Office Relocation Design Best Practices

Whether your organization is looking to move a team in your existing building or you’re moving your headquarters to the other side of town, an office relocation offers the ideal time to refine your workspace strategies. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the factors you need to consider as you begin planning your relocation.

Space Considerations

Is your new space large enough to accommodate your existing team? Is it large enough to align with your growth goals? Generally, 150 square feet per employee is the industry standard. At the same time, however, not all of that space has to be used for desks. As a result, a 1:1 desk-to-employee ratio is no longer essential, especially if you’re planning to transition to a more agile office space.

Choosing the Right Desk Design

With options like standing and adjustable desk, there are more possibilities for your team’s desk layouts than ever before, each with its own respective benefits and advantages. These four core desk design options can help you find the right direction for your space:

Workstations

Workstations include your standard individualized desks that prioritize focus, quiet and the completion of individual tasks.

Boomerang Desks

Boomerangs are crescent-shaped desks that generally accommodate two individuals. They may be clustered together for small teams that regularly collaborate throughout the day and share ideas as they work.

Bench Desks

Bench-style desks are among the most popular options for mixed office designs because they’re the most balanced. Most frequently, people face each other and sit next to each other at open table desks arranged in rows. As a result, bench desks are ideal for encouraging collaboration while still giving your team the space they need for focus-oriented tasks.

Flexible Desks

As the name suggests, flexible desks offer the most flexible approach to desk design. They’re excellent for open office layouts that adapt to your team’s ever-changing needs. Generally, desks and chairs are wheeled on hard floors, inviting your team to move about the space to fit their workflows best.

Balancing Areas

Private Offices

In the modern office, private offices have become less common. With some companies forgoing them altogether, privates offices generally only make up about 5 to 10 percent of total office space.

Unassigned Spaces

Whether you’re planning to assign employees to particular desks or not, you need to incorporate larger unassigned spaces into your larger office design. These areas don’t fall under the categories of conference rooms, offices, or desks; rather, they offer flexibility, so your team can decide how to best use them.

Reservable Spaces

If you aren’t planning on assigning employees to fixed desks, you need to ensure your team has access to reservable spaces when they need to focus on individualized tasks or host a meeting. Reservable desks are ideal for team members who may only come into the office once a week, spend most of their time on the road, or move throughout the office during the day. Even better? Focus pods that take quiet and productivity to the next level by cultivating an atmosphere for heads-down work.

Open Spaces

Open spaces are the areas your team can use for taking a break from work. From community kitchens to breakout spaces, these public areas allow your team to refresh throughout the day. Sometimes having a place to get away from work for a moment is just as important as having a place to work.

Need Helping Designing a Space for Your Team?

At DESIGN+BUILD, we specialize in understanding your team’s workflow from the inside out so that we can design and build an office space around your needs. Schedule a free workplace audit today to start exploring how much more your office space can do to increase productivity and promote culture.