7 Things to Think About Designing an Office

Whether you are looking to work with an office design and build specialist like ourselves or make some minor changes in-house to mix things up and refresh your business there are many elements to consider and that can be overwhelming, from light and noise through to colour and materials but fear not! We list 7 things to think about when designing an office.

1. Space is Key

You may not be fortunate enough to have a large open space at your disposal, so it is important to make creative use of the space you do have. Changing to a more open-plan layout is a tried and tested method that can make your office look bigger than it is whilst promoting collaboration among employees. This may mean tearing down partitions or completely reorganising the furniture, but it is worth it to help build a stronger team that is more open to communicating and sharing ideas with each other.

2. Brand, Brand, Brand

Branding is incredibly important. Valuable time and money are put into creating your companies brand, time creating an identity and a voice for your business that is then used on everything from the website and letterheads to the mugs that the staff drink their morning brews out of. Why stop there? Office branding can add interest to specific areas and shows visitors that you have a clear vision of what you are and where you are going as a business.  It can be as simple as a logo on a wall or as fancy as manifestations on your double glass doors.

3. Out of Sight Out of Mind

Whilst certainly not the most glamorous aspect of office interior design it can be considered one of the most important. Second, to temperature, storage is one of the largest complaints from over-zealous office space buyers as it is usually an afterthought. There are tons and tons of great storage solutions available ranging from traditional pedestals to tambour cupboards and roller-racking. Whatever your preferred storage option is it’s important to have enough space to accommodate your office when it is ‘lived-in’ as tidiness can soon go out of the window in a busy office.

4. Don’t Let Furniture Take a Back Seat

It can be a very easy decision to make to opt for budget furniture. Perhaps you’ve overspent in other areas and you need to cut costs and the furniture seems like a good place to do it. It isn’t. Whilst you will save money in the short-term, in the long-term these cutbacks will undoubtedly end up costing you more. Office employees spend a large part of their day sitting down if you have settled for budget furniture how long will it be before those employees begin complaining about discomfort which could down the line lead to absence. Budget furniture isn’t made to withstand the continuous rigours of office life and will need replacing far more regularly than quality furniture.

5. Let There be Light

Offices can feel very claustrophobic without sufficient natural light coming in and has been proven to cause issues with sleep in employees whilst also negatively impacting mood and productivity. The easiest way to allow more natural light to come in is to work with the space you have and adopt a more open-plan approach. Look at glass partitions as an alternative and a way to separate your space whilst still allowing light to pass through. If privacy is a concern investigate ‘smart glass’ which will give you the best of both worlds.

6. Get Away from It All

Break-out areas are more than just spaces for employees to go and eat their lunch. They are spaces that offer a different experience to the regular office environment, places that stimulate creativity and allow employees to recharge and refocus. From a design perspective, break-out areas are blank canvases, giving the opportunity to make them as welcoming, engaging and creative as possible.

7. A Hot Topic

There are few things that are more frustrating than trying to concentrate and work when the office is either too hot or too cold. It is a good idea to find the right balance between temperature and ventilation. Doing so will improve employee efficiency and make everyone in the office a lot happier. Make the temperature as controllable as possible from as many different areas of the office as possible. Efficiency starts to drop for every degree above or below the optimal office temperature of 22°C so it’s important to get this right.

Whilst there are many more factors to take into account that the ones we have covered here these are some of the main ones and if you would rather leave it to the professionals the team here at Officeinsight have got you covered and will have you set up in your spacious, well lit, branded, temperate new office in no time!

By Andrew Mairs – Marketing Executive

If you would like any further information on how Officeinsight can help design your new office or to discuss your requirements, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 0161 233 0030.