Meeting rooms shouldn’t just consist of a table and a few chairs. This is not just a place people can gather to discuss work related topics. No, they should be carefully designed to incorporate quality finishes, stylish furniture, productive lighting and portray your business in a way you and your colleagues can be proud of.
The best meeting rooms are designed to inspire and provide a professional environment. One that portrays a flattering first impression to clients and visitors.
For the workforce at a MC Trucks, a transport company in Aylesford, Kent, the meeting room was proving a bit of an embarrassment. The dated furniture, harsh lighting and stark décor meant that, rather than entertaining clients and visitors onsite, they were opting to meet at a nearby hotel.
While the interior design was questionable, the space was perfectly adequate to seat 16 around a large boardroom table. This kind of space is enviable of any Kent office space, so the decision was made to refurbish the meeting room and create a place that the workforce could be proud to meet in.
Having carried out work for this MC Trucks in the past, JBH were their first port of call to carry out the refurbishment work.
The space was simple to prepare, we stripped out the old flooring and parts of the ceiling and removed the old furniture, ready to start afresh.
Once the area was cleared, we could start building the design features that would take this boardroom from archaic to ultra-modern.
We built a suspended ceiling, which incorporated LED colour changing lighting strips around the edges to provide a sense of depth. Spot lights were carefully positioned in the centre of the floating ceiling to provide a flattering light, as opposed to the harsh fluorescent tubular lighting that was there before.
At one end of the room, we built a protruding media station to frame a large screen and hide any unsightly wires. The media station was finished with LED lighting strips around the edge to provide further design features and depth to the room.
When the carpentry and electrical installation was complete, the meeting room walls and ceiling were decorated white, leaving the lighting features to provide an ambient colour scheme.
To replace the stark grey vinyl, we fitted textured grey floor tiles, with accents of the corporate colours (red and blue) at one end of the room. Colour accents on the floor are a very simple way of incorporating the company branding within the décor, without having to make bold colour choices on the walls. It looks professional and can lift the tones of a dull room when matched with signage and other accessories in complimentary colours.
Tying in the blue and red floor accent colours, we produced a substantial sign for the MC trucks boardroom refurbishment. This was positioned in pride of place on the wall opposite the main entrance to the room in full view for all visitors to see.
To complete the look, we furnished the meeting room with a modern oak effect table, comfortable high-backed office chairs, with accents of blue, and complimentary storage units, which replaced the old metal filing cabinets that once adorned this room. Finally, the windows were finished with new Venetian blinds.
Since the office refurbishment in Kent, the team at MC Trucks have not once had a meeting off site at the nearby hotel. The staff thoroughly enjoy meeting in their new comfortable and inspiring boardroom and couldn’t be more delighted with the end result.
Meeting rooms are a key area within an office and should be as important as the reception area and washrooms if you want to cast a good first impression. These are the areas first seen by any new visitor – be it a new client that you want to impress, a supplier or a new member of staff who you want to attract to your business.
The key to creating a professional looking meeting room is keeping it simple. Like the MC Trucks meeting room refurbishment, subtle techniques, such as floating ceilings and protruding media stations, which are backlit with LED lighting can transform a dated space in to a contemporary interior.
Installing modern technology can really improve your professional appearance. For example, why not invest in a large interactive touch screen computer that you can write on, just like a whiteboard. This is bound to impress any potential clients. They come in varying sizes including 65”, 75” and 82”.
Furniture should not be overlooked when undergoing a meeting room refurbishment. Using your old furniture in a newly decorated meeting room will almost certainly not have the desired effect. Meeting room furniture is particularly large and domineering in an office. It therefore, needs to compliment the décor. If unsure, keep it simple and neutral and make design statements elsewhere.
When choosing your furniture, think about comfort as well as style. It’s important that you and your visitors are comfortable, as meetings can go on for long periods.
If you have your sights on a quirky and ultra-trendy meeting room, make sure it is consistent with your brand and rest of your interior, otherwise it will look like an after-thought. If you want to be bold with your meeting room refurbishment, its best to do your research and speak to our interior design team before investing in a major transformation.
If you are planning a meeting room refurbishment, please get in touch with the JBH team. We can talk through your requirements, provide interior design ideas and we can even develop CAD visuals to show the finished article. Give us a call and discuss your project with our team today!
