Why the office renovation or refurbishment?
The first step is to decide what you want from your office renovation or refurbishment. Is it a complete overhaul or are you only upgrading some elements?
Questions you need to ask and answer, include:
- How is your business going to change and grow in the future?
- How will technology trends impact the size and shape of your office?
- Is your space flexible enough to adapt to business growth?
- Do you need to update the infrastructure?
- Are you installing new technology?
- Is it time to upgrade finishes?
- Do we need to change the workflow of the space?
- When is the renovation, refurbishment or fit-out happening?
- How long will works take?
- When will works take place, and will the office renovation impact productivity?
We can help you answer these type of questions, and develop a plan that takes all the practical and logistical issues of an office refurbishment into consideration.
Planning your Sydney Office Renovation or Refurbishment
Planning is crucial for a successful office renovation or refurbishment, it ensures your new workplace reflects your brand and is able to adapt to future changes.
Bases you need cover include:
1. Office Refurbishment Budget
Your overall budget for your office refurbishment needs to take into account the design of the fit-out, the cost of new furniture, media, and IT/telco infrastructure. You also need to budget for any interruptions to your business while works are underway – or look to schedule works to minimise these.
2. Smart Space Design
You need to be smart with the space in your office and know how much you have and how you are going to use it. This is especially true if you are doing a complete office refurbishment and reconfiguration and purchasing new office furniture. Here you need a floor plan and a clear idea of your configuration/workflow, the number of staff, and what office furniture you will be installing. Our designers can help you work out the best configuration and workflow for your workplace.
3. Choose Practical Office Furniture
Work with our designers to determine what office furniture you need. This is likely to include desks, tables, chairs, partitions, and cabinets – as well as accessories such as trays and paper baskets. If you are going to have casual break-out areas, you will also need to identify the furniture required for this – such as sofas, tables and/or bean bags. You will need to budget how much you are going to allocate for each item, with an eye on value for money and comfort. Take the time to work out small practicalities like the ergonomics of your office chairs, which also need to fit under your desks. You can also look to rent your office furniture instead of purchasing it. You can also save money by assembling your own office furniture, rather than ordering it pre-made.
4. Upgrading your Office Tech
Your new office needs tech that is able to match the workforce and also be capable of servicing the growth of the business. The modern office needs well-positioned power points, networks points, as well as access to the latest media/video technology in entertainment areas and meeting rooms. If you have a boardroom, what tech does this space require to meet the needs of your team? You will also need to plan for a space to host your networking tech, which could be a dedicated server room.
5. The Office Renovation
If your existing space is looking a little tired and worse for wear, you may well need to renovate and touch up some areas. This could include painting walls, replacing flooring and upgrading the bathrooms. Your lighting could also need an upgrade, especially if you are changing the layout of the floorplan and moving partitions.
Click here for a free phone consultation to get your office refurbishment started
What are the Trending Designs in Office Refurbishments?
If your office or commercial space has not been renovated in a while, you will want to make sure you create a space that not only keeps up with the latest trends in office design, but meets the expectations of the modern workforce. Modern office design is all about improving the physical workspace. Each space needs to be designed with the company, business or brand in mind – there is no one size fits all office design solution.
1. Open plan
The old partitioned office space has all but disappeared, and have been replaced by non-enclosed open plan/open space offices that are not defined by walls. Instead, office designers are using less obvious partitions – like frosted glass and walls of plants – to create privacy and a more relaxed culture around the workplace. This approach also helps people to relax, as the environment feels less like a workspace, and relaxed people tend to be more productive. You should design your office based on your business needs. Cubicles may be required if privacy and concentration is required by some staff, and open plan space for collaborative teamwork – or a combination of both.
2. Collaborative spaces
Collaboration is a key element of the digital economy, and your office environment needs to enable this. Here the trend is to hot-desking, rather than static spaces that are ‘owned’, as well as adjustable desks, standing desks, and even treadmill workstations. Less formal break-out areas, that look more like lounge’s, and meetings locations are replacing ‘traditional’ rooms and boardrooms. Here you need comfortable soft seating, whiteboards and screens so people can easily share and collaborate. The key is to promote the mental and physical health of your staff and reap the benefit of increased productivity and employee retention.
3. Flexible and future-proof
If you have big plans for your business – and you should – then you need to plan so your workspace keeps up with growth. Look to increase the flexibility of your office space so it is not only future-proofed but flexible enough to adapt to changes in the way you operate. Here, modular workspaces and meeting rooms can help you make changes easily without impacting productivity. Having the option to change the layout of your office also gives you the flexibility to increase staffing.
4. Greening the office
There is also a real move to ‘green’ workspaces, by incorporating natural elements into the workspace. This can be anything from living green walls to skylights, water features and the use of recycled wood in wall cladding. A connection with nature or the great outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and stimulate creativity, happiness and productivity – all positives for workplace satisfaction and happy staff.
