With business property prices at a premium, organisations are looking to make the most of their investments and maximise on available space. Previously regarded as luxuries, office refurbishment & space planning services are fast emerging amongst businesses everywhere as a popular alternative to relocation. As well as being introduced to update and refresh working environments, intelligent office refurbishment & space planning solutions are being used to reduce desk footprints and promote teamwork and employee productivity.
Establish your requirements – relocate or refurbish?
The first thing to establish when refurbishing, renovating or even relocating is the amount of space you have or will need. Spend some time considering your current needs and how you anticipate your company changing and growing over the next 5, 10 and 15 years. This should help you to see whether your existing premises would benefit from office refurbishment and space planning or whether you would be best to consider relocation. At this stage it is worthwhile speaking to local business owners who have made the same decision and ask for their advice and recommendations. Should you decide upon relocation it makes sense to utilise an office builder calculator. This can help you to establish exactly how much space you’ll need and facilitate your search for premises. By entering how many employees and separate working areas you need (such as reception, meeting rooms, storage areas and offices), the tool will calculate the exact square footage you’ll require. Whether you decide to relocate or refresh your current premises, choosing to work with a trusted office refurbishment & space planning specialist will enable you to create an environment which meets your needs while conveying your business message and values.
Choosing the right partner – what to expect
When it comes to office refurbishment & space planning, free advice should not mean compromised advice. A good partner should be able to help take your project from concept to completion and be experienced in every area of office refurbishment & space planning. Before investing too much time into the partnership, ask to see examples of similar projects they have worked on and for their initial recommendations for your site. All services should be offered free of charge including site surveys and the creation of 2D and 3D visualisations and plans. Another factor to look for is impartiality. To gain the best for your business, it is important you are able to choose from a wide variety of ranges, from wallpaper and flooring, right through to furniture and storage solutions. Ask if they have showrooms you can visit where you can get ‘hands on’ with their recommendations before making any investment.
The key benefits
As well as providing office refurbishment & space planning services, free design consultations should also be offered. These will help you to establish the look and ambience you are trying to achieve and the colours you could use. Are you hoping to create a warm and friendly environment or a more vibrant and modern feel? Remember that this is a good opportunity to include your corporate colours and enhance your branding.
Once you have an idea of the feel you hope to achieve, it is time to work with your office refurbishment & space planning partner to decide on your style of furniture and preferred layout. Will your office be divided into separate offices or do you favour a more open plan working environment? Will your desks or benching systems run along the walls or be positioned in clustered pods to improve communication? Do you prefer a traditional crescent or ‘L’ shaped desk or does your business lend itself to a more modern and flexible benching system?
Another key consideration is how busy your reception area is likely to be. Using bright colours will encourage people not to linger and to move quickly to their destination while calm, more natural colours will promote a feeling of relaxation for visitors. With this is mind, you should also give some thought to your choice of flooring. While a wooden floor may look stylish and be easy to keep clean, it can become very noisy as well as easily damaged or marked. To combat this consider carpeting all or part of your office reception area using tiles, so that in the event of an accident or general wear, only the damaged parts need replacing.
When it comes to lighting, many companies make the mistake of just looking at essential, functional lighting. While this is obviously critical, task lighting should also be considered to highlight certain reception area features. Examples include spotlights emphasising your company sign and led lights on stairwells. office refurbishment & space planning specialists will carefully consider all of these factors to produce an environment that works for your business.
Technology integration - remembering the practicalities
While many office refurbishment & space planning experts will be confident working with interiors it makes sense to partner a company who can also help with the more practical side of office refurbishment. Once you’ve decided on your layout and choice of furniture, give some thought to how it will all be powered. Different choices here will require different approaches to cabling and power provision. At this stage, it is also wise to involve your refurbishment & space planning partner with your heating and lighting preferences to ensure that these decisions do not later result in disruption or project delays.
acs office solutions is experienced in all areas of furniture and interiors and is proud to deliver a thorough range of services including refurbishment & space planning.
