‘You’ll never be bored again’: agency enlists kids to design the office of the future
You may not be anywhere near the office water cooler right now, but we still want to spotlight the most talked about creative that should be on your radar. Today, we find out what happened when the folk at digital transformation agency Jellyfish asked the children of its employees to use their imaginations to design a dream office.
Matilda (aged 5) has a pretend beach in her office
For many, being in the office every day now feels like a distant memory. After nearly a year, Covid-19 lockdown measures continue to keep us working from home and it’s uncertain whether working life will ever return to how it was before the pandemic.
What is likely, however, is that offices in the future will look very different as technology continues to advance and Covid safety regulations will have to be taken into account when designing efficient working spaces.
With this in mind, digital transformation agency Jellyfish decided to ask the children of its employees to create their own visions for a fun and futuristic office, which have then been brought a step closer to reality.
One of the highlights comes from Libby, aged 8, whose office has a 3D printer, a vitamin D lamp, hammocks so workers can sleep and cookers at desks so work can be completed at any time. She also had the idea for a dance floor that turns on after office hours.
Libby says that her favorite part of the office is the 3D printer: “Because you can do anything – even print a violin!”.
Meanwhile, Matilda, aged 5, suggests a pretend beach for staff to go and get ice cream or a smoothie before a meeting.
Sascha, aged 9, suggests an office slide, “because it is swirly and colorful as well as fast – it takes you to your comfortable desk quickly”.
And Ted, aged 10, decided he would design a futuristic boardroom where you will never be ’bored’ again. It has floating shelves to easily access iBooks (books with digital paper instead of pages), as well as a floating hover table and hover chairs. The room also has friendly helper bots that will keep you company and keep the room clean and tidy.
Mark Deeprose, vice-president of real estate and facilities at Jellyfish, says that in the future, “offices will need to offer far more than just a place to work, but space where people can have fun, be creative and collaborate with their colleagues.
“We need staff to want to come to the office, so we have to offer something more exciting than just desks and meeting rooms.
“I absolutely loved the kids’ interpretation of what offices of the future could look like through their art and imagination, though I’m not convinced how much work would get done with all that distraction!”
