An office design layout states the functionality of your business or work. Moreover, it is a sensible physical environment for the people working on it. An office design layout is a place where people will spend hours sitting or staying in the same place. Hence, the office design layout will be answerable to all the needs of the people working. When considering an office design layout, one must take care of the efficiency of the place. An office design layout becomes effective when the people working can communicate better to increase the workflow.

There are types of office design that one can use to create different spaces for their work and business. These layouts will help one decide what kind of office design layout suits best according to the needs, requirements, and manpower of the company.

Types of Office Layouts

1. Open – Plan Office Layout

An open-plan office layout is one where there are no barriers among the spaces. The boundaries are defined by the furniture designs and the racks of storage. Also, the cupboards and other elements in the space become dividers. There are partial partitions that are made for the divisions of the areas. Such layouts have less privacy compared to other layouts, but they have higher connectivity within.

2. Private Office Layout

A private office layout is used in corporate office designs as they need privacy for their work. Here, there are cabins that are partitioned completely so that there is no connection with the outside once a person is inside. Such layouts are mostly used for the officers or higher authority workstations that would exclude them from others.

3. Cubicle Office Layout

The cubicle office design is very common in workspaces. As one wants connectivity with the outside while having a separated space, this format of design can be used. By making a cubicle, one can have their privacy according to the hierarchy. This is a very cost-efficient design option where one can have a combined senior staff cubicle with built-in conference rooms.

4. Co-working Office

The co-working office layout is the most trending and handy design that fits in with today’s time and generation. The people who work as freelancers, those who require a very minimum amount of mobile space, can work the best in such an office. Such layouts possess mobile furniture that can be moved according to the time and needs of the working staff.

5. Small Office Design

A small office design layout can be considered by one when there are fewer employees working in the company. Such layouts can be worked out in many creative ways. Such office layouts can be used for the best amount of communication happening within the people working. This office design layout can be very efficient in terms of division and combination of spaces.

8 Aspects To Define Office Layouts

In addition to creating different types of office design layouts, there are other important aspects that define how the working atmosphere of the space will turn out in the design. These aspects, when followed, can create efficient working environments in any office layout.

1. Floor Space: To use the given floor space for the office layout effectively.

2. Space Hierarchy: To design spaces according to the hierarchy in the office for better supervision and comfort.

3. Movement: To have adequate movement through the office layout for effective workflow.

4. Safety: To ensure the safety from the built elements in the office layout for the comfort level of working.

5. Interlink: To interlink the spaces according to their functions.

6. Space type: To have every kind of open, semi-open and closed spaces in the office layout according to the functional requirements.

7. Create Barrier: To take care of the barriers designed to cut off the outside noises entering the workspaces.

8. Future expansion: To include provisions for future expansion in the office layout

Tips For The Perfect Office Design

As earlier, these days, a simple cubicle does not fulfil the needs of an office design layout. In today’s design trends, the office layout must be more encouraging, and engaging to work excitingly in the same place for longer hours. It must be ensured that the office design layout one makes is optimized by the available space to accommodate the employees. Looking at such aspects, there are a few office design layout ideas that can help one create better working atmospheres.

1. Choose the Correct Layout

When one decides to do an office layout for their business, the most important starting point will be the layout. Whether they go with an open-plan office or a private office is very crucial. However, this decision depends on the type of business they are going to carry in that place. So, choosing a layout will further drive every interior design idea for the office.

2. Creating Attractive Entrances

When one enters the office, coming towards a well-lit path that leads to a reception table is something that one expects. A well-planned office must have a pause point when one comes inside. This ensures the safety of the office by giving it a check when anyone comes into the place. A proper entrance with a table and a person who can answer anyone coming with waiting seats in the area gives away a good entrance.

3. Designing Modular Furniture

Nowadays, there is a need for mobility in every aspect of design. Along with the compact spaces available for any function, there is also a shortage of time for construction. Hence, while doing any kind of office design layout, one always opts for a modular furniture design in order to maintain it easily while keeping it mobile.

4. Using Natural Lighting

While one gets a space that is enough for the office design layout of their business, there can be numerous possibilities in the given space for natural lights. These openings that are there in the office design layout can be well planned. To attract natural light into the space, one must keep the work desks near the windows with curtains that can even block the light when needed. Such openings become an integral part of the office design layout when they are clubbed with different spaces inside.

5. Different Ceiling Ideas

There are a lot of ceiling designs done for the office design layout to endure different themes. These ceilings can be designed as open ceilings, high ceilings, low ceilings, ceilings with carvings, one’s with the hanging lights, one with the creepers. A lot of options can be made while keeping in mind the theme and purpose of the work in the layout.

6. Design of Storage

Whether it is a small startup or a huge business, an office design layout always needs good storage spaces inside. These storage units can accommodate a lot of papers in the space and provide a better working space in the office. Apart from being functional for storage purposes, these cupboards or racks can also be aesthetic and also work as dividers or partitions. Hence, they can be designed creatively with different materials, giving the office design layout a different look.

7. Cubicles for the Office

When one chooses to have a private office design layout or a combined open and private office design layout, they have to design both closed spaces and the workstations. These combinations of spaces demand a curative design approach where one designs the cubicles according to the requirements. These cubicles can be either completely opaque or transparent, both giving a different look to the overall office.

8. Different Conference Rooms

In an office design layout, one can give different spaces or rooms for different purposes. According to the functions of an office, an important room can be the conference room. This room can be designed very accurately by providing every element, starting from the table, in various designs. One can have a huge, simple rectangular table while also setting up small round tables for various types of discussions. Different chairs can be placed along the tables.

9. Importance of Recreational Areas

An office design layout is incomplete without the planning of recreational areas or refreshment areas. These areas in an office design layout are the ones where people can interact with each other during their leisure or break times. These areas can be designed in the form of small pantries or small canteen areas with a small platform and coffee makers for ease. These spaces can be on the extended balconies of the office or separate small entities in between the workstations.

10. Dominating Doors

While doing an effective office design layout, designing a dominating door is also necessary. The entrance door becomes the first impact of the office design layout on any person. It is the place where one can do the branding for their particular business and, hence, attract customers or give them the first information needed for the place. Hence, designing doors with different materials, such as metal, wood, or glass, is helpful for the design.

11. Introducing Plants In The Space

Nowadays, there is a trend towards biophilic interior designs. An office design layout can have various types of plants kept in various spaces. Keeping plants near the workstations or using them as dividers for spaces can give the office a refreshing feeling with their presence.

12. Play of Colors

For any office design layout, the choice of colours is very crucial. The choice of colours on walls and ceilings will determine the colour of the furniture and the materials to be used while making it. A white-coloured ceiling with black hanging lights will make the look of the office look industrial. A white ceiling with white textured walls and red furniture will give it a bold look.

13. Adding Textures

To do an office design layout that affects the working atmosphere in a very meaningful way, a person can add various textures to the space. The walls can be textured and be behind the work desks of the employees. The ceilings can be textured with colors and different hanging lights. Also, the plants used can add texture to the space.

14. Artificial Lights and its Effects

When we talk about the ambience of a work place, it counts with the different elements used in the space to combine it into a big space. With this aim, when setting up an office design layout, they also choose the design of the artificial lights they put in the space. There are many options available for different spaces. For example, the lights used over the work desks, the lights over the conference room table, and the lights in the passageways are all different, creating different ambiences.

15. Use of Graphics

An office design layout is a space where people arrange themselves to do particular work in the space. This space motivates them to work with excitement. Hence, having good quotes over the walls or some art that makes the environment friendly to work becomes an additional point.

Looking at these points, an office design layout can produce a decent working atmosphere. Giving importance to the layout and its design elements by keeping in mind the work of the employees, one applies all the above-mentioned points in such a way that creates a space that encourages the workflow. Making proper entrances, arranging the workstations, dividing the spaces, and combining all of them make a proper office design layout. By using these functional solutions for the spaces, productivity in business can be increased. Hence, by optimising the compact spaces and giving them meaning by arranging various spaces into one, a particular office design layout can be produced that can uplift the working atmosphere.

Content Writing And Research By: Ar. Rajeshwari Pandya Modi