Office Design Solutions - Millennium Storage and Interiors Blog | Millennium Storage and Interiors

Tag: Office Design Solutions (page 16 of 16)

Google Creates Offices Inspired By Nature

Office furniture may not be high on the agenda for whoever is responsible at Google for creating workspaces for happy productive employees but wallpaper and light is according to recent news released by the search giant.

If you walk around a Google office today, you will find the usual coders and play areas but you might also notice light meters hanging from their necks as they go about their daily work. This is because the environmental team at Google thinks that natural light is a very important part of keeping the workforce happy and more importantly for this ambitious firm – productive.

Google is one of the more famous companies experimenting with biophilic design or the subtle changes that can make an office space seem more natural. Having a more natural space to work in while you sit at your office desk is said to better for you psychologically because it helps to reduce stress.

With this in mind Google has added extra skylights, and even solar tubes in its conference rooms to brighten things up. Employees of Google are reported to be more deeply focused on their work and more creative as well as productive.

What Makes Employees Happy With Their Office Interior Design?

January 15, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

It is often the case that office design is firmly at the back of employers’ minds. A desk, chair and acomputer are provided and that is often it.

What surrounds workers are often bare walls, blinds placed across windows to hide the sun and a ban on music just in case it doesn’t suit the tastes of the majority.

Studies have found that far from keeping workers focused, bare quiet offices are likely to result in reduced productivity and a moody workforce. So when it comes to office interior design it may be wise to at least consult workers on how they want the place where they spend most of their waking lives to look.

The new buzzword in office design is ‘biophilic’ design or the architecture of life. In other words workers want to see more of nature so that they can feel at home.

The survey of 3,600 office workers by Human Spaces found that the five things staff most wanted in their office interior design were Natural light (42%) Quiet work spaces (22%) A view of the sea (20%) Live indoor plants (18%) Bright and natural colours (15%).

So letting in natural light should be the number one priority followed by peace and quiet as anyone who has the misfortune to work next to a noisy co-worker will testify. A view of the sea may be a little tricky to achieve for most business owners but a potential solution is artwork or bringing focusing office interior design on more natural shapes and colours.

Are Open-Plan Offices Bad For Your Health?

November 2, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Open plan offices may soon go out of fashion if recent surveys of office conditions prove to be accurate in their findings that the vast majority of office workers are dissatisfied with their workspace.

Open-plan has been the layout of choice for most large office with company culture geared towards collaborative work environments. The ability to work as part of a team is seen as an important skill in the workplace and employers have embraced the idea of staff working closely together.

But with 85% of people dissatisfied with their work space according to a survey from Ipsos it may be time to rethink office design so that it provides a better balance between working together and having some private space.

The survey which involved interviewing 10,000 workers across 14 countries showed that office workers lose 86 minutes a day due to colleagues distracting them, which can leave some unmotivated, stressed and with little capacity to work creatively.

Another survey showed that just 6% of office workers thought it was healthy to work in an open plan office environment. Working in an open plan office can result in more time off sick than working from home due to viruses spreading around work surfaces or stress.

A potential solution is to allow staff days where they can work from home to create a better balance however this may not always be possible depending on the industry.

The Secret To Good Office Design

October 27, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Google is perhaps the first company that springs to mind when thoughts turn to progressive office design. Installing crazy golf course, pool tables and relaxation pods may not be every business owner’s idea of keeping staff happy.

Psychologically, these kinds of workspaces may actually increase productivity if staff are happier – at least that’s what the likes of Google and other creative employers think. But really creating a well-designed office space requires a lot less than you think.

Building in too many distractions into the workplace may actually hinder rather than help the creative process if staff spend too much time at play or things to play with are too close to hand. Research from scientists backs up the idea that workplaces also need structure and fluidity to function properly.

What works for Google’s army of programmers may not work for the average office.

One of the key things is to provide you employees with enough natural light and personal space. Open plan offices, for so long the accepted layout has been found to increase stress and reduce productivity.

Creating areas where employees can collaborate and even break rooms that offer some form of escape could help transform the workplace into an area people will want to spend time in. Colours too play their part. Various combinations of colours can help influence moods.

Orange and yellow for example are known to stimulate a sense of fun and happiness while blue sets a mood of tranquillity.

Modern Office Environment

June 15, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Watching ‘Mad Men’ on television is a stark reminder of exactly how far the modern office environment has come.

Go back half century or so, and the office layout was very much a hierarchy of the social pecking order of each employee. Administrative work (by mostly female workers) was clustered together in a large group in the centre of the office environment. Desks were utilitarian, small and offered no privacy whatsoever.

When moving to the slightly elevated associate positions, there were very small, shared office in cramped quarters. However, the residents were allowed to ever-so-slightly personalize their space with a framed picture of the family. As we reach executive level personnel, we find large and lavish rooms with incredible views of the cityscape, full stocked wet bars, a settee and behemoth cherry wood desks with leather chairs that resembling a throne.

Fast forward to modern times, and we still see a hint of the old office ‘class structure’, although as a society we have embraced a slightly more balanced status for employees. However for practical reasons, there is still a need for corporate executives to have some privacy to wheel and deal.

Today we still want the room to be movers and shakers, and to allow our workers to be able to take a tea break in a room with a few tables and chairs. The problem we face is that real estate is on the rebound, and the cost of spacious offices simply isn’t a reality for most businesses. So the only solution is to make the most of the space you have.

Regardless of whether you have a hot-desk set up in mind for your team or a cubicle structure to provide a bit more privacy to allow team members to concentrate (and cut down on the chin-wagging that can take over in an open office plan), Millenium SI can create the perfect office plan to utilise your space for maximum efficiency. Wherever your office is located, get in touch with our team of experts for a consultation on what we can work out for you.

How Your Office Design Affects Employees’ Productivity

February 1, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

If you’re refurbishing or re-locating your office, it’s well worth thinking about re-jigging the way you utilise your office space to increase your employees’ productivity. There’s been lots of research into the effects of how workspace design can have an impact on both productivity and staff morale, with cluttered and poorly designed workplaces having the most significant negative effects.

And it’s not just the lay-out of your office space that causes problems – even the décor and furniture can dictate the efficiency of your entire team. What’s more, a well thought out office space can even positively influence clients who visit your premises.

Of course, your office space planning depends upon the industry you’re in and your employees’ workplace needs. Some may need to be able to easily communicate with one another, whilst others may need quiet spaces to concentrate and work to maximum efficiency.

An easy way to achieve these different ‘zones’ is to install office partitioning: properly dividing your workspace gives your employees the personal space they need to work as a team or without distraction if need be. A simple change of layout also has a positive effect on productivity – coming into the same environment day in, day out makes work a dull place to be! A fresh, modern office design can have a real morale-boosting effect, from the flooring and décor to the office furniture you provide. Your desks, chairs and workstations can all be enhanced to help your employees improve their work performance.

Here at Millennium SI we have years of experience in creative office space planning. We can either help you to make the most effective use of your current space, or start from scratch if you’re moving to or just setting up in a brand new location. We’ll take a thorough brief to get an in-depth understanding of your workspace needs, then we’ll project manage your re-design, refurb or new site design from start to finish. Our office design solutions combine innovation with practicality, and we always look to the future to ensure that your new layout will be adaptable to business growth or changing workplace requirements.

Countless surveys and research have shown that, no matter the size of your company, your office space matters and has a significant impact on your employees’ productivity and job satisfaction. To ensure you’re getting the best from your people, please get in touch with our people to discover the inspired and effective office planning solutions we deliver – on time, on budget, every time.