Article – Office Design and Space Planning

Gone are the days of row upon row of bench style office desks, instead we need to consider factors such as wellbeing and virtual meetings.

Below is a visual representation of our vision for a newly shaped office space as we head into spring of 2022 and beyond.

Read on to learn how we have considered 11 areas that will become commonplace as we embrace the hybrid working model :

A. Cinema space: Wellbeing and mental health have become everyday topics both at home and within the workplace. A cinema space can inject a sense fun, wellbeing and togetherness among colleagues and peers. Movie nights or meet and learn evenings could be the way forward to address many issues that some of us have faced during the pandemic. Visit our wellbeing department for more products and services with wellbeing in mind.

B. Phone Booths, C.Acoustic Wall Tiles, D. Office Games:

B. Phone Booths: Privacy in an open plan office environment remains a consideration. Phone booths or phone boxes can be installed to encourage people to make telephone calls privately without disturbing others. We tend to take mobile calls away from our colleagues anyway and so the Harbour acoustic phone box provides the perfect solution.

C. Acoustic Wall Tiles: Are atheistically pleasing and provide acoustic properties. Our acoustic wall panels and tiles department provides an array of acoustic wall mounted solutions.

D. Office Games: We have seen an increased demand for office games over the past 12 months. Office games are another fun way of bringing people back together as we embrace our 'new normal' workspaces.

E. Break out area, F. Collaboration Space:

E. Breakout Areas: Are not a new concept but, have become increasingly popular as our 'new' workplaces are shaped and used differently. Soft seating such as our Versayde Breakout Seating still provide relaxed informal workspaces and workplace landscaping but, now the hygiene levels of upholstery will need to be considered. There are several performance fabrics and vinyls, which are all anti-microbial, bleach cleanable, waterproof and flame retardancy to Crib 5.

F. Collaboration Space: Is exactly that a space in which to collaborate! Their are many different configurations and wall options that can include glass, wood cladding and wipeable whiteboards. Our Collaborate Room is designed to define space and create a sense of place and collaboration.

G. Living Wall: Biophilia is the term used to describe our basic need to connect with nature. One way of bringing nature closer to our place of work is to create a living wall which can turn a plain bland wall into a living garden. Our living wall department has an array of moss based wall solutions.

H. Office Pods, I. Zoom Room: Acoustic pods, office pods, video conferencing pods and Zoom rooms are just a mixture of terms used to describe free-standing cells, pods or ‘rooms’. These structures are not subject to Building Control approval because they have no fixed walls whilst offering visual and acoustic privacy. Our Steam Acoustic Booth is a popular choice and an unrivalled choice of other arrangements can be found here.

J. Lockers: Lockers have been used to encourage storage of personal items and to form dummy walls to the kitchen area. Our Trespa lockers are designed to be placed into heavy traffic areas, are available in a range of configurations and finishes. You can also view our extensive range of wooden and metal lockers here.

K. Flexible Interactive Space: Is becoming the 'norm' as our workplaces change shape. Office chairs with writing tablets and integrated personal trays such as our Ad-Lib Scholar boast dynamic flexibility and are perfect for use in group training environments and interactive spaces.