Element Sessions: The Rise of “Resi-mercial” Design

 

Office spaces have long been attached to the stigma of being cold, grey rooms filled with an endless sea of cubicles. The design of office spaces today, though, is turning the idea that workspaces must be bland and sterile on its head.

On this first episode of Element Sessions, we were joined by Element Designs guests Beata Klecha, vice president of marketing, and Nelson Wills, partner for sales & operations design, two professionals freshly off attending NeoCon 2019, a conference that serves as the launchpad for commercial design and innovation.

We dove into how commercial design trends and changes are being implemented in real time, and what ideas we can anticipate upsetting the industry in big ways. The prevalent movement in commercial design today can be boiled down into one hybrid word: ”resimmercial.” The warmth and comfort of residential design merged with the open concept, collaborative nature of commercial design–resimmercial.

Klecha noted the warm colors and cozy fabrics found in homes inching their way into workspaces. Wills, a NeoCon veteran, gave his insider advice on which trends are here to stay and which are passing fads. We noted how modern tech is weaving its way into furniture that includes charging docs or storage areas for devices, and how the commercial design industry is pushing open-concept, collaborative workspaces while nurturing the notion of privacy by cultivating cozy nooks for employees to find solace during a buzzing workday.

The overarching sentiment pushing commercial design, however, is a need to make employees happy. After all, a happy employee is a productive employee. We unpack the question “What makes employees happy in their workspace?” today on this Element Sessions podcast.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the AEC Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @AECMKSL
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Rothman Index
The Origin Story of the Rothman Index – Episode 5
January 8, 2026

Hospitals collect enormous amounts of clinical data, yet preventable patient decline remains a persistent challenge. Over the past two decades, hospitals have invested heavily in early warning scores and rapid response infrastructure, but translating data into timely, meaningful action has proven difficult. As clinicians contend with alert fatigue and increasing documentation burden, a more…

Read More
Rothman Index
My Mother and the Story of the Genesis of the Rothman Index – Episode 4
January 8, 2026

Healthcare generates enormous volumes of clinical data, yet making sense of that information in real time remains a challenge. Subtle changes in vitals, labs, and nursing assessments often precede serious events, but when that information is fragmented across the medical record, emerging risks can go unnoticed. The central challenge facing hospitals today is not…

Read More
home
Delivering Moments That Matter: The Art of Joy, Memory, and Meaning at Anthropologie Home
January 8, 2026

These days, ‘home’ means more than just four walls. It’s where people reset, gather, and express who they are—raising the bar for what they expect from the brands that help shape those spaces. Consumers are no longer just buying décor—they’re investing in meaning, memory, and moments that last. Research continues to show that people…

Read More
Texas energy
Small Margins, Big Risks: How Fraud Hurts Texas Energy Retailers
January 6, 2026

Fraud has quietly become one of the most existential threats in Texas’s deregulated retail electricity market—because the business runs on razor-thin margins and delayed payment. Under the non-POR system overseen by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), retail energy providers assume the full risk of nonpayment. With profit margins often measured in just a…

Read More