Designing an office space can often be a daunting prospect, with many decisions to be made.
Considering the often high number of hours your employees spend in the office, carefully studying your options and implementing the right design can go a long way to assisting with employee morale and improving the bottom line.
The physical appearance of your office is also critical to your brand and can lay the foundation for your business culture. Your office is often the first thing a client sees and first impressions count!
If you are thinking of refurbishing your office or completing a new fit out some elements to consider include:
- Practicality versus creativity
Whilst practicality is an important consideration, it shouldn’t railroad other decisions. Gone are the days when offices were typically a cubicle, surrounded by white or grey dull walls whilst being brightly lit with white fluorescent lights.
Corporate giants like Google and Facebook have demonstrated that unconventional workplaces can contribute to tremendous success. More business owners are embracing the idea that great office design can stimulate minds, invigorate their team and increase productivity.
Creativity can flow into the types of furniture, artwork and colour scheme incorporated. Try to inspire your staff by providing both a practical and an enjoyable office!
- Open plan or private offices
When planning employee workstations you can look at a fully open-plan option, private offices or a combination of each. It is important to note that any decision you make will have a flow-on effect.
For example, if you choose an open-plan it’s vital to incorporate a number of quiet zones and meetings rooms into your design. This provides employees with a private area for confidential phone calls, or even just a space for a timeout.
Alternatively, an office partition can reduce noise, unwanted distractions and help control external and reflective light. However if not appropriately designed they can cast shadows and reduce natural light levels.
- Natural Light
Natural light is often a much overlooked feature in office design, despite its many beneficial features. It has been linked with fewer headaches, increases in attentiveness and reductions in accidents.
Numerous studies around the globe have shown links to improved productivity and creativity when there is abundant natural light in a workplace, particularly in manufacturing environments.
- Usable Space
A well planned, carefully considered design can maximise your area, so there is no wasted space. An efficient office that optimises every square meter of space available also offers your organsiation superior value for money.
A great use of space can also solve problems and create opportunities by opening up new lines of communication and giving staff different environments for different tasks.
It is important to tailor a design to your specific needs. Every business is different and all have diverse requirements in regard to open space and storage.
- Storage
Unfortunately, storage is frequently an afterthought. All too often the fit out is complete and the business owner realises they have not adequately identified how much space they would require.
Helping resolve this problem are the ever-increasing types of new functional storage products coming into the market. More and more funky designer storage options are becoming available and even becoming features of office fit outs.
To learn more about the Nulex approach to designing and construction an office space, please contact us.
