For many years, the trend in office design has been an open layout. Walls, offices, cubicles, and other dedicated spaces were considered old-fashioned and antisocial and discouraging to collaboration or creativity. But in 2020, the cubicle is about to see its renaissance. Why? Here are five of the most important reasons to bring cubicles back into your space.

1. They Promote Social Distance.

Workers who used to be placed in tighter configurations must now be spread out. The easiest way to enforce good social distancing with work stations is to separate them with a physical barrier. Cubicles are an attractive way to do this without making workers feel like they face scary new measures that remind everyone of the pandemic's dangers. 

2. They're Less Bulky Than Offices.

One of the main reasons that cubicles were put into place was as a smaller alternative to a traditional office. If you need to reintroduce socially distanced work stations, a cubicle takes up significantly less space than a full office. But it contains many similar features, including visual privacy, doors, windows, and desk configuration options. 

3. They're Flexible.

Cubicles have one major advantage over offices: they're flexible. You can't easily change the size or shape of a permanent office, nor can you quickly add or remove offices from your building. If you have a variable number of workers at any given time, cubicles allow the company to increase or decrease offices and move walls to make new shapes that are more conducive to your needs at this particular time. 

4. They Provide Barriers.

Simply moving desks six feet apart in an open-layout floor plan doesn't actually improve the physical barriers that could prevent exposure from coughs, sneezes, and other exhalations. If you want to add barriers within the workplace, cubicle walls can do the job easily. Extend protection by opting for tall cubicle walls as well as features like doors and clear segments. 

5. They Direct Traffic.

Directing people where you want them to go is key to maintaining social distance while staff and customers move around. Cubicles and partition walls can form traffic patterns and discourage the use of other routes. You might even use them to create one-way traffic paths, to block off areas where people shouldn't pass, and to create a layer of space around office workers. 

Cubicles could be an easy way to solve your social distancing challenges within the office. Want to learn more? Start by meeting with a furniture store in your area that specializes in office cubicle design.