The standing workplace?

At Morgan Lovell, we have plenty of clients who ask us about standing workstations and sit-stand solutions, yet only 1% of UK workers have access to sit-stand adjustable desks. Why is this? And what would need to happen to increase this percentage? The simple answer is the workplace revolution. While the health benefits are certainly a strong motivation, I can’t see a seismic increase in the adoption of sit-stand workstations in the UK in the near future.

Office design can impact staff movement in a number of subtle ways, whether it’s by creating a space that facilitates movement, the addition of collaborative spaces, comfortable breakout areas, standing meeting areas and in some cases, simply placing key facilities such as toilets and kitchen areas further away.

Any major increase in standing at work would inevitably impact office design as old furniture would need to be removed and replaced with new sit-stand desks. In some cases, this could require companies to completely rethink their office layout.

However, choice is important and there’s a balance to be struck between standing and sitting at work. Promoting a culture of movement is important, as is offering staff the option to access standing workstations. While I can’t foresee a Scandinavian-style widespread adoption of standing workstations any time soon, as organisations begin to incorporate wellbeing into office design, we will see an increase in popularity.