Designing for Friendships

I went back to try to find an article I read about how to design for friendship, but classic Outlook problem. I couldn’t find the email. So here’s my take on it instead.

You need big work tables without dividers so you can actually make eye contact across the room. Small nooks so you can spill office tea without everyone hearing. Glass conference rooms so you can spy on leadership and their plans for next quarter.

Soft seating with lots of small drink tables so you can chat and work on your laptop for hours and still have a place to set your drink down. A Bevi for unlimited seltzer so you have a reason to keep walking past your bestie’s desk.

Multiple dishwashers. This one’s key. When everyone rinses their salad bowls at the same time, they should actually get clean. And on that note, it’s worth having an agreement with your day porter to handle the dishwasher. No one in your office should have to deal with the dishes.

A Sonos speaker everyone can access so the playlist rotates. A big wall clock so you can see when the fun needs to pause for a meeting. And at least a few cement floors so you can have rolling chair races when no one’s looking.

Okay, so yes, some of this is silly. But the core idea is serious: workplaces should be designed to help people connect. Friendship drives collaboration, creativity, and belonging.

What would you put in an office if you were designing for friendship?