Office design can become a real headache. Partitions and openings, corridors, stairs, restrooms, dining areas, technical rooms, storage zones, parking, furniture, and equipment— the list of elements to plan and allocate within your square metres seems endless.
The work of the architect or a space planner? Indeed, there are qualified professionals who can provide turnkey solutions. However, design choices always rest with the company's management, which alone decides what best suits its needs and budget.
It is crucial for the company's management to clearly define its expectations for the building design before outsourcing it. Speaking the same language, not relying solely on a third party's proposals but expressing true needs, is the best way to design your offices in the most efficient manner: one that aligns with the reality of your business.
In this article, we discuss:
From the plans of your empty building (ideally a simplified version of the construction plans but reflecting reality), you will define the major types of spaces: offices, storage areas, open-plan areas, etc. These different zones are established based on the specific needs of the company. You also consider the building's constraints. This is when you might think about removing a partition or adding restrooms.
On these defined areas, you then allocate territories dedicated to different departments, management, and uses within the company: this is micro-zoning. For example, Accounting and Purchasing will be on the 2nd floor, Human Resources and Workplace Environment on the 3rd, and so on.
These business units have specific needs that must be considered in the office layout and the equipment provided. Large offices for marketing graphic designers, phone booths for the sales team, wide screens for accounting, and ergonomic chairs for everyone!
The allocation of spaces to different departments also allows, among other things, for cost allocation.
It’s then time to set up workstations: furniture, equipment, and occasionally some decorative elements, so that your employees can work and feel comfortable in the company.
Based on your plans, can your existing furniture be reused? What size for your desks, for your cabinets? How many workstations can this office or open-plan area accommodate? You will need to compare the measurements of your spaces with the dimensions of the furniture listed in catalogues or, hopefully, detailed in your inventory. This isn’t a dollhouse, and you don’t really have time to move everything around…
Several solutions are then possible: entrust this planning to a third party or think it through yourself with insight?
Having a virtual copy of your building, a sort of digital twin, allows you to visualise your design options quickly and effortlessly! You can independently plan your workplace layout. With digital tools, you can arrange your furniture and equipment in various configurations, considering the square metres and dimensions. Be sure to check your passage units, especially regarding accessibility for people with reduced mobility or evacuation requirements.
There’s nothing stopping you from seeking advice from professionals while remaining in control of the design tool. You won’t need to redo the design process for future changes or maintenance work.
Designing pleasant workspaces is great, but being able to adapt them over time is even better. During the design or installation of your new premises, you invested considerable human and financial effort to achieve a highly satisfactory result. Your employees enjoy their well-designed work environment, and visitors admire the elegance of the furniture and decor. In short, you successfully conveyed the company’s brand image through your real estate investment.
Everything is perfect until the day you decide to change the layout to adapt to new working methods, respond to a health crisis, or meet employees' new expectations for their professional environment. It is often at this point that you realise your architect or space planner did not provide you with the building plans, or you cannot open the file. Searching for the Holy Grail from the provider or digging through your archives can lead to significant time loss.
When outsourcing tasks related to your premises, ensure that you retain possession of the information once the service is completed. Verify that you can access and use this data later, easily and at no extra cost.
Your employees navigate your walls almost every day, your reputation has led to growth in your sales and marketing teams, and you’ve had to add an office to the right, move a cabinet to the left. In short, you’ve altered your layout on the ground, as needs and opportunities arise. Even without a new design project, your building evolves and transforms. Thus, your plans can quickly become outdated, especially regarding employee allocation.
But have you updated your plans? After months or years of use, turnover, and team growth, are the plans provided by your architect or space planner still a true reflection of reality? Updating occupancy data is essential for the smooth operation of the business. Providing your Workplace Environment Management with a dedicated tool for building management ensures you have reliable data to base your decisions and operational choices on.
All your departments need a solid and reliable information base to align their actions with the reality of the business. Designing these offices involves considering both space and square metres as well as furniture. Most importantly, it’s about making the building as useful and pleasant as possible for its occupants. It’s essential to keep this information up to date with an easy-to-use reference of plans and data.
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