Office spaces designed around office staff: A Cre8 article

Interior fit out and bespoke joinery manufacturer, Cre8 Joinery Solutions, has delivered numerous office fit outs. Here, director Phillip Gay looks at some of the key trends which have influenced office interior designs in recent years.

This comes at a time where the office sector remains a competitive market, with new offices springing up all the time, especially in and around London. Plus, research shows that office facilities are increasingly being used as a way of attracting and retaining the best talent, it is crucial offices meet the high standards expected by staff.

Creating a design as a reflection of a company

One of the main things that has radically changed the way office spaces are imagined is the fact that clients are increasingly looking for an interior design which reflects their personality as a company.

As a result offices are moving away from homogenous banks of desks and meeting rooms which could belong to any company in favour of design schemes which are rooted in the company’s personality or corporate branding.

Whether a company is based on just one floor in a larger building or multiple levels of an office building, having a common thread running throughout the interior design will create a cohesive feel across different areas of a company’s office base.

Working closely with the end client to fully understand the brief and what they’d like their office space to say about them as a company, to staff and visitors, it’s possible to deliver an office space which is bursting with personality at every turn – leaving visitors in no doubt which company the office belongs to.

Cre8 has worked on several stand-out projects where the ethos and personality of a company has been integral to the interior design, most recently, working on a refurbishment with Modus for the Deliveroo head office in London.

The fun interior design features a bicycle road map complete with road signage as part of the floor, along with green carpets at the side of the ‘road’ which are designed to give the appearance of grass.

Individual offices, which are situated off the main office space were designed to look like homely flats with soft furnishings housed behind an exterior style door complete with letterbox.

For a business management consultant company, Cre8 delivered an eye-catching office interior complete with different themed meeting rooms designed to inspire creative thinking.

The ‘Reinvent the wheel’ room, for example, features a working multi-coloured cog mechanism on the wall while ‘The Hub’ is designed to look like a sauna complete with green carpet and cushions.

While for another refurbishment project, this time for a shared office space company, a minimalist Scandi-inspired ‘Sky Garden’ style was created. The design drew on soft feature lighting, soft furnishings and domestic-style furniture including bookcases, together with ornaments and indoor plants which soften the surroundings to create a ‘home-from-home’ space rather than a cold commercial office.

Utilising colours to create a one off design

Another great way to anchor an office space to the company based there is to take inspiration from its branding to devise a colour palette rooted in the company’s corporate identity.

Again this can be incorporated into various different areas of an office – from meeting rooms and breakout areas to washrooms, office space and canteens.

The refurbishment of the London head office of online interior design company, Houzz, is a great example of how branding can be used effectively throughout a design to create a strong link between the company and its office space.

As well as limiting the core colour palette to bright green and black to reflect the main colours used within the Houzz branding, the company name was also incorporated as part of the unique seating pods for informal meetings.

Using the individual letters from HOUZZ to house the quirky seating pods, which are recessed into the wall to create a half-enclosed space to reduce distractions from the rest of the office space. Each pod was finished with fabric seating in the same vibrant Houzz green colour.

Adopting a bespoke approach to fitting out an office interior is an ideal way to make sure the finished office space is one-of-a-kind, and more importantly, that it reflects the personality of the people who work there to create a fun and energising workspace.