Insight / News
A full design and build for any company would generally include a site visit, a design, and the company managing the fit-out for you. You would deal with that one company to deal with the whole process, from design to fit-out rather than having to manage each contractor yourself.
At Officeinsight, a full design and build package includes Define, Design and Delivery of the project in hand. It is important to note, that not everyone needs to utilise the full package, and that the process is tailored to whatever your needs are.
The Define stage commences with a discovery meeting, this is after you have gotten in touch with us about your upcoming project. One of our project directors will hold the meeting to learn more about you as a company, what you need, to what extent you want your upcoming project to be, and whether or not you have a budget.
After this meeting, we put together what we think you’ll need, in terms of how far you want to go in the Define stage. For a full package, this would mean that the whole Define stage would be explored and utilized, including the Define survey and the workshop.
A site visit is always required and usually takes place after the go-forward plan. A measured survey then means we send someone in to survey the space and take measurements so that for the future, any designs created are on an accurate floor plan.
We then work to define the brief. Our in-house designers will work with you to answer what core problems you are currently having with the space, what the vision is, and any key drivers behind getting a new space. This can then lead to sending out a survey to your staff to get some real holistic data, regarding working preferences.
Sending the survey out helps to future-proof your space, whilst keeping your staff engaged in the process, it can help to eliminate any fears over the change and help to encourage enthusiasm amongst the staff.
We also offer a workshop with your team, whether this be with the heads of departments or the main managers, and our designers, where we really dig down deep into the roots of your business, and why you want a workspace fit-out.
The results that come about from utilising the full Define stage help to make sure that your new space will be more than adequate for the future of your business. This includes space management, projected growth, the best working zones to include, what is needed and what can be included given any deadlines and the budget.
The Define stage is then completed with recommendations from our designers, and a high-level budget and we then move onto the Design stage.
This begins with general arrangement plans (GA’s), which show a 2D floorplan of the proposed layouts, including furniture, flooring, and different rooms. This goes alongside the look and feel, which is a selection of images used to convey the general concept of the new space, such as industrial or minimalistic.
We then wait for client feedback, as it is important that they are loving the general concepts that we are putting together.
We then present the 3D visuals and a video flythrough of the space. A video flythrough is an excellent tool to share with directors, managers, and the staff so that they can visualise for themselves what the new space will look like, and again is a great way to garner enthusiasm for the upcoming changes.
We then provide a schedule of work with detailed costs, get some feedback from the client, and then a contract is signed to show that the client is agreeing to work with us, this signals the end of the Design stage.
Upon signing the contract, the Deliver stage can then begin. We hold a finishes meeting in-house, where you will come and pick what finishes you want on the furniture, this includes textures and colours. This then allows for the construction design to be signed off and the programme of work to be agreed on and the project to be set up on-site.
Throughout the duration of the project, there are weekly updated from our project managers so any queries can be raised. When the on-site work is finished, we then run a quality audit to make sure that all parts of the project are safe and completed to a high standard. We then close the project, sign off, and handover back to the client with an O&M file. This contains information on all the different products in your design, including furniture manuals, warranties, and finishes.
If you’re unsure about any of the terminology used, check out our latest addition to the guides – our glossary!
If you want to get in touch to start your design and build, email us at projects@officeinsight.co.uk or give us a call at 01612462363.