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Category: Office Designs (page 9 of 12)

5 Modern Office Fads They Thought Would Never Catch On

Back in the old days the office was somewhere most people wanted to escape from. Nowadays some employees probably find work more comfortable than home particularly with the proliferation of office entertainment and other fads. Here are some of the biggest fads they thought would never catch on…

Treadmill desks
Apparently if you sit down for the best part of 8 hours a day you are putting yourself at risk of all kinds of illnesses. The solution to this is the treadmill desk. This allows workers to get up and walk while they work so they can be on a physical as well as mental treadmill.

The office slide
Many people laughed when they saw Google’s office slide. They’re not laughing now that other big tech companies have fitted them in their office playgrounds.

Table tennis
Table tennis pool tables and other areas to play games have become common place in trendy offices around the country. What better way to unwind after a hard day staring at the computer screen?

Hot desks
These are temporary desks used by staff who like to do their work on the fly. Dated back to some time in the 1990s you still see them in offices today, although habits are changing due to the increased mobility modern technology provides.

The sleep pod
Apparently we should all be having two naps a day to perform at our optimum level. The solution to this is the office sleep pod. More likely to be found in trendy techie type companies, the pods help keeps everyone fresh so they can continue changing the world.

4 Pieces of Advice On Choosing and Installing Office Furniture

December 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Choosing, ordering and fitting office furniture can be a quite a challenge even for smaller businesses but there is a lot you can do to make the process as stress free as possible. The following five tips should prevent you from making some of the most common mistakes.

Don’t look simply at the price
While getting a large discount or seemingly finding office furniture at a bargain price might give you some satisfaction, this can be short-lived if shipping costs are high and the furniture isn’t of sufficient quality to survive heavy use.

Plan for when your business grows
It is easy to focus on present staff members and their needs rather than look at the future when you may be hiring new staff members. It will often be cheaper to add extra desks chairs and so on to your order rather than buy them separately later on.

Take advantage of office fit-out services
An office fit-out company can help you plan measure and use space more efficiently. They might even save you money in the long term with the experience they can bring to the table.

Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts, offers and other perks
Suppliers might be only too willing to give you a discount and you may be able to ask for samples of what you are buying to make sure your desk colour suits your overall colour scheme.

Good Office Design More Important Than Office Games

November 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Walk into many offices belonging to trendy new businesses and you are likely to find anything from pool tables to ping pong tables and even areas to indulge in a beer or two. But, according to research, employees are more likely to be happier in their work if the office is designed right.

What many office owners mistakenly believe will help motivate their staff may be missing the mark if the research turns out to be accurate.

While having the opportunity to indulge in a game of pool during worktime might sound attractive it may actually end up having the opposite effect with some staff who may end up feeling less motivated to do their work.

What workers need to feel happy in their work is less reliant on gimmicks and more about two important things; feeling valued by an employer and an environment that helps them focus. There is even growing evidence that not all employees will want the same thing when it comes to collaborative working and casual work environments.

Rather than go down the Google route of an office designed to incorporate play and relaxation spaces, simply adding the correct furnishings, colours and lighting can make a significant difference to making the work environment a happier place.

Why Sound Acoustics Is Vital to Office Design

October 20, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Offices come in all sorts of layouts from sleek open plan, to period offices in city centres.

The challenge in both cases is to find a solution that not only creates a sense of space but also provides privacy and a quiet place to work for those employees who need it. So when designing an office layout, a delicate balancing act needs to be struck to ensure that everyone in the workplace will be happy.

Unlike visual distractions, which can simply be screened off or hidden by a simple re-arrangement of furniture and screens. Unfortunately, good acoustics will require a more complicated solution to reduce noise from phones, chatter and colleagues moving from one place to another.

All of this can become very frustrating for those who require peace and quiet to do their best work, which will in turn hinder productivity.

While the modern trend continues to lean towards the open plan spaces which have been seen as the best way to develop cooperation and creativity since the 1950s.

To improve acoustics in your office requires knowledge of how sound impacts on different surfaces and how it is absorbed by others.

This starts with the introduction of carpets, acoustic panels and acoustic screens which can help reduce noise dramatically. Then create separate spaces for collaborative work so as not to disturb those staff members who prefer to work in quiet isolation from time to time.

Is Your Office Layout Influencing Your Business Culture?

October 10, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The more you learn about architecture and the buildings we use everyday, the more you understand just how much they can influence us.

Do you ever find yourself sitting in a room at work wondering what might be going on in the office across the corridor or do you feel excluded from management who occupy a corner office hardly anyone ever goes into?

Despite open plan offices and glass partitions now being an established part of business culture, you can still be left feeling an unwanted sense of seclusion and separation.

As a business owner, having your office laid out in this traditional manner is more likely to put people off coming to work for your organisation.

The days when people coveted the big office in the corner are now numbered as collaboration is understood to be the key to effective working.

If everyone in your office is crammed into small rooms, then it can be little wonder that conflict between staff members can begin to develop and instead of working as a team, the organisation becomes fragmented.

This can all be changed by a re-imagining of your office layout to encourage rather than discourage collaboration and a more harmonious working environment.

Is This Office In Wales The Trendiest and Happiest In The UK?

September 12, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

The Daily Post recently reported on call answering company, Moneypenny’s, new offices in Wrexham revealing a trendy new multi-million-pound office to rival that of some of the world’s biggest business HQs.

Moneypenny’s aim when designing the new 91,000sq ft building was to create a happy environment for staff. The hope is that the new offices will make going to work a pleasurable for staff in contrast to the majority of offices in the UK.

The office features a treehouse meeting room and even its own village pub, which were all introduced in consultation with staff.

In addition to a pub the offices also feature a sun terrace, a triple height atrium and a restaurant featuring free breakfasts and fruit in true ‘Google office style’. These additions are likely to give staff not only plenty of natural light to enjoy but also keep them healthy and well-fed.

The cost of the new office building came in at £15 million which was according to the company owners the same price they would have paid for a standard brick built office on the same kind of scale.

The challenge for the architects was to design something ground breaking for the same price and it looks like they have achieved it.

Traditional Office Design Turned On its Head

August 21, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Swiss athletics firm, On, has turned traditional office design on its head according to architectural magazine Wallpaper with an office design that makes use of the concept of flow.

While most traditional offices have anything but flow, what On achieved with the help of an industrial design firm was to design an office space that seems to be inspired by the sports products they design and make.

Short distances between departments were scrapped in favour of a single 100 metre strip where staff are lined up at desks, cubicles and meeting spaces. This introduces a constant flow between apartments where the aim was to link everything together seamlessly.

The typical office layout will generally have closed off areas where various departments will be isolated so as to keep particular areas of expertise separate from others. Having a constant flow between spaces means that it is possible to incorporate isolated work stations but also introduce collaborative areas that flow from one end of the office to the other.

Standing meetings can be held at one end while staff can relax and take refreshment at an indoor garden incorporated at the other. Is this a more natural way to organise a natural office environment? Whatever your view it certainly makes you think about how the future of the modern office will develop.

Key Questions To Ask Before Designing A New Office Space

August 11, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

You may be about to embark on planning your new office space. This can be both an exciting and stressful time for staff depending on how they react to change. So it’s important to consider what you do with the space you have carefully.

What’s good about our current office?
Sometimes in the desire to change everything around we overlook what might actually be good about our current office design. Some aspects of the current layout may be there for good reasons so asking this question will help avoid mistakes.

What’s bad about the current office layout?
After a long period of time stuck with the same office design, you naturally start to find things that are bad or annoying about your office. Listing these will help focus in on the changes that will bring immediate benefits.

Does my office need quiet spaces?
Most offices have departments where peace and quiet is a must. Not everyone likes to be disturbed by the constant ringing of telephones and conversations. It is vital to consider sound proofing for areas where people can go to get away from the noise or to take time out to relax.

Have I included plenty of space for collaboration?
There should always be space for staff to collaborate effectively. Not everyone likes to work in isolated small groups closed off from the rest of the office.

London Office Prices Could Fall 20%

July 26, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Following the vote to leave the UK analysts are predicting that the price of a London office could fall by 20%. This news may not be as bad as it sounds for anyone looking for an affordable office in the city.

The fall in office prices is based on the assumption that there will be less demand for leasing office space if an economic downturn happens.

Another factor is withdrawal of investment from abroad, which is already happening. Commercial property investors have suddenly become more cautious about investing in the UK when it is set leave the EU in a little more than two year’s time.

Another reason for the gloomy prediction is that some businesses will relocate abroad if they feel that their needs will be better served on the continent.

One silver lining to all of this is that offices will be cheaper to purchase therefore more money can be spent on making improvements that will add value in the longer term.

It has to be remembered that the UK economy is fundamentally strong and it has more than enough in reserve to weather any future storms if they arise. Aside from a falling pound, there is little evidence of that storm arriving just yet.

How To Improve Forklift Safety In Warehouses

July 11, 2016 / admin / 0 Comments

Fatal accidents involving forklift trucks have been reduced significantly thanks to better safety procedures, training and advances in technology. Unfortunately, there are still just over a handful of fatalities each year so what can be done to improve safety to reduce accidents in today’s warehouses?

Driving a forklift truck brings its own set of responsibilities that can soon be overlooked if a driver is in a hurry and cuts corners. This is why proper training to drive forklifts is a must and compulsory in organisations.

Another factor, which is often overlooked is the general condition of the vehicle. Is it inspected regularly for signs of wear and tear? Tires are of particular importance if the vehicle is driven outside on rough terrain. Just like a car poor tyre condition can be a cause of many accidents.

It is also important to select the right forklift truck for the job. If there warehouse within which the forklift is operating has narrow aisles, then a vehicle with a good turning radius is a must not only from a safety point of view but in terms of productivity as well.

It is also important to plan the layout of your storage facility to ensure that forklifts can be operated safely.