The latest innovative office layout designs are all about friendly, creative and collaborative spaces that inspire people to do better work. Employee-friendly offices are so important considering the average American worker spends 8.7 hours per day in the office, that’s an hour more than the average person spends sleeping each night.
Is The Classic Cubicle Still Cool?
For many years, the cubicle ruled supreme in office layout designs. Cubicles were originally viewed as a great way to give workers privacy while still making it easy to pop your head over to the next cubicle and collaborate as needed. While the cubicle still serves a purpose in certain industries, the trend is fading out. Today, we are seeing more open office designs. Interestingly, some of the latest office designs mimic office spaces of the distant past, pre-cubicles.
5 Efficient Office Layout Designs
Here are some common office layout designs to help inspire your interior office build out.
1. Open Plan Layout
An open plan layout allows employees to see one another throughout the day, thus encouraging regular collaboration. While the office is open and everyone works side-by-side, it’s still important to offer quiet spaces where people can work independently.
In an open plan, as many as 4 people could share one large desk arranged in a circular or square shape. The entire office may be shaped in a circle or square, so that everyone faces each other as they work. You tend to see this type of layout in offices with largely computer-based tasks as opposed to telecommunications.
2. Cluster Workstation Layout
This office layout includes a central core surrounded by employee workstations. Think of employee workstations as the spokes in a wheel. Workstations may include desks, computers, drawers and anything else workers need to get stuff done.
This layout works best for office employees that only spend some of the day working independently, as there is a strong focus on group collaboration.
It offers flexibility because the clustered workstations can be moved around as needed.
3. Modular Workstation Layout
A modular workstation includes the use of furnishings, tables, filing cabinets or panels to split up individualized workspaces.
This may be more functional for your business than the popular open floor plan, especially if you require a lot of storage space. Storage units or cabinets can serve a double purpose by breaking up individualized workstations and adding extra storage space. Another perk is that it is very easy to modify this style of office as needed.
4. Landscape Office Layout
The landscape office layout is a combination of cluster and modular workspaces, with special attention to added elements such as decoration and ambient lighting.
The landscape office layout originated in Germany and is now found in offices all across the globe. Pretty green plants and other foliage are used to create natural barriers between desks as well as to improve appearances and employee moral.
This layout appears to defy all sense of organization, as workspaces are placed at varying angles as opposed to straight or orderly rows. Originally, this type of layout included no private workspaces, but many businesses employ this layout with the addition of private areas. The general approach is 80% open space and 20% private space.
5. Closed-Off Office Layout
This office design reflects more traditional privatized workstations, promoting everyone to focus more on their own work than collaborating. This layout creates a clear hierarchy in which the ‘big dogs’ have their closed off spaces/offices and lower to mid-level workers remain at cubicle-like stations. This sort of layout is intended to promote workers to build up to their own private office space. Albeit, over the years it’s been realized that’s not always the effect it has on employees.
A closed office space may include elements of open office design or cluster and modular workspaces, with clearly marked private workspaces for CEOs and other senior officials. While many people are shifting away from this traditional workspace model, it still provides a number of benefits and may be the best option for your build out.
How To Create The Best Office Layout Design For Your Business
What is the underlying structure of your office? How will you divide public and private spaces? Prior to putting together an effective office layout plan you’ll need to decide what your office needs most. This relies on how information needs to flow throughout your workplace, such as who needs to communicate with whom? Your plan should take into account personal interactions, telecommunications and paper distribution.
PCI can help you put together a winning interior office build out that supersedes all expectations from start to finish! Contact us today to learn more about our general contracting services.