What are your first thoughts when you hear about the bean bags? Let us guess. Probably it is something like: «Ah, those cheap huge sacks with bean-alike filler, that only kids, teenagers and dogs have fun with». We bet no one really takes bean bags seriously.
Except for the modern interior designers
They overthrew the accustomed expectations about the bean bags and now use them to furnish the contemporary working spaces! Soft furniture helps to create a relaxed atmosphere for those who are tired of corporate pressure.
Whether meeting with colleagues or working individually, people all over the UK shift their preferences from the rigid and bleak corporate office cubicles to comfy spaces, where they can feel cooperating rather than contending.
In this article, we will show you how the soft bean bags furniture transforms business spaces and nudge people to productive work and communication.
Soft lounges for unordinary co-working
Through Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham, Cubo firmly declares that they are more than just about work.
The company sees it clear that in 2024 productivity has changed its face, and modern working space should be no less comfortable and cozy than functional. The reason to rethink the design of the working areas were the millennials and Generation Z folks. They are great talents with strong entrepreneurial acumen, but at the same time, they are not willing to give up on the importance of the lifestyle. So Cubo decided to focus on its main audience needs and together with Station Young — owners of the property development company — created a co-working space with an incredibly energetic atmosphere.
Cubo added soft but structured bean bag furniture to all the areas — from the hot desks to the lounge. Now their dynamic workplace meets all the business needs whether it is a meeting with colleagues or a private project task.
Have a look at how comfortable Cubo’s working environment is
The architects and designers of the space had smartly chosen Ambient Lounge® bean bag soft furniture with internal elastics. It provides firm body support, which is essential if you need to work all day long. Wide seating armrests are light-weighting and can be easily moved if more colleagues join the meeting.
Lounge areas are equipped with modular corner bean bags. Paired with an ottoman, sofas are suitable for teams of any size.
Breakout spaces in world-class corporate headquarters
It is not only the co-workings that are interested in enticing free-minded freelancers and contractors, strategically invest in interior design. More and more companies are now admitting the need to create lifestyle-enhancing workspaces. This can be said about Gymshark — an activewear manufacturer and one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK with headquarters in Solihull, Birmingham.
It was obvious for Gymshark that employees, that are spending more hours at work than at home, will be choosing workplaces based on emotional and lifestyle preferences, as well as on the compensatory factors. Needless to say that the functionality of the office still plays a significant role. However, today’s workplace is not only about a desk, glass door meeting room, high-speed Internet and a fancy coffee machine. People that were locked in their homes during the pandemic, getting back to the office with an increased focus on what makes them motivated and genuinely needed around them.
So Gymsahk wanted to create not just an ordinary office, but a place where teams are willing to go every morning. More than that, the sophistically designed spaces had to encourage spontaneous chats between colleagues from different departments. Bumping occasionally with each other for small talks is a proven technique to raise the number of creative ideas. So, this was the main underlying idea of why the breakout areas became a pivotal part of the company’s contemporary office design concept.
Having this in mind, Gymshark decided to go for the Ambient Lounge® structured bean bags. Because what could be more relaxing and functional at the same time as soft furniture?
Lying fully stretched with a laptop in the office is the new normality. There are loungers, modular sofas and soft corners all over the space. Single elastic seaters even replaced office chairs in the meeting areas.
Entertainment areas, cinema watching zones, cafés and bars are now all inside one company space and are cushioned with the softest and tactile bean bags.
We are certain that working in such an environment is a great argument, helping HR to attract and retain the best employees.
Relaxation spaces in the office are the modern must-haves
They say it: Work hard, play hard! Contemporary offices and communal shared working spaces are not just the places where people come to sit at their PCs typing hard. Not anymore. Spending most of our lifetime at work, we are now moving towards a better understanding of a lifework balance concept.
It occurs that relaxation and meditation, free-thinking minutes and downtime are essential for being creative and productive. Most of our work is not mechanical routine operations anymore. To be successful today means to innovate, redesign, rethink. Think! This means an innovative company has to have areas for this type of activity too. And we bet that modern soft bean bags are the furniture of choice when it comes to the question of the interior design of such areas.
Lightweight and flexible soft furniture is nonetheless functional. It has a structure for full-body control, which is good if you need to sit through a long-lasting meeting.
Having noticed in many interior designers office projects from the UK to Sydney, from Tokyo to Moscow, we are not considering bean bags a thrown kids toy anymore. Quite the opposite. Seems like bean bags furniture is becoming a popular trend all around the world across the most innovative companies. Maybe the key is friendly social vibes that employees feel when relaxed at cushions. But we definitely see how working styles are transforming all around the globe, and we guess these changes are all for good.
Rhydian Choi 
Kim Marks