This post draws inspiration from insights originally published in Steelcase’s Work Better magazine, which explores how thoughtful workplace design can improve both individual performance and organizational culture. In particular, the article “Reinventing Five Essential Spaces: Before + After” offers a powerful framework for rethinking underutilized environments through the lens of community and inclusion. We’ve synthesized key takeaways and added perspective on how these ideas can be applied to create workplaces where people truly feel they belong.

The modern workplace is under pressure to deliver more, to support individual productivity, foster collaboration, and most critically, to rebuild a sense of connection. Yet far too many office spaces remain underutilized or fail to meet employees’ evolving needs. By rethinking five essential workplace settings through the lens of Community-Based Design, organizations can turn missed opportunities into vibrant, multifunctional environments that help people thrive.

Here’s how designers are reimagining key spaces to create stronger, more inclusive communities at work.

1. The Underused Conference Room → A Hub for Varied Collaboration

Traditional boardrooms are often big on square footage and low on usefulness. Designed for large, formal meetings, they sit idle much of the day. By breaking down one large space into several smaller zones, like video-enabled huddle rooms, informal enclaves, and creative brainstorming areas, organizations gain versatile settings that support diverse collaboration styles.

The payoff? More equitable, engaging interactions where everyone, whether in-person or remote, can participate fully. Scaled-down spaces encourage spontaneous teamwork and inclusion, turning intimidating formality into approachable flexibility.

2. The Overexposed Bench → A Shielded, Adaptable Team Zone

Rows of open desks may look efficient, but they often sabotage focus and create unnecessary distractions, especially with the rise of video meetings. People want a balance: proximity to their team and the privacy to concentrate.

The solution lies in layering visual and acoustic boundaries. Curved screens, desk orientations that minimize face-to-face distractions, and nearby enclaves for focused work give people back control of their environment. And with reconfigurable furniture and screen-mounted tools, these spaces can flex with evolving team needs, while still encouraging informal connections.

3. The Low-Performance Lounge → A High-Utility Social Space

Lounge areas often look great in a brochure, but if they lack performance elements, they’re rarely used. Adding essentials like power access, laptop tables, visual privacy, and flexible postures transforms these beautiful spaces into productive havens.

With thoughtful design, social zones become dynamic settings where people can focus, meet, or recharge. Informal encounters spark collaboration, authentic connections flourish, and trust builds organically, key ingredients for a resilient workplace culture.

4. The Inflexible Meeting Room → An Agile Space for Innovation

Creativity demands movement, flexibility, and the ability to adapt. Fixed furniture and static technology limit how teams problem-solve together, especially across hybrid formats.

Reinventing meeting rooms with mobile tables, writable vertical surfaces, modular walls, and inclusive technology like Surface Hub helps teams stay in flow. These high-performance elements support ideation, persistence of information, and seamless mixed-presence participation. The result? Meetings that energize instead of exhaust.

5. The Typical Team Space → A Multifunctional Neighborhood

Uniform rows of desks don’t reflect the real rhythm of work. People shift between solo focus, group collaboration, socializing, and rejuvenation throughout the day, and their space should support that.

By designing for variety, a single team zone can offer eight distinct work experiences, from shielded focus lounges to open communal tables, enclosed privacy rooms, and personalized team hubs. This thoughtful variety gives employees autonomy, choice, and comfort, key drivers of engagement and belonging.

Design for Belonging, Not Just Efficiency

The shift isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about inclusion, flexibility, and empowering people to do their best work. By reinventing spaces to support privacy, posture, proximity, and presence, organizations can cultivate stronger connections and more meaningful collaboration.

When spaces work better, communities grow stronger. And when people feel they belong, the workplace becomes more than just a place to work, it becomes a place to thrive.

To explore reinvigorating your workplace to improve engagement and performance please send us a note, our team is always ready to partner on building community in the work space.