§InDesign - Humanising the office

In early 2020, many of us packed up our office desks, turned the lights off and went home. We perched with laptops at kitchen tables or on the couch, watching the world through our windows and waiting out waves of the pandemic. According to Cundall Light4 Sydney principal Bettina Easton, this experience points to a need to re-think lighting and workplace design in commercial workplaces.

In this feature article by Willow Aliento for leading Asia-Pacific design magazine, InDesign, Easton explains how the business-as-usual approach of uniform troffers lighting rows of desks to a lux level appropriate for paper and pen needs to be left in the pre-Covid past. The post-covid workplace uses lighting creatively and thoughtfully. It integrates sustainability, wellbeing, flexibility, and a new focus on the human experience, supported by smart sensor-based systems that minimise energy waste.

We have taken the office home – now we look to design to bring a touch of home comfort to the office. Explore below.