Office furnishings have evolved from being utilitarian appliances that are used as working space or file storage to more exciting and innovative extensions of the company’s image. If you visit different commercial real estate in Calgary currently used as offices, words like “staid” and “plain”, and other such descriptions would be farthest from your mind. Modern office interior design and furniture will actually tell you something, in a novel manner, about the company itself as well as the people who work for them.
The Open Work Space
One of the more common, yet refreshing, trends amongst these companies is the design principle called “the open work space”. This type of design facilitates communication among the rank and file, the boss too of course. It implies that nothing is being hidden and that everything is laid on the table. Working space is shared and the supervisor can look in on what his people are working on. This makes it easy to get updates. On the side of those being supervised, the boss appears more approachable. Clarifying confusion is therefore easier. There is a downside, however. Privacy is not going to be easy to achieve. Some commercial real estate in Calgary, work around this difficulty by using collapsible dividers in case the need for confidential discussion arises.
Trends That Facilitate The Effective Use Of Office Space
Saving space is another trend. It cannot be denied that space is increasingly becoming more and more precious. It is important that the office remain uncluttered or, in case clutter cannot be avoided, at least kept to a manageable level. This becomes harder to maintain as the work progresses and as normal day-to-day business makes us wearier. Having storage spaces nearby but unobtrusively placed helps mitigates this. Furniture that can be stored in small spaces and taken out when necessary is also helpful. For instance, several tables of the same design but sized differently could be stored underneath the larger ones. This way, several tables will use up an area as big as the largest table. This is an example of what can be done if your space is not that big to start with.
Offices where space is a challenge, find modular furniture very attractive. These pieces of furniture can be assembled to suit the current need. Later when changes are necessary, they can be reconfigured to fit the new requirements. Placing wheels on furniture, called casters, is another way that the office can be rearranged easily. This makes moving furniture around easy. Although we would like the interior design of an office to remain the same, rearranging furniture occurs surprisingly more often than most people anticipate.
A major hurdle to the “open work space” and modularization concepts is the wiring. A typical office uses up several miles of wire (e.g. computer cables, extension cords, power cords, video wiring, audio wiring, etc.). Keeping them out of sight and away from where people can trip on them can be a headache. A practical approach to this that some companies, with commercial real estate in Calgary, have adopted is to use drop-down wiring. This allows them to easily “rewire” the office to fit whatever changes are needed in the office’s layout.
User Friendly Furniture
Choice of furniture is also very important. There are a variety of aches and pains that stem from the repetitiveness of most office work. Before ergonomics became popular, back pain, neck pain, wrist pain, and many others, were common office maladies that lowered an employee’s efficiency. Today, it is quite normal to see furniture contoured to support the body and minimize these sometimes too-small-to-notice compounding injuries medically known as “microtrauma”.
The Green Office
One of the most significant trends in contemporary office furniture is making the work area as ecologically friendly as possible. Companies are becoming more conscious of their impact on the environment and are taking a responsible stance. Office furniture made of recycled material is becoming popular. Segregated garbage disposal is commonplace in most office buildings. Furniture tagged as waste is no longer just disposed but reconfigured to fulfill another role or donated to charity.
There are commercial spaces and offices that even take the word “green” literally. Local plants are finding their place in office buildings. They add beauty and color to what can sometimes be unavoidably institutional looking or plain, not to mention the carbon dioxide they remove from the air and the oxygen they provide those who work in their vicinity.
Summing Up
Office furniture has come a long way from what they were decades ago. They are now an amalgamation of efficiency, common sense, aesthetics, and even a little humor. The guiding principles behind these modern designs take into account the ever changing environment of the workplace and the business world. Many companies also utilize the layout and interior design of their offices to express their core values and show their shareholders and clients what is important to them. These trends continue to evolve as our knowledge of the ways to increase efficiency and work effectiveness increases.
Photo by doryfour
