Your Kent or London office design can have a huge impact on the productivity of your office staff. It can help motivate them, have a positive impact on your staff’s health and well-being and make the right first impression on your visitors. In fact we’ve written a number of articles on this exact topic including How Your Kent or London Office Design Can Tackle the Top Killers of Productivity, Office Refurbishment with a Focus on Health and Wellbeing and Survey Reveals How To Increase Productivity Through Commercial Office Refurbishment. This is backed up by research and numerous studies.
It’s clear that by having the right Kent or London office design you’ll be ensuring that your business workspace is a place staff want to work in, which will in turn improve your company’s image, help your profitability, retain your best staff and attract clients. In this article we walk you through the stages involved in making sure your Kent and London office design is well planned and executed giving you peace of mind that the project will go to plan and meet or even surpass your expectations.
The Process – Your Kent or London Office Design
Whether you’re looking to redesign your current office space or are looking to move to new office space, the process of transforming your workspace can be broken down into a number of stages which we’ve outlined below:
Stage 1. Deciding on your office design and fit out company.
When developing your new Kent or London office design, it’s best to seek advice from a professional office fit out contractor as they will have the expertise and knowledge to guide you through the office design process and ensure that you avoid any pitfalls. By working with a trusted and reputable office design and refurbishment company you know you’ll have peace of mind in moving forward with your project.
Stage 2. Your office design brief.
Once you have identified the right office design and refurbishment company the next stage will be to put together a brief which details your requirements and objectives. You should look at the things that work and the things which impede your business processes, working methods and productivity. Consider what you want to achieve both short and long term, what your current challenges are, what is a must-have, what your like-to-haves are. This will all need to be considered in terms of your budget.
Stage 3. A site visit to measure up.
The next stage involves a site visit to carry out detailed measurements of your office space. Making sure accurate measurements of your workspace are obtained are essential to ensure that when your Kent or London office design is planned and drawings are made that they accurately reflect the available space. Without accurate measurements it would be impossible to draw up floor plans or layouts.
Stage 4. Space planning.
With measurements in hand and a good understanding of requirements it’s time to start space planning. This involves looking at the brief, thinking about the existing space and planning how to bring together requirements in a way that meets the brief in the space available. Space planning attempts to make the most optimal use of the space. It looks at all the elements that make up an office including layouts, partitioning, ceilings, flooring, lighting, office storage, furniture, shared facilities, IT infrastructure, electrical points etc. Space planning also takes into account if you have departments and their relationships and how best the layout can ensure a smooth workflow and good collaboration between teams or individuals.
Given that at the time of writing this article we are still in the midst of a pandemic it’s also very worthwhile addressing how your office design can take into account making your office space Covid-19 (or any virus/pandemic) secure now and into the future. This could include partitioning or screens to create social distancing and the use of flooring and furnishings that can help to separate areas or provide “walkways” to encourage staff keep their distance.
Ensuring the right technology to enhance communication is installed should also be a consideration to help the office keep in touch with any home based staff.
Stage 5. Design concepts and 2D/3D digital rendering.
It can be difficult to visualise a new office design and layout when you are used to your old layout and when you’re having to “see past” furniture and people. This is where digital rendering (the process of generating a photorealistic image by means of a computer program) comes in. A digital render can show you how all of the elements of your Kent or London office design will come together, from the placement of furniture to the colour scheme to the lighting and flooring.
The digital render can also be used to highlight potential issues and show what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to correct any problems early on. You can check that the design and layout will meet your workflow requirements and provide the best use of the available space. Ensuring the design and layout is right before any work is carried out will keep your office refurbishment project on budget and on time.
Stage 6. Detailed project plan with product information.
Based on all of the information gathered and the final digital renders a detailed project plan with schedules and specifications are prepared. This should include any product information such as flooring, fittings and furniture as well as costings.
Stage 7. Work begins.
With everything in place on site work on the new office design and layout can begin. A dedicated project manager should be available to you. They should be the only point of contact you need from the conception to the completion of your office design project, keeping you fully informed and being on hand to answer any questions you have along the way.
How Can We Help?
JBH Refurbishments have over 30 years experience in Kent and London office design and fit outs. To find out how we can help you design your Kent or London office space to the highest standards contact us via our contact form or by calling us on 0333 207 0339.