4 Tips on Improving Your Small Office Design

By its very nature, working in a small environment can present a number of challenges. What was once an adequate space may now be restricting for business, which could affect the performance of staff, which in turn, affects the performance of the business. The reasons why space becomes increasingly (or, decreasingly!) less could be for a number of reasons – mainly an expansion of staff, changes in health and safety legislation and/or the installation of new furniture or technology.

If your office space is a tight squeeze, maybe you should think about relocating from, expanding upon or refreshing your current office design? Not only can you move into an environment that will be more comfortable to work in, but you'll also have sufficient room to place in new types of furniture or equipment and cater for any future expansion of your staff.

Improving Your Office Design – Ask The Professionals

Due to the lack of space, a small office (especially one that has been used for a number of years) can be difficult to imagine with a completely new design bestowed upon it. With this problem, many small office proprietors turn to office design professionals to help them to reimagine their office interiors, transforming them into modern, functional workplaces. Skilled professionals will be able to use their industry expertise and experience to create a design plan that will take into account what the business does, who is present within the office, what it wants to achieve and what needs to be implemented within the workplace that will achieve these goals.

Here are some things to think about when thinking about making changes to your office interiors:

• The current layout of the office. The very first consideration that you need to take into account is the basic layout of the building; is it still able to house everything you need it to in order for you and your staff to be able to work effectively? Will there be enough room if you need to grow your staffing levels? Sometimes, only small changes need to be made to the current layout – so think about how each and every aspect of how your working day can be improved.

• The impact of the available space. Once you've decided on the layout of your ideal office space – how best can you utilise the available space and make it work positively? What equipment do you need? Can that equipment be used efficiently and safely with its environment? Is there sufficient storage? Even aspects such as providing each desk with a bin, or instead having a central recycling point can have a huge impact on the availability of space, coupled with your working needs.

• The potential of changing the current layout. It isn't always possible to reimagine the current layout of your office and implement the required elements needed to effectively run your business. When faced with this issue, you can think about moving premises altogether or if possible, change the current layout (especially if you're situated in the ideal location). Walls and doors are a restriction on the spaces office have available; are your office walls load-bearing? If not, then you'll be able to change or remove them, creating more space, giving you the ability to redesign your layout to better fit what you need.

• The impact of office furniture. Maximising the space in a small office design requires creative space planning and understanding its effects on your business practices. Reducing the size of your furniture won't necessarily create an ideal small office space – only by effectively combining different elements can ensure this. For example – why vastly reduce the size of desk space when you'll need storage for paperwork? Wouldn't desks of a slightly larger size, but ones that include storage compartments not offer a better medium?
  
  Of course, there are other furniture aspects that can be considered, such as; would an open desk plan not better save space in your office? Instead of having separate desks dotted around the office, one (or a series of interconnected) desks are able to group everyone together in one area, saving on the space around it. Not only would this make better use of the available space in other areas of the room (allowing you to use it for other aspects of your design – such as to install equipment etc) you can also increase the communication between staff, encouraging a more collaborative working environment.

The Need For An Office Relocation.

If you've thought about the points above and still aren't able to sufficiently implement everything that you need to in order to create your ideal design – then a office relocation to a larger space may perhaps be the only way in which you can do so. Dependent upon the available rates, acquiring a larger office space may actually prove to be more cost-effective than actually changing the layout of your current one. Not only can you take advantage of the larger space to create better working practices but you'll also be able to cater for any future expansion or technology installations too!

Looking To Improve Your Office Interiors? Get In Touch With Oaktree Today!

Here at Oaktree Interiors, we have a long and varied history of carrying out fully bespoke office designs and refurbishments for a varying range of clients. We have worked with some of the largest companies in the UK, along with small start-up firms – no matter the size and type of your business, we are able to reimagine, design and create the perfect office space for you!

If you would like more information on our office design services, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us today. You can call us on 0845 474 3556 or alternatively, send us an e-mail at hello@oaktreeoffice.com.