As we head into 2022, we begin to evaluate how we how we design commercial buildings. There are many ways you can expect commercial architecture to change, both based on style trends and more practicality in the COVID-19 era.
Here are some commercial architectural trends to look out for:
Changing Up Your Commercial Space
Open interior spaces have grown in popularity, and it are set to surge in 2022. As personal space continues to be highly valued, waiting rooms, lobbies, and seating areas meant for both employees and visitors will grow larger.
Looking Up
What happens when you have less walls in your building? Focus on the ceilings. Since open floor plans provide more space, there is less wall space to be creative with, which allows us to use our creativity on our ceilings.
Daylighting Is One of the Commercial Architecture Trends
As commercial buildings strive to become more carbon neutral, indoor lighting will be defined by "daylighting" (the use of natural light). Using less artificial lighting requires less energy while creating a more pleasant environment for people working in or visiting the building.
Hands-Free Use
Public spaces will also be designed with new ways of using the building. As an example, buildings will include motion-activated technology, such as motion-activated lights, voice-activated elevators and more. These technologies will reduce the risk of transmitting germs and can help architects create more carbon neutral buildings.
Less Noise
Although we love an open floor plan, it does come with a notable downside. Noise can travel more when you remove the walls for hallways and separate rooms. This problem has led to solutions to minimize interior noise throughout commercial design including cost-effective acoustic panels to dampen sounds.