How to protect your investment through timeless office design

Your office is the heart of your business. It’s where your workforce plan, make deals and accommodate meetings. It’s a place where everyone gathers to share ideas and draw creativity from each other; it’s where your sales are made. With proper investment, your office interior design can help increase profit for your company through increased productivity and staff retention.  A great office design is not one that looks fancy and houses all the latest techs and fashionable furniture. A great office design is one that is timeless. For your business to really see a return on investments in the long haul, opt for a design that is future proof and pick furniture elements that can withstand the test of time and advancing technology.

Getting the most out of your office by implementing a complete re-design is a big decision. It’s easy to fall into trends of other offices, for example; Google’s quirky design and slides. While this may work for some companies, you really need to ask if the same applies to your business image and your staff. It’s best to reach for something that is enduring and elegant. Opting for the classic look isn’t always such a bad thing; classic doesn’t mean boring! Choose a design that will look good 10-15 years from now, as this will not only save you the hassle of refurbishing but the cost of it too.

It’s no secret that one of the main drivers of change is technology. There’s no real way to avoid upgrading your IT systems as tech continues to advance, but when you’ve already taken the necessary steps to future proof the rest of your office; keeping your technology up to date won’t be the money sink it would have been. Birthing a new workplace that houses all the benefits of mobility can often be challenging. However, the latest technologies have provided us with the tools that enable people to choose where and how they work. This can save your business the expense of implementing heavy kit desktop systems.

It’s all about making life easier for you and your workforce. Consider power outlets and poles that have USB ports and docking stations. With the introduction of younger generations into the workplace, a high number of staff will most likely have personal laptops or tablets; it’s easier and cheaper to litter your office with outlets rather than computers!

Building a timeless office requires careful consideration of the inevitable:

• Changes that will occur in the building
• How will the changes impact your business
• The costs of these changes

The whole point of building a timeless office is to minimise change while ensuring that the workplace is still viable in the future, but there are things that will be unavoidable so it’s best to look at all aspects of construction. With the evolving landscape of technology, users’ needs will change over time. Concerns over privacy, lighting, temperature or air quality that are considered acceptable today may be seen as a problem tomorrow. Do some research into other buildings and offices and find out what lasts and what doesn’t. A building may appear fashionable today, but could become unfashionable 10-15 years from now. Having a building and office interior design that is "timeless" will allow for your business to adapt to changes.

No matter how you plan to design your office fit out, always keep in mind the aspirations of your business and how to achieve it through realistic design. As previously mentioned, your business will have its own identity image and, as great as having a tube slide may be; you need to incorporate relevant design that reflects what your business represents.

Key design points

• Well-proportioned and flexible space for workers to circulate
• Adaptable interior elements that will facilitate affordable changes in the future
• Location and building orientation to optimise natural lighting and ventilation
• Easily accessible and flexible storage systems that allows for circulation and ease of use
• Low energy consumption environment and sustainable solutions (paint, argon windows etc)
• Flexible private workspaces as well break-out spaces

In short, it’s all about recognising that for your office to be timeless, cost effective and productive; you don’t need super quirky designs, slides or scooters. All you really need is to aim for the elements that are tried and true, modernise it, and incorporate it in a way that is relevant to your business. 

Four Simple Steps to Improving Productivity in the Office

Productivity and employee happiness are perhaps two of the most important factors to making a successful business. It doesn’t matter if you produce an excellent product or have great customer service, if your workforce isn’t motivated, the firm will fail. Whether you are thinking about having a complete office refurbishment of a simple refresh we think there are four simple steps to improving office productivity.

Improve the layout

When trying to improve productivity, it is worth thinking about how the different departments in your office interact. Sometimes, it is worth reorganising spaces to move these areas closer together or changing how they communicate. When we space plan a new office space we always conduct a survey to find out which departments work more closely together. It’s surprising how often these teams are usually farthest apart. On average workers spends more than four hours each week trying to locate documents, papers, and other materials. Therefore, while investigating how these departments interact, we also do thorough storage audits to evaluate how records are stored and updating filing systems to make them easier to use.

Change the office furniture

Depending on what your company does, staff members might work better in small cubicles, in open plan offices, or even within rooms in teams. However, regardless of these differences, each environment needs adequate furniture to maximise productivity. Good back support and flexible desks with good storage space are essential. Improving office furniture should not just be limited to buying a nicer desk and chair though, upgraded technology can make a big difference.

It is worth thinking about how furniture is positioned within an office, Open plan offices which include chill out zones, gyms and modern breakout areas, are designed to give staff members a reason to stay in the workplace – as well as keep them happy and motivated. Workplaces are quickly becoming more than just locations to do a job, and thinking of them as fun places to be might greatly improve employee productivity.

Improve the lights

Although individuals will obviously not perform well in darkened rooms, choosing the incorrect type of lighting can have negative effects. For example, artificial and dim lights have the potential to cause eye strain and headaches while florescent bulbs could make it difficult for people to focus on their screens. Instead, using as much natural light as possible is a far better solution. Furthermore, having a substantial amount of natural lighting in the office should help cut your electrical bills!

Changing attitudes

Although changing the layout, lighting, and furniture of an office can greatly improve productivity, involving staff members in the decision making process and helping them feel valued can also increase their efficiency. Asking what the staff members would like in their office can greatly improve their attitude towards the company and change in the new environment. Consequently, although the other solutions mentioned above might cost money to implement, this is one measure which won’t cost a penny – but is arguably priceless.