If you’re a business owner, you’ll know all too well how difficult it can be to create the perfect office fitout design. There’s always so many elements to consider; Which colours do I choose? What desk is going to be the most comfortable? Who do I get to help me? And most importantly- what will my employees think? As experts in this area, we understand your struggle, but can also offer expert advice. To help you out, here are some of our favourite office fitout design tips to ensure you can create an office space you’re proud of.
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Make It Yours
When it comes to decorating your office space, one of the easiest ways to decide on colouring and soft furnishings is to look straight to the reason you’re doing this- your business. While it may seem a little over the top, it is important to include at least some elements of branding into your office fitout. This can be as simple as having a feature wall in brand colours, having some brand coloured cushions on the couch or frosting your logo into glass doors; the options are endless. Having elements of branding visible in your office space also creates a sense of community among employees and reminds them why they’re working or what they’re working towards.
Don’t Forget About Your Staff
As an employer, your staff look to you to create positive change within the workplace, considering their needs and listening to their feedback. Businesses that integrate their staff’s wellbeing into their office design will see an increase in attracting and retaining quality staff. Therefore, when designing your office fitout, it only makes sense to take it as an opportunity to listen to your employees and seek their feedback on design ideas. There are seven different factors that come into play when creating the perfect office space optimised for wellbeing: air, water, light, fitness, comfort, nourishment and mind.
Some Examples Are:
- Good ventilation
- Having an accessible water filter
- Implementing flexible desks
- Having a kitchen suitable to cook nourishing meals
- Ensuring a constant flow of natural light
Flexibility Is Key
Building on considering the needs of employees, it is important to make sure your new office space is flexible and suitable for the working preferences of all staff. Nowadays, the traditional desk and chair partition is simply not good enough, with employees finding their productivity increased when working in private partitions, couches, large desk spaces or round team meeting tables. Some quick tips for creating a simple, flexible office space are:
- Use lightweight, mobile and multipurpose office furniture that can be moved easily
- Design your space so that there is no need to make any invasive building changes
- Don’t overcomplicate it!
- Choose a generic design
- Talk to an expert
Privacy Pods
As we all know, office spaces can often be noisy and busy, with impromptu team meetings going on at desks and people running around; it can all become a bit much at times. Having distractions like this can greatly impact on some people’s productivity, therefore it is important to provide privacy pods for employees who really need to put their head down and work without distractions. Privacy pods are great because they are small and can make a large difference without having to compromise on space and renovation costs. Privacy pods can also be helpful for times when employees might have a confidential phone call or going through private documents that can’t be seen by other staff members.
Get The Right Light
As we all know, lighting is important in almost any situation from photography, to events and, yes, even in the workplace. Having a good flow of natural lighting creates a significant spike in productivity and can make an office space feel more open and inviting. You can optimise natural lighting by placing windows in the right spot optimum light flow and choosing light colours for walls and floors to make the space feel more open. If your office space is small, adding mirrors will create the illusion of a larger room.
Future Proof It
When designing your office fitout, it can be easy to get caught up in only what you need now, but it is important to future proof the office and consider how it might operate in 5- or 10-years’ time when trends and technology have changed. Businesses these days are investing in easily adaptable workplace features so that they can grow and evolve to meet these changes. In addition, new tech gadgets such as google chromecast and LiFi are quickly becoming office necessities, so choosing to add integrated technology could be a smart move to ensure your business doesn’t get left behind.