ll be seeing a lot of Classic Blue in office design London . The shade communicates a sense of calm, reassurance, peace and tranquillity – a traditional colour that will not divide people...

13 January 2020

Glass half full: winning ways for better staff hydration

Water is a free commodity but many people still don’t drink enough to stay hydrated. Considering the traditional 8-hour working day – and the fact we spend more half of every week at work – there is an increasing emphasis on employers to keep their...

10 December 2019

Improve office storage to banish clutter

We often associate clearing clutter with being at home – going through our wardrobes or filing personal paperwork – but the unnecessary mess and a tendency to hoard at work can be really detrimental. There’s a brilliant article published in...

09 December 2019

Is sleeping on the job a valid idea?

The photograph of MP Jacob Rees-Mogg reclining with his eyes closed in the Houses of Parliament earlier this year became an internet sensation. While Rees-Mogg’s louche behaviour drew disdainful remarks, it also restarted the conversation about...

15 November 2019

Your guide to specifying soft seating in commercial offices

Our leaning towards flexible workspaces means less rigid space and more informal, dual-purpose areas. Our office design experts say rather than set desks and set departments, the fluctuating nature of freelancers and the adoption of agile workings...

what is a work cafe and why do you need one

15 November 2019

What is a work café and why do you need one?

It’s almost a bonding ritual when someone offers to make a cuppa but employers are struggling to find the balance between keeping their staff in caffeine and minimizing disruption to the working day. While nipping to Costa many seem like an...

15 October 2019

Find your new flexible office groove

London is the top European location when it comes to flexible office space, reveals a new research document by agent CBRE. In fact, flexible office space now represents over 5% of the city’s total office stock, which was ahead of second-place...

15 October 2019

Buyers & sellers want to visit estate agents in person

New survey results have endorsed the position of estate agents on the High Street at a time when many are questioning their physical presence. Agent Winkworth questioned more than 1,000 people who had either bought or sold a property and discovered...

18 September 2019

Hooray for the High Street: UK shops strike back

Did you know High Street Queen Mary Portas is at it again? Her love of local shops in town is behind a new BBC2 series called Interior Design Masters. A recent episode saw her judge two independent shops on a Nottingham High Street that had been...

18 September 2019

Chromophobia: learn to love colour

Did you know the fear of colour is actually a proper phobia? Chromophobia is an abnormal fear of colour but luckily it’s quite a rare phenomenon. What many of us do have, however, is an aversion to a shade we don’t find visually appealing or a lack...

14 August 2019

The perfect desk job

When taking the brief for Coopers' office refurbishments in London , the client asked that we specify a cluster desk arrangement as the company wanted to move away from individual work stations. It’s a common request we receive at MPL Interiors,...

14 August 2019

Office interior design ideas: wall art for the Instagram generation

If you create something aesthetically beautiful in today’s world – whatever the environment – it’s bound to end up on social media. Our desire to photograph eye-pleasing things has even led to the phrase ‘Instagram friendly’ – used to describe...

15 July 2019

Hot ideas for a cooler office

We know that summer is unreliable in the UK but the hottest days always seem to coincide when people are at work. It’s easy for employees to get distracted from the task in hand if they’re feeling the heat – it makes us restless and our minds...

10 July 2019

Screen sports for happier workers

Wimbledon, the Ashes, the Olympics and the football World Cup – just some of the wonderful sporting events that are great to watch on TV but, sadly, a large amount of the action takes place during the day when people are at work. Rather than create...

14 June 2019

Moving out, moving in: a new look High Street

The news that Arcadia – the company behind chains such as Top Shop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins – is staving off administration will not have gone unnoticed among other High Street retailers. Although the headlines about store closures paint...