Whether your office is mainstream and hip or traditional and conventional, finding a balance between aesthetics and function is critical.
“Today’s office design is less trend-driven; the environments people want are conducive to conducting business,” says Ron Reed, a principal at Westlake Reed Leskosky, a full-service design and management firm. “People don’t want the superfluous, opulent or excessive look for an office space.”
Reed says that if there is any noticeable creative trend right now, it’s contemporary.
“Design is driven by interaction that takes place in an office, and trying to downplay the differences between cubicle-style work stations and executive row,” says Reed.
Office design is becoming less exclusionary and less hierarchical, allowing the flow of ideas between top executives and other staff members to move more naturally.
Reed says a workplace needs to reflect the idea that a company values its employees’ ideas, and a democratic interior reinforces that point.
“Ultimately, you design a space conducive to that business group,” he says.
Visually, the principals at Westlake Reed Leskosky like to create office spaces with access to a lot of natural light and windows, with the idea that views and lighting are appealing to the people who work there. Successful office designs also have a good balance between artificial and natural light.
With so much work being done on computers these days, there is great emphasis placed on keeping glare off of screens. Employees must be visually comfortable if you expect them to be productive and happy.
Another key design element is acoustic privacy.
“With the amount of teamwork and teaming that businesses do, it’s important to have spaces that allow for good sound and speaking areas,” says Reed.
Successful designs include the use of sound-dampening techniques and built-in dead space in hallways and corridors that allows for employee interaction. Whether it is conference space or coffee space, open areas are important if a company wants to promote the free flow of ideas, says Reed.
Many employers don’t consider wire management when designing their offices, but how your cords and wires are housed can make a big difference in your design. Designers have the challenge of finding a pragmatic way to conceal all the wires in an office and, at the same time, create a visually pleasing space.
“If a person’s workplace is convenient to them, it won’t matter as much if it’s not visually exciting,” Reed says. “They want comfort first.”
And as with any business expense, in design, money matters. A lot.
“Everything in office design is bottom-line driven right now,” says Reed. “Five or six years ago, we had the dot-com boom. The office trend was hip and lofty and nonconventional.
“After the dot-com bust, that whole look became very dated, and the image was tainted. The alternative look is expensive to do properly.”
Reed says an office space, designed to be trendy or traditional, can cost from $30 a square foot to $200, depending on your budget and what you want. But it’s the subsequent maintenance of a trendy design that will cost you, he says. When it comes to trendy offices, people only want to see a certain design last a year or two, and then you’ll have to remodel again to update it, disrupting your office.
Trying to cheaply redesign your office? Reed suggests that a new coat of paint is the best option from a cost and maintenance standpoint. Painting is an inexpensive way to create subtle or drastic changes to any environment.
How to reach: Westlake Reed Leskosky Architects, (216) 522-1350
