Agile workspace design has transformed the way we work and how we think offices ought to look and function. Now, colour is coming into play. Many companies and designers are embracing colour to create environments that reflect new definitions of what it means to be ‘professional.’

Studies show that office design impacts employee satisfaction and productivity, so it’s no wonder that colour is factoring into designers’ plans for clients who wish to build desirable workplaces that appeal to top talent and Millennial workers.

At Fritz Hansen, we believe that the meaning and emotion of colour can’t be underestimated. While the meaning of colours varies from culture and industry, the importance of colour is universal to design. Colour is key.

‘Usually colour in architecture and interior design is conceived as a minor element you usually use at the end of the design process, as a finishing touch. But for me colour is more like a three-dimensional element, like layers that create a three-dimensional space,’ says designer and architect Emmanuelle Moureaux.

Born and trained as an architect in France but a resident of Japan for the last 24 years, Moureaux calls this concept shikir, or ‘dividing and creating space through colours’, a word she has coined in Japanese to describe the way she uses space.

(Image right) Emmanuelle Moureaux’s installation, ‘Slices of Time’, at NOW Gallery in London. Photography by Daisuke Shima / Nacasa & Partners.