Activity-Based Working: How to Design the Furniture Around It in a UK Office
Activity-based working gives people choice over where and how they work within the office - but it only functions well when the furniture is right for each activity. This guide explains what furniture an ABW office needs, how to set up hot-desking properly, and how to proportion the zones for a hybrid UK team.
Table of Contents
What is activity-based working and why does furniture matter?
Activity-based working (ABW) is an office design approach in which people choose their workspace based on the task they are performing rather than sitting at an assigned desk throughout the day. Instead of rows of identical workstations, an ABW office provides a range of settings - focus desks, collaborative tables, quiet booths, social areas, meeting rooms of varying sizes - and people move between them as their work changes.
The concept is not new, but its relevance has grown substantially as hybrid working has reduced in-office attendance and changed why people choose to come in. When attendance is selective rather than obligatory, the office has to offer more than a desk - it has to offer an environment that is actively better for the work people travel in to do.
Furniture is the primary mechanism through which ABW principles are implemented in practice. Zone definition, acoustic separation, ergonomic quality, and adaptability are all furniture decisions before they are architectural ones.
What zones does an activity-based working office need?
- Focus zone. Clean, quiet workstations for individual concentrated work. No assigned seating - hot-desking protocol throughout. Acoustic screens or physical separation from noisier areas. Height-adjustable desks are particularly valuable here.
- Collaboration zone. Larger tables at which several people can work together, with easy connectivity and writable surfaces nearby. This zone should be bookable for team sessions but also accessible for spontaneous use.
- Social zone. Informal seating, a kitchen or coffee point close by, and a lower acoustic threshold. This is where people decompress, build relationships, and have the conversations that do not fit a formal meeting format.
- Phone and video zone. Acoustic booths or enclosures for calls requiring concentration or privacy. This is the zone most frequently under-specified and most frequently complained about in UK hybrid offices.
- Project or workshop zone. Larger open space with reconfigurable furniture that can be arranged for workshops, all-hands sessions, or temporary project work. Stackable or folding tables and chairs are particularly useful here.
Furniture principles for an activity-based working office
- Zone legibility. Each zone should be visually distinct. Furniture type, colour, and layout all contribute to making it immediately clear what a zone is for - reducing friction in choosing where to work and making the ABW model easier to adopt in practice.
- Acoustic quality. In a mixed-use open office, acoustics are the biggest single source of friction between zones. Invest in acoustic screens, soft furnishings, and booth solutions. This is not a luxury - it is the foundation on which ABW either works or fails.
- Ergonomic quality across all zones. Not only at the focus desk. Meeting chairs that people use for extended periods, seating at standing-height collaboration tables, and lounge furniture that is genuinely comfortable enough to work from - all require ergonomic consideration.
- Scalability and flexibility. An ABW office should be able to grow, shrink, and reconfigure as the organisation changes. Furniture that is modular, stackable, or easily repositioned supports this. A circular subscription makes this structural rather than aspirational.
Key Takeaways
- Activity-based working requires a range of furniture settings, not rows of identical desks. The zones - focus, collaboration, social, call, project - each have distinct furniture requirements.
- Zone legibility and acoustic quality are the most critical design decisions. Without these, ABW does not function in practice.
- Ergonomics matter across all zones, not just the main workstation area.
- A circular subscription makes ABW genuinely scalable - zones can be added, reduced, or reconfigured as working patterns evolve without a separate capital event. See also: what employees need from the office.
Designing an activity-based working office in the UK? Talk to NORNORM about building a zoned workspace that adapts as your team and working patterns evolve.