The future of private offices: a guide by MillerKnoll

Private offices were once the cornerstones of modern workspaces – havens of focus, individuality and status. While today, these types of spaces continue to exist, often similarly preserved and customised for leadership, they’ve certainly moved into a new era. Beyond prioritising transparency through design and open-door policies, private offices in workspaces have expanded in function, often becoming adaptable shared spaces that are ergonomically customised and designed to foster connection, reflecting the more fluid styles of hybrid work.

MillerKnoll has witnessed this typological shift and expansion happening first hand. It was in 1946 that Knoll founder, Florence Knoll launched the ‘Planning Unit’, an in-house design consultancy service that efficiently tailored interiors from furniture to fabrics and colours to architectural office floor plans. The modern schemes defined the standard for corporate interiors of post-war America. Now, this legacy has informed an evolution of new ways of thinking.

Today, MillerKnoll, a conglomerate of leading design brands, including Herman Miller and Knoll, empowers designers to plan and design private offices that cater to a wider variation of uses suitable for hybrid work. The group’s in-house research team has identified three primary types of private office typology: individual, multi-use and shared. With each typology comes a broad range of high quality furniture and solutions, which all prioritise three key requirements: adaptability, connection and ergonomics.

Adaptability is central to multi-use private offices that may be shared by individuals across the week, like a hot desk, or by multiple people and groups throughout the day. Adjustable, freestanding or agile elements can offer a range of configurations and easy reconfiguration. This creates more inclusive private spaces that are also future-proofed for the evolving needs of employees and organisations.

Perhaps the biggest ‘USP’ of the private office in an era of open plan workspaces is its offer of confidential communication. Smaller, enclosed rooms are ideal for focussed collaboration, mentorship and one-on-ones. Their design, therefore, needs to be able to incubate these quality connections with acoustic design, comfort, products that support technology for connecting remotely and are specially designed for smaller rooms.

Often imagined as elegant spaces for top-level professional activities, private offices must be ergonomically designed environments. Furniture must offer user-friendly individualisation and adjustments for comfort and health, such as sit-to-stand desks. Technology and cables must be concealed and ancillary products added to improve organisation. High-quality materials forge an atmosphere that encourages productivity and pride in the workplace.

The MillerKnoll collective offers a diverse mix of materials supporting a range of applications, tastes and budgets. From the warmth of certified natural wood and practical woodgrain laminates, to the varying textures of stone, glass and metal, finishes are each crafted for durability and timeless professional appeal.

A well-designed private office has many benefits. With many workspaces downsizing thanks to hybrid work, adaptable qualities promote space efficiency and even a reduced footprint. Shared private offices can better promote equity at work by eliminating the perceived hierarchy an individual space can enforce. Additionally, when designed for connection and ergonomics, these rooms can offer an inspiring experience for leaders and employees alike.

By imagining a breadth of new possibilities for this typology and combining a spectrum of insights and expertise from across its group, MillerKnoll is leading the way in transforming a part of the office that has long been overlooked. The potential is collaborative, adaptive and inclusive, customised for connection, focus, efficiency and wellbeing. Welcome to a new era of the hybridised private office.

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