The design of your Kent or London office space is crucial to the creativity and productivity of your staff. A well-designed office is as much an asset of your business as your staff and services and products. The right design can make all the difference to the success of your business and to the health and happiness of your staff. It’s therefore vital to make sure your office design works for your business and employees.
In this article we outline a number of office design tips for Kent and London office spaces.
Involve Your Employees
Your employees are one of your biggest business assets and as such it’s vital to involve them when you’re considering changing your office design and carrying out a refurbishment. There isn’t much point in making changes to the office environment if it’s going to be to the detriment of the very people that help to make your company a success.
Involving staff helps to build a sense of ownership and community. It will also provide you with first-hand information on how the office can make a positive impact and how you can help staff to work efficiently and effectively. You’ll find out what your employees value when it comes to wellbeing in the workplace. When you’re designing your office space with staff input you are far more likely to create an office space that staff are proud of and look forward to coming to.
Consult your staff throughout the planning and designing stage, ask them for their opinions, acknowledge their input. Identify a staff member or two or a staff workgroup, and task them with liaising with other staff. Set realistic expectations and when designs are agreed make them binding, unless there’s a good reason to change them. If designs have to change, make sure to communicate them before they happen, so that staff aren’t surprised when changes occur.
Look At Brand Identity
Your office space should embody your business brand and help to reflect, reinforce, and communicate your values, company culture and goals. Taking the time to identify what your brand means to your company and how it can be used in the design of your office is an important step when it comes to considering how to incorporate your branding into your office design. Every business is different, and your office space should reflect this.
There are different ways that branding can be utilised in your office space so that it looks professional. It’s not just a case of adding your logo and brand colours throughout your office, it’s about making sure your branding conveys the messages you want it to.
When it comes to office design and branding, brand consistency is essential so it’s important to choose a consistent colour palette. Utilise your walls, flooring, furniture, and other décor to bring your brand to life. Keep it classy and uncluttered. Don’t overdo it. In this case less is more.
Consider Your Work Processes
Every business has work processes and ways of working. When it comes to office design it’s vital to ensure that you are designing to enhance the flow of work within your office space, so it makes it easier to carry out the work your business does and enhances productivity and collaboration. If it doesn’t make it easier to carry out a task or conversely makes it harder to get work done, reconsider whether it’s the right design idea for your business.
If your staff works in groups or teams, then look at the most effective office layout to allow them to work together. Think about your workstation arrangements. If different departments need to work closely together look at how you can situate them together within your floor plan to make it easier for them to communicate.
You may want to build flexibility into your office layout by utilising modular furniture which can allow you to rearrange and reconfigure desks into different size work areas to accommodate individual work stations as well as desks and seating for different size groups and teams. Movable partitioning can also help to provide layout flexibility.
Balance Collaboration and Privacy
We know through research that it’s essential to get the balance right between collaborative workspaces and spaces that offer privacy. It’s essential that you provide the type of space required and find a balance between collaboration and privacy.
Where space is tight acoustic booths or pods can play an critical role in your office design. They can provide dedicated meeting room space or an individual office area.
The installation of modular furniture and moveable partitions can also make space more flexible by opening or closing off space as and when required and staff can adapt their work area to tailor their workspace for privacy as and when required.
Get Lighting and HVAC Right
Lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) are all vital components of an office design. Get them right and you’ll reap the benefits.
Despite its importance office lighting is easily overlooked and underplayed but without the right lighting, for different office situations, your staff’s health and wellbeing will suffer. Wherever possible natural light should be factored into your office design and where natural light isn’t available other lighting should be carefully designed for the tasks that individuals are carrying out within that environment. Full-spectrum natural light bulbs which most closely replicate the visual colour spectrum that natural light contains or LED bulbs with higher correlated colour temperature (CCT) values should be used.
Temperature and air quality also play a significant role within the office so its important to factor in your HVAC as part of your office design. An efficient HVAC system can instantly improve the energy performance of your office space while ensuring temperature and air quality can be effectively controlled throughout the year.
Promote Health and Wellbeing
Your office should be designed to ensure staff have the tools and facilities within the workspace to facilitate health and wellness.
From providing the right ergonomic office furniture, to encouraging staff to stand or move around, to bringing the outside inside by incorporating natural materials and plants, to providing staff with breakout areas where they can unwind and reboot an office design can help to enable staff to stay healthy and well within the office.
Make Sustainability A Priority
As part of your office design process it’s important to consider sustainability. A major part of being sustainable is to consider how existing furniture, fixtures and fittings can be reused, recycled, or repaired in your new office refurbishment.
It’s also important to consider what new products to use in your refurbishment. Using products that have good sustainability credentials will help to ensure the sustainability of your office. Use natural materials such as stone and wood in office furniture, flooring, doors, and counter tops etc. as they tend to be more durable so they will last longer and won’t need to be replaced as quickly. Wood products which are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) accredited demonstrate how they have been sustainably sourced and maintained. The disposal of old office materials being removed from your office space is also important.
The energy efficiency of your office design and refurbishment should also be a priority. Utilise natural light as much as possible, and where artificial light is required use low energy LED lighting systems. Incorporate smart technology to take control of lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to help decrease energy consumption.
Integrate Technology
Technology can be vital in several ways within an office space. High speed internet is crucial in today’s business world. Ensuring good, stable, and scalable connectivity throughout an office is one of the most important aspects of an office design. Take account of the number of devices that will be connecting and address any issues that could affect the Wi-Fi signal.
If hybrid or remote working form part of your business setup, ensure the right services and technology are designed into the workspace. You’ll need suitable meeting facilities with telephone and video conferencing so that you can connect with workers who are offsite. An appropriate desk and room booking system will also be vital.
Smart sensors and technology which can control and monitor light usage and smart meters which can be used to track and control heating, ventilation, and air conditioning settings should also be “built into” your office design.
JBH Refurbishments, Experts In Office Design and Refurbishment
JBH Refurbishments have over 30+ years experience in office design, office refurbishment and fit outs and as a cat a and cat b fit out contractor for Kent and London we can advise on all aspects of your Kent or London office refurbishment. We understand what’s required to carry out your project to the highest standards. We can provide the right expertise for your project. Contact us via our contact form or by calling us on 0333 207 0339 today for a free on-site consultation.