4 things to consider before redesigning your office
What is the most important part of your company? Some people would say the employees, others the directors, and some the company mission statement. There’s one other crucial aspect of a business that often gets overlooked or taken for granted, however: the office space itself.
A well designed office space can contribute significantly to employee well-being and morale, to productivity, and to the brand image of your company. The design of your office, therefore, is of the utmost importance, and the process of redesigning your office can be one of the most lasting and impactful changes you can make to your business.
An office redesign can also be challenging, however, with so many aspects and considerations to take into account. To make the process a little easier we’ve put together four of the most important things to consider before redesigning your office.
Brand Image
When undertaking an office redesign your brand identity should be one of your primary considerations throughout the process. An office design which communicates your brand identity clearly and eloquently will ensure that your brand stays front of mind both for your employees and for existing and prospective clients.
Isabelle Glinka of LUX Design says on this subject that
“Branding should not stop with the business card and website. It should be infused into the space where everything happens. It should be all around the employees and it should speak to the clients. It should be the environment,”
Workplace Culture
The actual form of your new redesigned office will depend in large part on the type of company you are today, as well as the kind of company you would like to be in the future. Many new offices are embracing the transparent, open plan office style, which, in rejecting the office cubicles of old, instead fosters a greater sense of team spirit, and encourages interaction and collaboration among the workforce.
However, this type of office may not necessarily be the right fit for your company. If your employees, or your industry generally, tend to favour a more focused and individualistic approach to work, the purely open plan style office may actually serve to harm your team’s productivity. In this case, you may want to consider adopting a hybrid design, which provides a communal working space for employees who are that way inclined, as well as for team based projects, but also accommodates the needs of those who prefer a more focused, individual work environment.
Lighting
In terms of productivity, your choice of lighting is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in this process.
It’s fairly well known today that a lack of natural light can be detrimental both to physical and to mental health. It is no surprise, therefore, that a good amount of natural light in an office is critical to employee productivity and morale. Natural light contributes to the maintenance of healthy melatonin levels which in turn affects concentration levels. Fluorescent light, on the other hand, has been known to cause headaches and eye strain among office workers.
Colour
The final thing to consider when redesigning your office is the colour. This may seem an obvious point to make, but the significance of the colour scheme you choose for your office may be more far reaching than you perhaps realise. You may decide to go with a colour scheme in keeping with your brand identity, and while this is an understandable choice, you should also consider whether this will be the best choice for the overall look and feel of the space. Too much colour may be distracting for your employees, while too much white may be fatiguing. Keep in mind the psychological significance of the colours you choose.
Environmental psychologist Sally Augustin spoke to Forbes about the psychology of colour and noted that while green, for example, can help to nurture creativity, red tends to inhibit analytical thinking. Blue, meanwhile, is the colour people generally react most positively to, and pink can be calming and soothing. Such considerations should be taken into account before you make a decision on the colour scheme of your redesigned office.
If you have any questions about redesigning your office, then please get in touch with the team at Accent on 08456 595911 or email interiors@accentoffice.co.uk, we’d more than happy to help!
Our experienced team will be ready to assist you with interior design, office refurbishment, or office relocation.