In 2025, there’s no debating that workplace design has a significant impact on a company’s culture and performance. There’s so much we can accomplish when we think beyond functional concerns. From boosting productivity and enhancing morale to attracting and retaining talent, today’s cutting-edge companies recognize the value add — and are investing in experiential design that’s more collaborative, meaningful, uplifting, and flexible than ever before.
At Kuchar, our team is incredibly passionate about offering exceptional office design that elevates and personalizes a space. We take great care in understanding a business’s unique needs and goals in order to create workplaces that have enduring, positive impact. Our process is anything but conventional…As a multidisciplinary interior design studio for commercial, residential, and hospitality projects in Chicago and around the globe, we never take one hat off to put on another, so to speak. Instead, we embrace the blending of experience and specializations to encourage creative thinking, ultimately pushing the boundaries to create spaces that delight and inspire.
We were recently hired to complete a comprehensive renovation with full-scope design for a 8,500-square-foot office project in Amsterdam. The team began much as most designers do—by collecting information on the budget, project scope, design vision, space functionality, and timeline. We listened intently and took notes on wants and needs, including those specific to the locale and culture. For example, showers were a must, as there is a very strong biking culture in Amsterdam. (Hailed as “the most bicycle-friendly city in the world,” about one in three people in Amsterdam bike to work.) Distinct gathering spaces that would support independent or collaborative work styles were high on the client’s list of priorities, too, including a central space that could flex for socialization (think morning coffee huddles and late afternoon happy hours, which are more customary in Europe).
The connection from concept to reality was important for this project. As always, we did our homework. For example, Amsterdam often feels gloomy due to its predominantly cloudy and rainy weather, with limited sunlight hours, which can impact mood and productivity, particularly during the winter months. To counteract the seasonal glum and energize the space, we proactively sought out colors that would lighten and brighten the mood while simultaneously tapping into a sense of familiarity. On our site visit, we took the streets on foot. We visited museums, strolled along the banks of the canals, ate in small neighborhood cafés, and popped into coffee shops to sip koffie verkeerds and soak it all in. We immersed ourselves in the sights, sounds and smells of the city’s culture until inspiration bubbled to the surface.
In addition to hospitality-inspired bathrooms with showers and a centermost “café” space for gathering and breakout coworking, we leaned into the element of choice at the space-planning stage. As commercial interior designers, we are uniquely responsible for promoting inclusiveness and meeting non-neurotypical groups’ needs. In any given workplace, there are a myriad of uniquely beautiful minds working differently on a spectrum. Some people need and enjoy social noise to stay energized and productive, while others prefer a quiet space to focus. Full-scope considerations for this project included rooms at various sizes from large to small, both bright and soothing colors, customizable light levels, and furniture that can accommodate varying work-style preferences — for example, sitting at a desk or table, standing desks, lounging like you’re working from home, and changing co-working scenarios. In as much as beauty, texture, safety and storytelling are the benchmarks of great workplace design, consider choice an emerging factor.
For material selections, lighting and decor, the timeless textures of the city itself — hand-painted Delft tiles, the brick archways of the canal bridges, iconic works of art by the Dutch Masters — came into play. From incorporating Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with A Pearl Earring” into the conference room lighting to pulling in the color palette of Van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait 1887” for the café, Amsterdam’s rich artistic tapestry is referenced throughout. We carried the muddy teal Van Gogh used for this portrait across various walls, furniture, and carpeting, layered in bursts of burnt orange (the color of his beard) for invigorating moments of color, and then tempered all with soft wood and leather tones. And for an instantly recognizable, interior architecture moment in the reception area, we mimicked the canal bridges with an arched, brick-covered cased opening.
What conscientious business owners are learning, particularly in this mixed economy, is that in order to get people to leave their homes to work full-time or part-time in-person, commercial spaces need to provide a level of home-like comforts. At Kuchar, we strive to design office spaces that don’t look typically corporate. We do this by bringing in a variety of finishes, lighting and furniture — often mixing them up from room to room to avoid mundane repetition — and peppering in residential elements like sconces, tabletop lighting, and area rugs. In 2025, all of design’s verticals are speaking to one another. When we listen — and think about the intersection of humanity and space — design that blends function, beauty and a sense of belonging for all is possible.
Editor’s Note: Sarah Kuchar-Parkinson is owner of Kuchar Studio and Creative Director. One of Interior Design magazine’s “20 Inspiring Female Designers to Know,” she launched her namesake studio, Kuchar, in 2016 after spending 11 years working on innovative office design at Perkins&Will. Now, nearly a decade later, Kuchar’s diverse portfolio of projects spans across the world, each a unique expression of the client’s desire to live, work, and thrive.
