Office Design
The New Face of Office Space Storage
In the new world of office space design and office furniture, the key is flexibility. From flexible walls to mobile office furniture to meeting pods, everything that defines an office space needs to be “subject to change” in location or look with relatively little to no difficulty, time or expense— or at the very least, be able to serve multiple purposes. Office space storage cabinets are no exception.
Office space storage cabinets for 2017 will not only take on a slightly different look but also serve more than one purpose. In terms of looks, the new standard filing cabinet could be customized to incorporate the colour scheme of the office, and have a glass or wooden top surface. The individual storage areas in a cabinet can be a set of horizontal drawers, vertical cabinet doors or a combination of both, allowing for multiple storage systems to be used in one office space storage unit. For example, the horizontal drawer space would be used for letter, legal or A4 filing, while the vertical cabinet door area would be used to hang up coats and store personal belongings. All sections of the office space storage unit would have secure locking systems to keep all contents safe.
And no longer will they necessarily have to be lined up against a wall—they can be the wall! That’s right! Creatively placed in an open office space design, the new office space storage cabinets can be used as a divider to further define or separate a work space from a meeting space. How clever is that?
With the rising popularity of flex hours and desk sharing, and the more simple contemporary designs of actual office desks, the popularity of storage at an actual desk is on the decline. It only makes sense that file storage cabinet units pick up the slack with their new contemporary design and purpose.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
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References:
Cooper, E., Office Design Advice, Posture People, “Office Furniture Trends for 2017”, http://www.posturepeople.co.uk/office-furniture-trends-2017
Apres, FRD Comb:Store, Cabinet and Drawer Combined Office Storage, www. apresfurniture.co.uk/frd-combi-store
Conventional Broadband or Fibre Optic? That is the Question…
There are many factors to consider when choosing an office space. The most obvious include location and accessibility to public transit, highways or the airport; square footage of the office space; the layout of the office space and its conduciveness to a company’s business needs—just to name a few. However, with more and more businesses utilizing the internet and telecommunications for social media marketing, video conferencing and other day to day online business activities, another factor companies should be taken into consideration when considering a new office space is the location’s communications infrastructure—more specifically, whether the infrastructure is conventional broadband or fibre optic.
The bottomline differences between conventional broadband and fibre optic are in the cost, safety and resulting productivity. Businesses that are heavily dependent on telecommunications and internet usage would want their office space to be wired throughout with fibre optic cabling because of its higher transmitting or carrying capacity (1G vs 200Mb – literally five times faster than conventional broadband), signal reliability (i.e. less signal interference or degradation compared to that of conventional broadband due to dedicated fibre optic strands per signal or data transmission), and it is less of a fire hazard than that of conventional copper-wired broadband. These features translate into lower operational costs in the long term and higher revenues due to more captures (or less missed) of business opportunities.
Of course, companies should not feel at a disadvantage if the office space being considered has a conventional broadband infrastructure. High speed and relatively high carrying capacities are still available with a conventional broadband infrastructure which could still prove sufficient depending on a business’ operational demands. Besides, conventional broadband infrastructures are more readily available in most locations than would be the fibre optic infrastructure, though that could change in the near future.
So, if your company is in the market for a new office space, ask the real estate representative or landlord about the location’s communication infracture. The response, whether fibre optic or conventional broadband, could help determine the competitive edge your company could have in the marketplace.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
References:
McLean, Steve, Property Biz Canada, june 29, 2016, “Fibre Optic Should Be A factor in Choosing offices” http://renx.ca/fibre-optic-factor-choosing-offices/
Freudenrich, Craig, TECH, Advantages of Fiber Optics, http://computer.howstuffworks.com/fiber-optic4.htm
Braithwaite, Matilda, Broadband Choice, Cable vs Fiber Optic Broadband: What’s th difference?, https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/ask-our-expert/cable-vs-fibre
The Evolution of Meeting Space Designs
It is amazing to see how vastly different meeting spaces are these days compared to what they were years ago. There was a time when business meetings took place in an enclosed rectangular-shaped room with one rectangular-shaped window to the outside world, a long solid rectangular-shaped table and several hi-backed rectangular-shaped office chairs. Now, with emphasis on encouraging collaboration, innovation, and creativity in an open-spaced environment, and incorporating the cafe or home decor themes into office spaces, meeting spaces have gone through several phases to take on entirely new forms. A few of those phases are listed below:
Phase 1: No Longer Rectangular
Enclosed meeting spaces designed to maintain an element of confidentiality are no longer restricted to the four walls of a rectangular-shaped room. With the introduction of office pods, meeting spaces have taken on dome, beehive, cylinder, egg and other interesting geometric shapes. Add in the home-decor theme and you’ve got the greenhouse, living room and large kitchen-inspired meeting spaces within the office space.
Phase 2: No longer Enclosed
Then there are meeting spaces that are relatively open or semi-private spaces. Designed more for encouraging collaboration, these meeting spaces typically have partial walls or partitions, and are open at least on two sides. Some of these collaborative meeting spaces take on the form of a booth, similar to what you would see at a restaurant. Others adopt more of a picture-framed look. More recent designs combine the booth with the framed looked by extending the back rest of the booth to form a roof frame over its potential users.
Phase 3: No more walls
Finally, there are those meeting spaces that are just out in the open. Identified by the furniture placement and possibly an area rug, these types of meeting spaces aim to promote collaboration without tainting the open space office design in any way.
The most unique meeting space gaining popularity is the amphitheatre-designed meeting space. Unlike any other meeting space design, the amphitheatre meeting space is literally the large and wide staircase found in the prominent area of an office space. Why is this design gaining popularity? Because it is familiar for the younger workforce and recent graduates entering the workforce. (By the way, designers are now looking to schools to see how those designs and layouts could be incorporated into the office space design).
The future phases of meeting spaces may incorporate more geometric shapes or adopt nature’s most common meeting spaces. Regardless, meeting spaces will always play an integral role in facilitating the future success of businesses.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
Top 6 Ways Designers Create Nature-like Environments in an Office Space
In my last blog, I listed five elements designers use to bring nature into an office space. In this blog, I want to review the top six ways office space designers combine those elements to create a nature-like environment in the office.
- Spot the Plants – Small office? Low budget? Then adding a few potted plants in and around the office space, including work areas and meeting areas, is just one of the easiest most economical ways to establish a nature-like environment in an office space. How few or how many would depend on the size of your office, the size of your budget and the “stage” you want set for your employees.
- Nature Theme in Non-Nature Items – In addition to adding potted plants, some office space designers would recommend adding nature-themed artwork along with furniture, floor, wall or window treatments with floral, leaf or wood designs in their respective materials as a way of incorporating nature into the office space.
- Central Indoor Office Garden – With office spaces adopting more of the warehouse or open concept, some office space designers would recommend having a garden with a variety of live plants, stones or even a fountain or pond somewhere in the centre of that space so that it is visible to a majority of the office staff sitting at their desks or meeting areas as a great way to incorporate nature into the office space.
- Indoor Botanical Garden/Sanctuary – Even with the push for collaboration in many offices, smart businesses and office space designers recognize the need for staff to take a break and have time on their own in order to rejuvenate. Having a live garden within the office space that is separated from the rest of the work area either by glass walls or taller shrubs and climbing plants is one way to incorporate nature in the office space and still provide a “get-away” for staff. This application can include small wildlife such as birds or fish along with the flowing water as an added touch to this garden sanctuary.
- Indoor Garden Walkway – Nature does not have to be limited to one select area in the office area. With the use of wooden and/or “golf green” pathways spotted with plants along the way, getting from one area of the office to the other could seem like a “walk in the park” for your staff.
- Living Walls – The latest and most unique and innovative way of incorporating nature into the office space is by applying vertical gardens or “living walls” into the office space design. These walls are made up of a variety of plants whose roots lie in and are fed and watered by a vertical structural support which can be fastened to a traditional wall. It is a great application that takes up minimal space and poses as living artwork depending on the layout of the plants.
Nature adds many benefits to an office space. It improves air quality, can improve acoustics, and encourages well-being among people, just to name a few. It is for these benefits that office space designers will continually strive to find new and innovative ways to incorporate nature into the office space design.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of choice. If a renovation or relocation of your office space is in your plans, please contact us to arrange a no-obligation site meeting. By the end of that meeting, you will know all that would be required to make your office renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
Reference:
Green Over Grey Living Walls and Designs, http://www.greenovergrey.com/living-walls/what-are-living-walls.php
5 Objectives Colours and Textures Fulfill in an Office Space Design
Throughout the history of office space design, the use of colours and textures have helped companies strive towards the image and business goals they aimed to achieve. Below are just a few objectives colour and texture can fulfill within an office space design:
- To Establish or Reinforce Corporate Identity – the colours within a company’s logo, for example, can be applied throughout the decor of the office space in order to further emphasized corporate identity to both staff and visitors
- Promote a Positive Mood – it has been said time and time again that a positive environment promotes positive mood, which in a corporate environment promotes productivity. Choosing the right colour and texture combination in an office space design to bring about a positive environment can in turn help increase productivity.
- Inspire Creativity and Innovation – I believe that similar to promoting a positive mood, the right colour scheme mixed in conjunction with a variety of textures sends an unconscious or subconscious message to its onlookers that “anything goes”. As a result, employees, though consciously unaware, are spurred on to “think outside the box”, and come up with creative and innovative solutions to whatever challenges the company faces.
- Differentiate workspaces and meeting areas – There was a time when walls and doors defined a workspace. Over time, walls became shorter or more transparent in order to promote a more collaborative open office space design. Today, walls, for the most part, have disappeared but both colour and texture are used in conjunction with one another to help differentiate workspaces and meeting areas.
- Help organize individual workspaces – Files are not the only thing that get colour coordinated within an office environment. Companies are now “splashing” individual workspaces with specially coloured desk trays, filing cabinets, pen holders and other workspace related items in order to help the users of those workspaces remain organized while working in those areas.
Over time trends in office space design have changed, but colour and texture, though re-purposed, have been two of the primary tools used to ultimately create the ideal office space.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management company of choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact 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 renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
Office Pods– A New Solution to Privacy in an Open Office Space Design
Among the many office space design trends that currently exist, the open office space design has been the one popular design choice spanning several industries to encourage collaboration amongst staff and put all employees on an equal playing…or I should say, working field. But no matter how attractive the open office space design is to today’s organizations, there is always that looming need to create quiet areas or areas of privacy to handle regular business operation tasks such as making client phone calls meetings. Traditional offices closures and conference rooms have been the solutions to date, but a new solution is coming over the office space design horizon that more closely fits with the open office design concept.
Introducing office pods.
Office pods are self-contained portable sound proof enclosures created for the sole purpose of providing a quiet space or place of privacy in the midst of an open office space design.
Office pods offer several benefits:
- They offer flexibility to an office space design. Office pods are not enclosures that are fixed to a building. They are in fact portable or mobile, so like furniture, they can be placed anywhere inside or outside the office area—wherever best compliments the open office space design.
- Office pods are modular by nature, therefore can be dismantled, moved and reassembled from one office location to the next. They can even be easily extended to grow as your company grows.
- Office pods come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, therefore can be creatively designed to complement the office space design theme of your organization.
- Office pods offer full and partial enclosure options. The full enclosure office pods, similar to an enclosed office or conference room, are ideal for business meetings, conference calls, and other operational tasks that require one’s full and uninterrupted attention. The partial enclosure office pods–sometimes referred to as office booths–offer opportunity for staff to still collaborate or find a quiet space work or relax in an open setting but with less noise interruption from surrounding office activities.
- Office pods can have a combination of clear, glazed and/or solid coloured walls to further compliment or enhance the office space design theme while still maintaining a balance between open office space design and the need to respect confidentiality.
So, if your current or future office space design is one of an open concept but you still want to allow for areas of quietness or privacy for your staff’s and overall business’ well-being, or your landlord forbids fixed reconstruction of an office space, adding office pods to your office space design could be the best solution.
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DJ Mcgauley and Associates Inc. is your Office Space Planning, Renovations and Relocation Project Management Company of Choice for the Toronto, GTA and surrounding areas. If a renovation or relocation of your 2,000 – 25,000 sq.ft. office space is in your plans, contact 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 renovation/relocation project a successful reality.
Call 416-239-1931, email [email protected] or visit our website for more information and to complete our contact form.
References:
Urban office Interiors, Office Pods, https://www.urban-office.com/podscreens.html
OfficePod, OfficePod Lift the Lid on Dead Space, http://www.officepod.co.uk/about-officepod/
A Good Design Begins with Asking the Right Questions
In some ways, office space designers are not hard to find …once you can differentiate them from residential designers. They, in general, are quite creative and become very excited to offer their suggestions on how you can improve the look and feel of your office space once they are exposed to it. However, a really good office space designer can’t even begin to produce a proper office space design for a company without first understanding that organization’s wants and needs as it relates to its office space. The best way to know that is by visiting the site and asking the right questions.
What are some of those questions?
Well, to understand the culture and flow of your business, an office space designer may ask the following:
- How many employees (full time, part-time and contract included) does your company have?
- Do clients visit your office space to meet with your staff?
- How important is collaboration or teamwork?
- How important is privacy within the office?
- What is the flow of a regular workday for you and your staff?
- Are there any challenges within your current office space layout that you would want addressed?
- Are there any benefits within the current office space that you would want preserved or duplicated within your new office space?
This is just a sample of questions an office space designer may ask. With answers to the above, an office space designer can create an initial layout for your company that would immediately address any wants, needs or concerns that are not being met within the current office space layout. In other words, an office space designer that is truly client-focused will save you time and money by doing his or her best to present a design that is conducive to the optimal operation of your organization and best represents the character of 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 – 25,000 sqft 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.
Good Office Space Designers are Great CSRs
It’s very easy for office space designers to offer their suggestions on how one can improve the look and feel of their office space. However, really good office space designers need to be like customer service representatives–they need to take the time to find out who you are and what needs you want addressed before presenting their solutions to you.
In fact, some really good office space designers actually exude of the traits of great CSRs.
They are great probers and listeners. Great office space designers not only ask questions but take time to listen to their clients in order to gain a full understanding of an organization’s “personality” vision, mission and goals.
Great office space designers are patient when interacting with clients who may not be able to clearly communicate the details of their ideal office space as well as when coming up with the ideal design to make that optimal office space a reality.
Great office space designers are good time managers, aiming to deliver the best office designs for their clients’ approval on time and within budget.
Great office space designers are solution-oriented, developing designs that creatively address the unique challenges and operations of each client they serve.
Great office space designers are client-focused, keeping their client’s vision, mission, goals and “personality” at the core of each layout they develop.
Great office space designers are knowledgeable in their field of design and in the industries in which they chose to serve. They not only need to know how to draw up an office design, but they need to be fully aware of any limitations an office space may have as well as all building code standards.
Finally, great office space designers are committed. They are committed to providing quality solutions to office space needs through their designs as well as all around quality service to their clientele.
So, if your designer exudes the above CSR traits, you can rest assured that you have a great office space designer.
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 – 25,000 sqft 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.
5 Cost Effective Tips on How to Bring Spring Into Your Office Space
Spring is finally here! But if your office space only allows you or your employees to enjoy spring when outside the office, then there needs to be a change. Here are a few tips on how your office space can be transformed into a spring paradise:
Tip #1: Take a cue from nature and accent your office space with spring colours. The spring colour trend for 2015 leans towards more subtle pastels, understated bright colours and nature-like neutrals. Changing your office accents such vases, pen/pencil holders, accent pillows in a seating area, or even an area rug with these current spring colours could be an easy cost-efficient way of bringing spring into your office space. Of course you should make sure that the colours you choose compliment your main office colour theme.
Tip #2: Change your wall hangings or photos to reflect the spring theme. Whether it is a painting or digital photo wall hanging, an abstract or actual scene, a picture that shows a spring scene or spring colours will help bring a visual sense of spring being in the air.
Tip #3: Change things around. Not sure if you have the right pictures to act on Tip #2? Then take the wall hangings you have and change where they placed. Similarly, you may want to change where your office furniture is place in certain areas of the office. Such simple changes can provide a fresh view of the office and send a message to your staff that there is a change in the season.
Tip #4: Add plants and/or trees. Spring is all about nature coming to life. So, adding nature to your office space in the form of living plants and trees is a great way to bring spring into your office space. They not only bring the look of spring, but they also help to maintain a healthy air quality. Of course, if allergies are a problem, then artificial plants and trees can be effective in at least bringing the look of spring into your office space.
Tip #5: Turn one of your employee common areas into a spring sanctuary. This idea culminates the above tips and more. If your office space allows, select one area or room within the space that can have the spring colours, a garden of natural plants, and a bench or seating area that your employees can feel free to go to when they need a few minutes of respite from their regular work routine to unwind, and rejuvenate before going back to their desks. If the area is in an open space, you can create the look and feel of it being a closed in space by surrounding it with many trees and plants. If the area is within a closed-in space, you may want to consider adding soft music or a nature-sound track to the room so that those entering can hear the sounds of spring as well see it when they walk in.
Of course there are other ways to bring spring into your office space but those I would only recommend if your office is being fully renovated and you want the spring theme to be a more permanent year-round theme in the office.
For now, take the more cost effective, time effective approach to bringing spring into your office space. In time, it could prove to be productivity effective because as you take care of your employees’ well-being, they will take care of your company’s well-being.
Walls Coverings Go Digital!
Walls. They can be used as boundaries or limitations or, as mentioned in my last blog, they can be used to encourage big idea generation, creativity and innovation. But have you ever thought of your walls literally speaking for your business?
As outrageous as that may seem, it is very possible to give your walls a voice, so to speak, through the use of digital walls and digital wall coverings.
What are digital walls?
Simply put, digital walls are specialized wall coverings onto which digital images and/or videos from a projector, for example, are played. With the use of digital technology, your walls can visually and audibly inform employees and visitors about your company, its products and services; sing a company slogan; or provide an active or interactive décor pattern to set a particular corporate ambiance.
Some digital walls, however, can also be static. A static digital wall, better referred to as a digital wall covering, is a printable wall material which has a digital photo printed on it as its main design. The wall covering is usually made up of a textured material such as vinyl, polyester, Terralon or even grass cloth. The photo could be generic as a nature scene which could augment your current office design, or could be as specific as your corporate logo—you choose. With a digital wallcovering, your digital picture can “speak” a thousand words about your company.
Applied using typical wallpaper techniques, both digital walls and digital wall coverings can either augment your current office design or fully engage an onlooker into your corporate world in a way that no regular wallpaper can.
So, if you are wanting to scream that your company is more creative, more innovative than your competitors and is paving the way to the future, then let your walls do the talking. Give them a voice with use of digital walls and/or digital wall coverings.
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