4 Office Remodeling Trends to Keep on Your Radar

office room

Is your company moving to a new office? Or maybe you are expanding your current space and doing some reorganizing or merging it with an adjacent suite? In any case, office renovations are exciting, but scary and stressful at the same time. There is pressure to make the space better for your employees, as well as invest in changes that will bring the most return in terms of employee productivity and satisfaction. You may already have a head full of ideas on what to do with your new office. Not to make this more difficult for you, but here are some more thoughts and trends you should definitely consider.

More Natural Light

Numerous studies have shown that natural light in a workplace is great for health, performance and productivity of employees. Artificial light, on the other hand, can cause eye strain, headaches and affect overall employee mood and motivation. Windowless office spaces are also not exactly a selling feature and can turn away otherwise interested candidates seeking employment. If you are planning on remodeling your office space, adding more natural light is definitely a good trend to follow. Consider as well how much you will save in electricity bills from not having to use those overhead fluorescent lights as much.

Open Concept

Open offices have come to replace the old-school cubicles in numerous workplaces around the world. Just like an open concept is popular and desirable in homes and kitchens, it has grown on commercial space designers and employers. And it works for both smaller offices under 10 employees and massive employee complexes such as the one planed by Facebook for its 2,800 engineers.

However, an open office concept also has many critics. Among other things, they point out such downsides of the open concept as the lack of privacy, bigger risk of distractions and the general incompatibility of open offices with introverted people. Ant the end of the day, it’s up to you to weigh all the pros and cons and determine how open you would like to go with your open concept. You don’t have to completely remove partitions and seat everyone at a one long table. Ask your employees whether they would benefit from such changes before deciding on a remodel.

Home Away From Home

The open office concept is somewhat a part of a bigger trend—an office that is a home away from home. The idea is to build a workplace where employees feel comfortable, feel at home and don’t want to rush out as soon as it’s 5pm. To achieve this, employers break down a workplace into zones, just like a home and its different rooms. There is a break room, a collaboration space, a quiet room to unwind or gather your ideas, a massive kitchen or cafeteria, etc. Employees are often encouraged to move around, change work stations and even meet up with their loved ones for lunch in the cafeteria. Having this freedom to not be tied to your desk is something most employees appreciate, especially given the health risks of sitting all day.

Standing Desks

Speaking of the harm of sitting, a standing desk is a great alternative to a traditional desk. It allows the user to stand, lean on a chair or sit down, thus constantly moving around and avoiding being stuck in one position. A standing desk also allows you to save space by stacking items vertically instead of horizontally. Because computer monitors have to be lifted off the table to be at the eye level of a standing person, there is now more space on the table itself that can be use for files, folders and other office items.

And if you need a reliable Maryland commercial remodeling contractor to help you plan for and implement any of these ideas, give us a call or contact us online to discuss your project.

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Since 2004, Northstar has the knowledge and experience to create a construction solution to meet your budget and requirements.  We look forward to providing your design and construction services in Maryland.

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