As much of the world reopens, relaxed restrictions see people returning to the office, prompting governments and business alike to re-evaluate the physical workspace through a hospitality lens. Meanwhile, hoteliers, restaurateurs and plant parents are branching out and taking full-sized trees indoors.
In the third instalment of our six-part series covering some of our Top Trends for 2022 & Beyond, we’re revealing two trends curated by our global team of experts from WGSN Interiors. Discover how workspitality and indoor trees will impact the spaces we inhabit in 2022.
Workspitality
Office and co-working spaces will level up to lure people back in. The physical workspace is becoming less about productivity and more about the human interaction that drives retention. Workspaces must provide meaningful experiences to meet the needs of their employees, so they’re taking cues from hospitality.
London’s Hoxton Hotel opened the Working From_Southwark space that offers homely interiors, wellness classes, brain food delivered to your desk and events designed to spark creativity, plus reduced rates at the adjoining bars and restaurants. And forget desks and cubicles – architecture firm Snøhetta has designed a co-working space filled with ‘superfurniture’ in Japanese cedar that allows for relaxed working and spontaneous meetings.
Workers want the freedom to move around and take advantage of facilities, which increasingly include fireplaces, meditation rooms and cultural events in cosy amphitheatres.
Indoor trees
Taking plant parenting and biophilic design to the next level, people will want to fully participate in the Planthroposcene era (the intertwined relationship between plants and people) by growing a tree indoors, or at least on their balcony.
Many hotels and public spaces now feature mature trees in their atriums, and as a result consumers will be inspired to create conservatory, greenhouse spaces in their homes. They will seek a deeper connection with nature by planting everything from large ficus to lemon and olive trees or Japanese maples in massive pots in the sunniest spots of their homes (forest bathing in your bathroom, anyone?).
Architect Stefano Boeri and agronomist Laura Gatti launched Trudo Vertical Forest social housing in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, which offers trees on the balcony of every apartment, creating a small, private plot of biodiversity that benefits the city and the planet.
For more key trends, get access to our Top Trends 2022 report and exclusive webinar here.