Tag: Interior design

August 30, 2019

Workplace Design: The Comforts of Home

There’s no place like home. Home-like environments in the office can lead to more comfortable, and presumably, happier workers. And happy workers, according to current theories, work harder. In fact, studies show that happy workers are more productive and creative.

Enter resimercial design—a design style that brings the homey feel of residential furnishings, layouts, and amenities into the workplace. Resimercial design is a marriage of commercial durability with a residential feel, a style that celebrates residential-inspired features over the standardized feel of traditional corporate designs and furnishings. The goal behind resimercial design and furnishings is to make the workspace a welcoming, comfortable place to spend time, something that employees are increasingly demanding. Millennials, in particular, are a big part of what’s driving the demand. Today’s professionals want spaces that inspire. They want spaces that allow them to express their individuality, as well as collaborate with others. This trend is especially important to millennials who grew up with mobile technology that allowed them to seek out the best, most comfortable places to study and collaborate.

Getting Started With Resimercial Design

Ambiance

Designing your new resimercial office with a focus on ambient features will help to make your office feel less formal and structured.

Wood look tiles are often the answer to inject warmth and create a homey vibe into commercial spaces. Shown here is Fountaine porcelain tile in Noce.

Durability

Most residential furnishings and materials can’t stand up to the hard wear and tear that commercial environments are subject to. Fortunately, the resimercial trend has caused many suppliers to offer lines of residential-inspired furniture and materials with commercial quality.

Contempo porcelain tile in in Calacatta

Collaboration

The resimercial design movement prioritizes the power of collaboration. With this in mind, focus on layout features that facilitate movement and interconnection.

Traverse porcelain tile in Grey

Variability

It’s important to remember that comfort is subjective. In addition to collaborative spaces, create a variety of spaces, including secluded areas, to suit different needs and individual work styles.

Farmhouse porcelain tile in Beige

Many companies like Google and Lyft have successfully invested in resimercial design for their offices so that workers can relax and collaborate more naturally. There’s really no argument—making the workplace feel like home helps to increase employee retention, productivity, and creativity.

GIO is your gateway to beautifully designed, strategically selected collections of floor and wall tile sure to fit your demanding specification requirements and unique style. We look forward to working with you!

January 31, 2017

GIO Looks at 5 Top Tile Trends

Striking a balance between unique and timeless in commercial design can be a lofty goal. While a commercial space should ideally be able to stand the test of time, remaining as attractive and inviting as it did from day one, it is important to be relevant. A good design should be impactful, capturing the spirit of the times and speaking to today’s demands and lifestyle. But it also has to be timeless enough to avoid seeming outdated too soon. This is especially important for the parts of commercial spaces (such as floors and walls) that are not practical to update often. With this in mind, we have carefully curated a selection of tile and stone products that cover a range of on-trend styles that are sure to endure the test of time. Here’s a look at the latest tile trends that we believe will keep your spaces looking great for years to come.

Masonry Look Tiles

Brick was a big favorite last year, and it remains strong, but the masonry look is beginning to embrace some interesting interpretations like brick sizes and shapes in different looks like concrete, wood, and even metallics.

Handmade by GIO Wall Tile, shown here in 3 x12 Metallic Silver

Wood Look Tiles

There is no doubt that that wood-like tile is here to stay; in fact it’s one of the largest selling categories in the tile industry right now. Wood tiles look more authentic than ever, and they just keep getting better. And they also offer unmatched durability, a win-win for commercial applications.

Fountaine by GIO, shown here in Noce, 3 x 18

Metal Tiles

Metal tiles for walls have been a favorite for a few years now, but the color offerings are growing with finishes now available in matte or light polishes. Look to polished or brushed silver for a sleek contemporary look, or turn to warm bronze or copper tiles for timeless beauty with a more traditional style.

Alumina by GIO is available in a range of shapes in silver and warm bronze.

Big & Thin

Large-format, thin porcelain tiles continue to get bigger every year, bringing new design possibilities. These large slabs can be used to for floors, walls and countertops and are available in a range of looks from marble to wood.

GIO_Thin 5.5, shown here in Calacatta is available in lengths up to 118.”

3D Wall Tiles

Thanks to evolving technologies tile manufacturing, companies are able to create ceramic tiles with dimensional shapes, folds, waves, raised geometry, and asymmetrical profiles. Fitting these tiles together yields a three dimensional wall with a seamless sculpted surface, creating an artful, yet practical, focal point.

ARTÉ by GIO 3D subway tile, shown here in Bordeaux.

March 31, 2016

GIO Looks at Workplace Design Trends in 2016

Rustic elements with colorful finishes are a 2016 workplace design trend.

Late in the first decade of our current century, major dot-com’s like Google and Facebook began to influence how office environments are designed. Since then, we’ve been witnessing the gradual death of the cubicle farm and the birth of shared workspaces that encourage networking, creativity, and collaboration. But what else is happening in office design? Here’s a look at some of the top work design trends in 2016.

Flexible Workspaces
Traditional designs with permanent layouts are giving way to flex spaces with modular components that that can be mixed, stacked and moved around. The needs of today’s work landscape are dynamic and ever-changing, with modern workspace design eschewing rules-based planning in favor of using clever re-configureable elements.

Designated Lounge Areas
The extreme opposite of the rigid work station, designated lounge areas are now included in most new workplace designs. Wireless technology that is lighter and more powerful than ever has set us free, and quite simply, these more laid-back lounge areas stimulate relaxed collaboration and make work more enjoyable.

Personal Space
While the open plan has many advantages, it may not be for everyone, or the best solution at all times. Workspace designers now look for ways to provide quiet personal space around the office, from updated cubicles to cocoon-like furnishings with integrated technology.

Community Tables
Gone are the days when communal tables were relegated to cafeterias and beer halls; the community table today reflects a cultural shift. As people have been looking for more interaction in public settings, these shared tables have been making an appearance in restaurants and hotels for some time. Today, the community table has emerged as a relevant feature of the evolving workplace.

Dressed Up Rustic
While salvaged or reclaimed wood looks made their way from coffee shops and restaurants to well-designed workplaces a few years ago, designers are now dressing up those rustic touches with colorful finishes for more modern looks.