Tips on Finding a Good Designer for Your Office Space
Whether you are planning to redesign your current office or are moving to a new one, an office space designer will be necessary to take you through the process. But, how does one find a good office space designer?
Well, the best way to find a designer is through referrals. Your real estate agent may have a few designers that he/she could recommend. You may also ask your fellow business contacts whose office spaces you admire who their designers were.
Once you have a few names to choose from, do your homework to help narrow down the designers you may want to use. A good designer would have the following qualities:
- Experience in commercial office space design– There are two types of designers: ones that specialize in residential projects and ones that specialize commercial projects. You want a designer that specializes in designing the same or similar office space as you have or are planning to be in. So, if you are in (or are planning to be in) a commercial office space, you want a designer who specializes in designing commercial office spaces.
- Experience in higher budget projects – Commercial office space designers could have a variety of experience but you want the one(s) that have experience in higher budget projects or at least projects about the same size as yours. Upon your request, a good designer would be willing to provide you with a sample package of examples, including photos and detailed descriptions, of office spaces they have designed that are similar to your office space in size and/or layout. Note: their sample package is a great way to determine the style tendencies of the designer as well. For example, a designer that many have the tendency to be quite trendy may not be a good fit for a business that prefers to stay quite traditional in style.
- Client-focused – It is in the creative nature of a designer to see a space and immediately begin offering suggestions without learning about or understanding a business’ needs or goals. A good designer would take time to understand your business, your company culture, your business flow or style, your company size, your collaboration and/or non-collaboration needs, etc., before offering suggestions for your office space
One of our client’s invited us to their new office space and said, “We need a private area, reception area, a testing area, bathroom….you figure it out”. Because we took the time beforehand to understand the flow of their particular business, we were able to present a design for their office space that was unique and tailored to them. When the client saw the plan, he responded, “You’ve got it…right on the money.”
My point: A designer with the above qualities is sure to help you design your office space in a way that is ideal for your business.
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DJ McGauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Move, Reconstruction and Reconfiguration Project Management Company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If an office move or reconstruction of your 2000 – 25,000sqft office space is a remote possibility, consider contacting us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. We guarantee that by the end of that meeting you will know all that would be required to make your office move/reconstruction project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected], or visit our website to complete our contact form.
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