Most people spend a great deal of time painting, decorating and redesigning the interior of their homes in order to create a happy, comfortable and personalised space. Yet, full-time office workers spend more time in an office than at home. As an employer you should want to put as much effort into creating calm and comfortable office space for our employees as you would for your family at home. Consider keeping employee spirits and productivity levels up with a few key interior design elements.

Image Credit : Glass Guards

Create open, social spaces

Research has shown that social businesses where conversation and collaboration is encouraged perform much better than those that demand quiet and less interaction. Hence the rapid rise of the co-working space phenomenon. Modern offices are breaking down cubicles and walls and providing an area where employees can discuss a project, take a break or just have a chat, away from their desks.
One way to do this, is to build a glass partition around an area designed with a fun brand related decorative frosted vinyl or colourful decorative film to maintain a certain level of privacy without cutting it off from the office entirely. This type of partition will also allow more natural light to continue to flow through the office and requires less artificial light to compensate, which is definitely a mood booster.

You can also maintain “transparency” and bridge the management-employee gap by replacing solid office doors with glass doors. If some privacy is required you can use frosted vinyl to personalise it with a name on the door and even a favourite quote, as a conversation starter.

Bring the outdoors indoors

A lot of people feel more at peace around nature and while it’s not always possible to have an outdoor office, it is possible to bring the outdoors in. Astro turf has become very popular as a floor covering for certain areas of the office, as well as lots of indoor plants and “green walls” that generate oxygen and clean air. Water fountains and features are calming and the sound of running water is well known to be wonderful noise dampeners, especially if the office building is close to a busy road. Another way to introduce more inside/outside flow to the office is to replace brick walls with big glass windows or even sliding doors, where possible, that overlook a garden and the outside world,creating an extension of open space. Not a lot of offices have sufficient natural light coming in and considering how much time is spent indoors sitting at a desk this is an important consideration, as too much artificial light can be damaging to the health of your employees. Windows also break the monotony of brick walls and fresh air can inspire creative thinking and reduce sick-leave.

Remember too, that any windows that create strong sunlight glare should be fitted with UV
protective film to keep your employees from feeling fatigued as the office heats up, especially in
summer. This lets in natural light but also reduces glare onto computer screens, which can break
concentration and cause frustration. UV protective window films will save money on energy bills,
which can be spent on morale and mood boosting lunch for everyone in the office.

For advice on how to use glass to enhance your office space and increase productivity, contact us for
a free consultation and quote.