5 reasons for an office redesign in 2020

Office redesign - soft furnishings, breakout area and Momenta flooring

Is it time for a change? 5 reasons for an office redesign in 2020

 

When a client pays a visit to your business, you want to make sure you create a great first impression. The decor is a key part of your office environment. However, you don’t want to just make it a welcoming environment for visitors to your business, you also want to make sure that your staff find the office an enjoyable place to work.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at 5 reasons why you should renovate your office in 2020. These also tie in with the key expectations from the modern office geared around wellbeing and sustainability.

1. Boost office morale
 
A welcoming environment has the power to boost morale amongst your staff. Even providing something as simple as a comfortable break room can have a huge impact. An inviting space encourages staff to leave their desks at lunch and enjoy each other’s company. This will recharge their batteries and provide the motivation they need to power through the afternoon.

2. Retain top talent
 
Generation Z (those born in the mid- to late-1990s) are now entering the workforce. Having grown up with technology at their fingertips, you’ll need to ensure your office is as inviting to them as possible if you want to retain and even attract the very best employees. Unified communications, collaboration tech and resimercial furniture are good starting points to consider.

3. Reduce your environmental impact
 
Public concern over the environment reached new heights in 2019, so do as much as possible to ensure your office is greener than ever before. A greener office can translate to a smaller environmental footprint as well as a healthier and happier work environment. To get started, opt for better office products, try going paperless and maximise natural light. You might be surprised by how much money you could save by making these small changes.

4. Think about the future
 
Are you looking to expand your company in the future? If so, planning for growth now is essential. Redesigning your office with this in mind means that once you have the resources to hire more staff, you can accommodate them straightaway.

5. Improve brand perception
 
You want clients and customers to feel comfortable when visiting your business premises. If you’re ashamed of your office or believe it’s not a welcoming environment at the moment, having it redesigned could elevate the customer experience, in turn strengthening your brand image.

Don’t forget about commercial flooring!
 
The right commercial flooring can make a strong impact on any office redesign. Duraflor has a range of carpet tiles, vinyl flooring and entrance matting to suit your business environment and make a great first impression.

Choosing an office colour scheme for employees and clients

Choosing an office colour blue office contrasts with grey

Four tips on choosing an office colour scheme

 

Here are four tips on how to choose an office colour scheme and commercial flooring to both satisfy employees and impress clients when you bring them in for meetings.

A large part of how an interior space feels comes down to the colour scheme chosen. Different colours schemes are used to create different atmospheres. Bright and bold colours may be used to inspire and spark ideas, whereas pastel tones are more calming and stress-relieving.

The difficulty comes when you are trying to choose an interior colour scheme to suit several different needs. So what tips should you take on board if your office space is also where you meet and work with clients?

1. Divide your rooms up

There’s no need to choose one colour scheme for every space in your office. While you don’t necessarily want to use every colour under the sun, you can definitely vary your colour schemes in different rooms.

White, for instance, works really well in kitchen areas because, psychologically, we associate it with cleanliness. Yet white in a main office area or meeting room might come across as boring. We found an interesting article on the subject.

You could pair the white colour scheme with a distinctive vinyl flooring for maximum impact, as the kitchen is somewhere that spillages are likely to happen. White walls can easily be lifted with the use of multi-tonal luxury vinyl planks, see this beautiful case study.

2. Use a little black

Black is a powerful colour that people associate with strength and control. It can be a very smart choice in a meeting room, but we suggest you only use a little bit and ensure you pair it with a bright colour.

Too much black can create a sinister, cold feel, especially as it absorbs light. We especially like this very contrasting use of black with white and real pops of colour – it is perhaps one of our favourite case studies.

3. Professional but interesting

The perfect balance when you’re trying to please both employees and customers is to go for a colour scheme that looks both smart and professional but is also interesting. The colour scheme you use creates a certain atmosphere and ensures everyone in your office feels happy with the space they’re working in.

This can be achieved quite simply by choose a neutral main tone such as cream and adding in whatever pop of colour works with either your brand or the atmosphere you want to achieve. One technique which works well in offices is to have neutral flooring paired with pops of colour in the walls. A pale vinyl flooring that’s made to look like wood can be a great choice. Or maybe go for a carpet with interesting patterns like this great case study, then keep the walls fairly plain.

4. Think about the vision of your business

What is your business trying to do? Why not try to match your interior colour scheme with the ambitions behind the business?

If your company is something to do with mental health, you might choose blue as your main colour, a shade reminiscent of peace and inspiration. If your brand is more to do with luxury, whether it be luxury furniture or clothes, you might go for a more royal shade, such as purple.

Of course you may even decide the Pantone colour for 2020 is for you. Interesting that we have moved from Coral Pink to Classic Blue. The colour is meant to recognise a period of uncertainty as we enter 2020 and to offer that all important calming influence to staff and visitors – a choice you probably can’t go wrong with, if that is what you want to achieve.

New Pantone Colour 2020 Classic Blue
New Pantone Colour 2020 Classic Blue

 

 

 

Image Credit: Kirsi Goldynia/CNN

Changes in commercial office design

Changing office design greys with pop of colour

Millennials driving changes in commercial office design

 

It’s true to say that commercial layouts have changed beyond all recognition in the past few years, and much of this is down to the influence millennials are having in driving changes in commercial office design.

A decade ago, bland, uninspiring office layouts with banks of desks or cubicles were the norm; but that’s no longer the case. Loads of light, strategic use of colour, biophilic designs, breakout areas, in-office lounge areas, quiet workspaces, and collaboration zones are fairly commonplace for modern office layouts. So much so that new hires for 2020 might even reject a great job, if the workplace environment doesn’t meet their needs.

2020 commercial layout trends

There are lots of ways to upgrade offices and workspaces of any size, and this doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg.

Monochromatic colours and pops of colour make a bold statement

Many organisations are making use of monochromatic expression within their office layouts. Although monochrome means use of just one colour, these layouts are anything but boring. Different shades of the same colour create an explosive palette which embraces different tones, hues, and textures.

What’s more, designers are unafraid to experiment with bold colours in this day and age. Whether its lemon and mustard, paprika tones and fuschia pinks or greys mingled with blues and blacks, using pops of colour is one of the key changes in commercial office design we are seeing and is definitely popular with employees and clients.

Biophilic design for enhanced wellbeing

The trend towards integrating the natural world into office layouts has been popular for some years, and this won’t change through 2020. Making the most of daylight, combining lots of plants into office designs, and using flooring materials that are inspired by nature all combine to create office layouts that promote wellbeing.

Wood and laminate floors aren’t always the best choice for offices, and many people prefer the warmth and comfort offered by carpet tiles. It’s still possible to create a natural appearance within offices using carpet tiles.  Examples of this is the Freedom Bark range, or Natural Terrain Collection.

Call us to discuss more ideas

Legal and environmental considerations for flooring

good office design with legal and environmental considerations

Legal and environmental considerations for commercial flooring choices.

 

We look at those all important legal and environmental considerations for commercial flooring decisions, some are a must and others reflect your ethos.

Health and safety

According to the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, floors must be suitable for the activity taking place, in good condition and free from obstructions. People should be able to move around safely, so choosing the correct flooring is key to this.

Even if you’d prefer to have carpet in the area where your desks and meeting rooms are based, it is worth thinking about safety flooring for bathroom areas and also busy kitchen areas. Seeing as slips, trips and falls are the most common cause of workplace injuries, avoiding risk has to be a major consideration.

Sustainability

In 2016, the world’s cities generated just over 2 billion tonnes of solid waste, amounting to a footprint of 0.74 kilograms per person per day. To do your bit for the environment, choose a type of flooring made from recycled materials and manufacturers that make sustainability a key part of their ethos and the standards they adopt.

Reusing what we make is how we’re going to keep our planet from being totally destroyed, so start from the ground up.

Your employees and other people who come into your office or client’s premises, will probably spill drinks or tread in mud at some point. You need a flooring that can withstand this. In addition, a suitable and sustainable cleaning and maintenance regime needs to be part of a company’s green ethos.

This also includes thinking about the footfall levels in your commercial spaces, and how that will affect aspects such as how quickly it wears out and how much maintenance it will need. Thinking about entrance matting and barrier tiles is one solution, as well as making choices around the durability expectations of the flooring you purchase from the outset. Placing durability as a key criteria is not only and environmental option, it can also directly affect the safety of the flooring, since any areas that are worn out may become a hazard.

Design ideas for hotel interiors

Natural looking wood floor in restaurant setting

 

We consider flooring and a few more design ideas for hotel interiors

 
We know how to create that all important ‘guest experience’ is key when proposing design ideas for hotel interiors. In the hospitality industry, being satisfactory is not enough, because there are so many other hotels that people can choose to go to next time. Here are a few ideas that might help:
 
1. Consider biophilic design
 
The concept of biophilic design isn’t just the domain of the commercial office. This approach refers to a design idea that improves connectivity between the inside space and the natural world. When you consider hotels are often places where people want to relax, or where events are run to bring out creativity in staff, this concept makes perfect sense.  Biophilic design is often attributed to increasing productivity and creativity, and of course being closer to nature also has a relaxing side to it.

Considering natural light is important but where there are restrictions a lot can be done with glass. Natural materials and living walls, even a small water feature will go a long way to creating the right ambience as well as pictures of the natural world.

For the flooring, it may not be practical to have wooden floors, this may even portray the wrong image. While broadloom carpet is always popular in the hotel industry, there is a lot to be said for luxury vinyl tiles in wood effect to give the feel of a natural environment, but with all the maintenance advantages of vinyl flooring.

Carpet tiles are obviously very practical for corridors and bedrooms, as they can be easily moved around, of course there are a number of designs here that keep to a more biophilic theme.
 
2. Perhaps be bold
 
If there are no restrictions based on brand guidelines, it is worth remembering that guest may decide on a hotel they know little about, based on the images they see on a website. Guests want to be wowed when they walk into a hotel. Boring designs won’t help with that, so being brave, and choosing a theme that’s memorable, could be a great way to increase guest bookings. We recently did an article on how important bold colours are in an office, stimulating positive reactions from employees – the same could be said for a hotel lobby.
 
3. Pick the right flooring
 
Hotel guests, whether staying there for work or leisure purposes, want to feel at comfortable when they return for the day. Choose flooring that is comfortable and inviting, but also practical is key. It will need to be cleaned every day and made to look spotless.

Consider DDA responsibilities throughout the hotel itself but also in the flooring. Obviously think of fire retardant properties and in certain areas it is very wise to think of anti-slip precautions. In summary, we know from research that the key factors that influence decisions on hotel flooring are quality, comfort, acoustic and noise reduction properties, maintenance, price, hygiene and aesthetics. Having considered all these aspects means the choice will be the right one.
 
4. Is the layout right?
 
The layout of any room or space contributes hugely to whether it has good feng shui, which, broadly, means the art of placement. This can all contribute to a positive experience and is another aspect when looking at design ideas for hotel interiors.

Consider simple but interesting accessories that get people talking and go for lighting that makes a statement, whether that be an impressive chandelier or a modern floor lamps. Also, create cosy corners. The small elements of a room’s design are just as appreciated as bold features. Finally, stick to the five colour tone palette rule, and maybe include a bit of black to accentuate the colour you go for.

The best flooring for high-traffic areas

Flooring for heavy traffic rooms

 

The possibilities when choosing the best flooring for high-traffic areas

Choosing a flooring for high-traffic areas is relatively easy, considering the array of commercial flooring available to this specification. It is therefore worth considering the differences, as well as the benefits of different flooring types, beyond the need to be to the recommended standard (Class 33) and how this might impact your decision.
 
Below you will find some of the best commercial-rated flooring materials for high traffic spaces, offering you longevity, ease of maintenance, and a great appearance.
 
1. Carpet Tiles
 
This soft-surface flooring option has always been one of the most popular thanks to the functionality advantages it has over carpets rolls or hard surface floors.

Carpet tiles are ideal for businesses that require noise insulation, and they can help to keep workspaces warm as well. Tiles are more easily and cheaply replaced when damaged and can be more hard-wearing. This obviously makes carpet tiles a more sustainable option over for example broadloom.

They are designed for heavy wear areas such as retail, commercial, and educational environments. Carpet tiles often use dyes and patterns that minimise the visual effects of spillages, and many come with stain resistant properties. The tighter the molecular structure the better defence against staining. For example: due to its lower permeability, antron nylon 6.6 slows down the diffusion of stains, allowing more time to clean up. A good example of this is the Freedom Ranges of Carpet Tiles which use this yarn type – with Freedom Storm being our most popular tile in this range.
 
2. Safety Flooring
 
Environments like hospitals, care homes, schools and food-processing areas need to provide safe and sanitary conditions conducive to maintaining health. Duragrip floor is one of the best option for these spaces. This type of flooring gives the space excellent slip-resistance, preventing trips or falls of any kind. Alongside preventing physical damage, it’s also easy to maintain and a hygienic option, due to its antibacterial and fungistatic surface treatment.

The latest addition to the Duraflor portfolio, Cienna goes beyond many designer’s expectation combining beautiful styles with both safety, durability. The range is PTV rated at 36+ and has a R13 slip rating, incorporating an innovative grip technology. It has a high performance wear layer with PUR treatment – all key factors when making decision about flooring suitability for key heavy traffic environments.
 
3. Luxury Vinyl Tiles
 
LVT flooring has a vast range of uses and is highly adaptable to many environments. Vinyl flooring is a popular form of commercial flooring due to its longevity and hard-wearing performance qualities. Vinyl Tiles are highly resistant to damage, such as dents from heels or scratches from dragged furniture. Another big advantage is the fact LVT is easy to clean and requires minimal maintenance. The possibilities of creating interesting tonal patterns or simply an authentic looking wood or stone floor also make LVT such a great choice. This is especially the case for areas where there is heavy traffic and you are looking to create a good impression for staff and visitors alike.
 
4. Entrance Matting / Barrier Tiles
 
As the main place where people come and go continuously, the entrance of every business is the area that endures the most traffic. So, it only makes sense that surfaces in business entrances are made to be durable and fit for heavy wear. Barrier tiles  are arguably the best option for this space.  The advantage to including this type of flooring in your plans is that it will protect the other flooring throughout the business by reducing dirt and moisture brought into the building from the outside.

Wellbeing continues to drive the resimercial office

Break area industrial and resimercial combined

 

Employee wellbeing is continuing to drive a big trend in office design, the resimercial office.


 
Whilst productivity has long been the driving force of office design; a new wave of design trends, office layouts, and use of colours have changed the workplace beyond all recognition in the last few years. And while changes like the Activity Based Workplace may have changed the way we work, resimerical office design is trying to change our wellbeing.
 
What is resimerical?
 
The word itself is a portmanteau of RESIdential and comMERCIAL, and the basis of this design theory is that employees feel more comfortable with areas of their workplace having a homely feel. Whether this is a breakout area for brainstorming or a separate break room where staff can get away from work, being able to switch our brains away from work for a little while has great benefits.

Areas with soft couches and more subdued lighting can provide a stark contrast from a brightly lit office with its desks and office chairs; certainly much more comfortable, and certainly more like home.

With the rise of remote working, many office workers might have experienced working from home already. Resimercial design crosses the boundary between the office workplace and home working comforts, giving employees the chance to work in an area of their own choosing.
 
How to create a resimercial office
 
The key to creating a more relaxed zone within an office is to differentiate the areas clearly. Flooring is an obvious choice that can set out a boundary for this area and very much alter the feeling within it.

The new zone doesn’t have to be a lounge styled area either, you could consider:

• A kitchen and/or cafe area
• A library area
• A quiet comfy zone
• A colourful TV & console zone

A great way to separate these areas might be, for example, to have a carpeted office giving way to a wood-look vinyl flooring for the kitchen/cafe idea. Easy to clean in the case of the odd coffee spill and hard-wearing for those bar stools perhaps.

A library area might need to be carpet tiled to reduce noise, and possibly a single coloured floor to minimise distraction. A TV and games area, on the other hand, can be as bright and vibrant as you like. Something like the hexagonal tiles in our Hexxtile range can create a colourful and edgy zone to set it apart.
 
Industrial decor and feature elements
 
Bringing a homely feel to the workplace might seem like a reversal of the industrial home decor trend, as the use of industrial fittings for kitchens, and particularly lighting has been sweeping through homes. Wood effect vinyl flooring and some copper lights and fittings are an ideal way to transform an open space like an office.

You can even create some amazing effects with your own products. Newell Brands HQ has several feature walls, one made up of 26,000 coloured pencils and another of fishing lures, highlighting a couple of their brand products with their office decor.

Whether it’s colour or texture, decor or lighting, creating an alternative space within your office can boost productivity and the wellbeing of the employees in it.

Biomimicry in office design

Biomimicry - image of natural terrain flooring with plateau from window

What is behind biomimicry in office design


 

Biomimicry has been a design approach used in workplaces since the late 1990s, though its origins lie in much earlier decades. The art of mimicking colours and textures from the natural environment satisfies an innate human yearning to be close to nature.

Biomimetic office design aims to create a harmonious workspace by taking inspiration from natural forms and structures. Organic patterning is a classic element of biomimicry and its influences can be seen in the likes of Freedom Bark flooring.

Organic forms and colours evoke our primal longing for the outdoors. We know that flooring plays an important role in office design. Our first interactions with a space are, after all, visual ones and the floor takes up an awful lot of that space.

The finish underfoot interplays with our subconscious and impacts on how we interact with our surroundings. Bringing biomimetic influences into workplace floorings can, therefore, prove to be beneficial for office harmony, productivity and our ability to feel content in our indoor environments.
 
The outdoors meets the indoors
 

The fundamentals of biomimicry take us right back to our school days. Remember those biology lessons in which we were told that form follows function? The rule follows that elements in the natural world look the way they do for good reasons, simply in order to do what it is that they are ultimately designed to do. Animals and organic living things have evolved to fit the habitat in which they live.
 
Are we overlooking the power of Mother Nature?
 

Floors have to be practical and hard-wearing after all. But is there a tendency to think function over form and overlook the appearance of the layout and how we interact with it?

Indeed, when it comes to flooring, we often find workplaces with single-colour carpets in a neutral, inoffensive tone or simple patterns. Designing carpet tiles that mimic the apparent randomness of natural objects could help meet our need to be close to nature while also saving on time and expense. When patterned carpet tiles have no repeating pattern, they can simply be replaced by another with an equally random design on it. There is also a saving on installation time and wastage.

The random beauty of a forest floor is perhaps one of the most peaceful and aesthetically pleasing surfaces on earth. Mimicking subtle elements of the earth and sky makes a lot of sense, and in some small way enables us to reconnect our sense with the natural world.

A vibrant floorspace can increase morale

Hexxtile Floor flooring to boost morale

How a vibrant floorspace can increase team morale

 
Interior design is a great way to subconsciously influence people’s frame of mind at work. One of the most underrated ways of doing so is through the floorspace! More often than not, decorators view your flooring as something to be sidelined or not thought about; in actuality, the floor is a great tool to take advantage of. Read on to find out how you can use colour, shapes and current trends to encourage your employees to work harder – without them realising!

Colour

 
Colour psychology is an important part of interior design and then, by extension, how you plan for your flooring! For example, blue is generally received to be a colour to relax and soothe the brain, making it an ideal colour to use if your work environment is often stressful and high-energy. Contrasting this, if the office is often laid-back, then consider choosing a high-intensity warm colour carpet such as red, orange, or yellow, as this will stimulate the mind into working hard. For tranquillity, choose a green carpet or neutral tones, as this mimics the natural environment. If this point interests you, consider our blog post How to bring nature into the office.

Shapes

 
More and more contemporary office spaces are utilising shapes to lift their flooring. Whether it be neat, sharp multi-tonal square tiles, carpet planks carefully arranged or hexagon carpet tiles, the geometry trend is a great one to introduce an element of fun and quirkiness to an office that otherwise could feel mundane or uninspired. Using a funky floorplan can inspire upbeat personalities to shine. If this sounds like something you’d like to incorporate into your floorplan, it is worth considering Duraflor’s Hexxtile range.

Trends

 
If an office feels contemporary and on-trend, then employees will naturally feel better about working in it.  We already mentioned in our latest blog how flooring can help employee retention. An organisation that shows attention to detail in its choice of office design, even down to choosing the right flooring, could potentially inspire employees to take a similar view to the work they produce. Here are a few examples of we found of very inspiring offices, of course you can still achieve so much, just by getting the simple things right.

Choose Duraflor flooring

 
Need more inspiration? Check out our gallery! Our friendly team are here to offer guidance on choosing the right flooring for your requirements, call 01592 630 030, we would be delighted to help.

Can flooring help employee retention and recruitment

Vinyl and carpet tile combine to create great first impression

First impressions – flooring helps employee retention and recruitment

 

First impressions do count when it comes to designing aesthetic properties. So why not choose flooring that matches the impact you’re trying to make, not only on potential customers but also on potential employees?

We’ve talked at length about why flooring can make a real difference to the productivity and even the morale of current employees in a workplace. No doubt investing in high-quality, colour-focused flooring can make a significant difference to the average working day.

We believe creating the right impression really does ensure flooring helps employee retention and recruitment.

Looks matter when it comes to your VIPs

 
Whether it’s important clients, visitors from head office or simply someone you’re looking to impress, the flooring is often one of the first things people notice when they enter a workplace. Making that good impression with thoughtful, open workspaces and inspiring use of decals or wall colour can quickly fall flat if you’ve not invested the same thought into the flooring in that space. This especially true for workplaces that choose to leave existing flooring alone, especially in older properties where dusty carpet tiles or well-worn vinyl can look shoddy. Investing in quality, attractive, and on-trend flooring is a fast, practical and above all impactful way to make those first impressions count.

Make people want to work in your office before they even step foot through the door

 
Acquiring new talent and impressing potential partners is a must for many modern businesses, so it should come as no surprise that the first thing individuals will do when they find out the address of a potential workplace is look up your property online. The same is true for companies looking for new office space that matches the aesthetics of their business. After all, you’d do precisely the same given the chance. The visual appeal of a workplace is often massively overlooked when it comes to a digital presence. Still, some quality photos that make the office look great to anyone who searches for it is an excellent way to get off to a great start. Lighter flooring, excellent colour blocking or even the use of more dynamic shapes in carpet tile, such as hexxtiles and planks, are all fantastic ways to get those impressive shots, so the property doesn’t look dull or old-fashioned. Flooring is probably the widest surface area available, so why not show it off at its best?

Create an environment people want to work in

 
Bringing potential employees into a workplace, and even showing around potential renters for your office space, should always make them want to work for the company more, not less. Investing in quality flooring is a great way to show how much you value the workspace you manage, and the attention to detail and value you place into providing potential businesses and their potential employees with somewhere great to work. No-one wants to work in an old-fashioned office with curling carpet tiles and 70s lighting – you’re far more likely to impress with a workplace that’s just as modern as they are. Flooring is a fantastic way to show value, and vinyl, in particular, is both affordable and high-quality in appearance without being too high-end, striking the perfect balance for businesses that are more focused on younger talent.

If you want your property to dazzle when it comes to those all-important first impressions, then we are here to help. Tell us what you have in mind and we will help you find a solution to that all important first impression.

Want to read more about how office design can attract and retain talent why not read this interesting blog by Workspace Design & Build.