Office Refurbishment Archives - Facilities Management Forum | Forum Events Ltd
Posts Tagged :

Office Refurbishment

Redefining Workspaces: Top tips for your company’s office refurbishment
By:

A well-planned office refurbishment can significantly boost employee morale, improve productivity, and enhance your company’s image. However, transforming your workspace requires strategic planning and consideration. Here are some top tips to ensure your office refurbishment process runs smoothly and yields the desired results…

1. Set Clear Objectives

Before anything else, establish what you aim to achieve from the refurbishment. Are you trying to accommodate more staff, upgrade your facilities, create a more collaborative environment, or reinforce your brand image? Identifying your goals early in the planning stage will help guide your decisions throughout the process.

2. Consider Employee Needs

A great workspace is one that facilitates employees’ productivity and well-being. Conduct surveys or have discussions to understand their needs and preferences. Consider factors like ergonomic furniture, breakout spaces, quiet zones for focused work, and accessible facilities for people with disabilities. Remember, an office that meets employees’ needs can significantly improve their job satisfaction and productivity.

3. Stay Future-Focused

While it’s essential to consider current needs, also plan for the future. Consider your business’s growth trajectory and ensure the refurbished office can accommodate potential expansions. Flexibility should be a priority; choose designs and furniture that can be easily reconfigured as your business evolves.

4. Invest in Technology

An office refurbishment offers the perfect opportunity to upgrade your technology. Invest in reliable and fast internet, video conferencing tools, interactive whiteboards, and efficient climate control systems. Such technology not only improves the work environment but also supports new ways of working, such as remote collaboration.

5. Embrace Sustainability

Incorporate sustainable practices into your office design. Use energy-efficient appliances and lighting, install water-saving devices, choose sustainable materials for furnishings, and include plants to improve air quality. Not only will these practices reduce your carbon footprint, but they can also result in significant long-term cost savings.

6. Choose the Right Partners

The success of your refurbishment project largely depends on the team you hire. Research thoroughly and choose experienced designers and contractors who understand your vision. Look at their past projects and check client testimonials. Remember, the cheapest option may not always offer the best value.

7. Communicate Effectively

Clear and regular communication is key to ensuring minimal disruption to your business operations during refurbishment. Keep your employees informed about the project timeline and any temporary changes to their workspace. Regularly liaise with your design and construction team to avoid any misunderstandings and ensure the project stays on track.

8. Budget Wisely

Finally, establish a realistic budget. Office refurbishment can be a significant investment, so it’s essential to know what you can afford. Include a contingency fund for any unexpected costs. But remember, while staying within budget is important, the cheapest option may not always be the best. Think of your refurbishment as an investment in your business’s future.

An office refurbishment is a major project, but with clear objectives, careful planning, and the right team, it can be an exciting transformation that breathes new life into your business.

Embrace this opportunity to create a workspace that not only reflects your company’s ethos but also supports your most valuable assets – your people.

Are you on the hunt for suppliers for your office refurb project? The FM Forum can help!

Image by maximiliano estevez from Pixabay

RECOMMENDED: Sign of the Times – Office refurbishment
By:

When refurbishing your office, make sure you also embrace the opportunity to promote your brand. Research shows that carefully designed environments can promote positive brand message to staff and visitors alike. Why waste this perfect opportunity to make a statement about your company?

Sign of the Times are specialists in creating office environments; from creating and installing bespoke reception areas with welcoming, integrated displays and features, to fitting window graphics, wallpapers, staff communication boards and almost every other element of essential office detail.

They work with some large household brand names on all manner of their commercial requirements and are award winners when it comes to the production of reception and atrium areas alongside their creative partners.

Having access to an enviable resource of 17 fitting crews and 4 sites across the UK, they are fully equipped to handle any size roll-out program with dedicated account managers and customer focussed support staff to ensure that each project is handled with the highest levels of service and solution in mind.

Sign of the Times office refurbishment support services include:

  • external and internal building signage (illuminated / non-illuminated)
  • window graphics (privacy films, brand statements etc)
  • wall graphics (wallpaper, posters, canvases, built-up lettering etc)
  • directional displays (lift signs, reception displays etc)
  • floor graphics
  • H&S signage
  • door plates
  • hanging ceiling signage
  • promotional displays (pull-up banners, exhibition hardware)

Sign of the Times can offer any level of solution from a complete multi-floor program to the production of essential H&S signage. They are here to help you make the very best of every opportunity to promote your brand.

For more information about how Sign of the Times can help enhance your refurbishment project, please visit their website www.signofthetimes.co.uk, call (01536) 411202 or email sales@signofthetimes.co.uk.

Office Space

Savills: London’s outer boroughs can provide greater office flexibility
By:

A report commissioned by estate agent Savills has suggested that London’s outer boroughs could provide greater office flexibility, as workers look for shorter commutes and a better working environment.

Spotlight: London Mixed Use Development suggests that the capital needs a combination of more homes and workplaces beyond central London, potentially offering a huge opportunity for office space located in the less congested London outer boroughs.

Rapid rent rises in central London locations, including City, West End and Docklands, while the outer boroughs have shown flatter growth, also adds to the attraction of office space outside of the city.

Croydon tops the list as the hottest market for office rental growth in London and the South East, with office rents expected to rise by an average of 27.8% a year over the next five years, surpassing office rental growth in the City and West End, but starting from a lower base.

Based on the latest estimates of office-based employment growth in London, the report suggests that an additional 4 million sq ft of commercial office space is required every year, equivalent to 1% of existing stock, or three buildings equivalent to The Shard per annum.

The estimate of demand, split between inner and outer London boroughs, also shows that a quarter of the additional office space will be required in the outer London boroughs – but current share of new offices in development, depending on timing of delivery, is only 7%, equating to around 2 million sq ft.

This figure will need to increase if the new emerging outer London office locations become reality.

www.savills.com

UK-GBC’s HQ refurb breaks carbon footprint record…
By:

The UK Green Building Council‘s (UK-GBC) headquarters in Central London has achieved the lowest embodied carbon footprint ever recorded for an office refurbishment in the UK.

Working in collaboration with London-based architects, Barr Gazetas, among other organisations, the landmark project has proven to be an exemplar for sustainable office refurbishment and also features a range of innovative wellbeing measures – such as an innovative ventilation system and an automated low-energy LED lighting system – to deliver an environmentally friendly workplace.

Notable statistics collected in the aftermath of the office refurbishment are: 48 per cent decrease in carbon emissions from lighting; 139 kgCO2/m² – embodied carbon footprint 22 per cent below a comparable ‘standard’ fit-out and the lowest ever recorded in the UK (under the SCP database, WRAP database); 98 per cent of original fixtures and finishes reused or repurposed; and 99.4 per cent of construction waste diverted from landfill.

Chief executive of UK-GBC, Julie Hirigoyen said: “UK-GBC’s purpose is to accelerate the transformation of places so that people and planet can thrive. In refurbishing our own office space, we had a fantastic opportunity to trial and showcase the very best solutions sourced from our membership. I’m delighted at the outstanding results we have achieved – both to minimise our environmental footprint and to improve the wellbeing and productivity of our staff.

“I’d like to thank all of our innovative product suppliers as well as our outstanding design and delivery team: architect, Barr Gazetas; services engineer and sustainability consultant, Cundall; project manager and quantity surveyor, Currie & Brown; main contractor, Morgan Lovell; and carbon consultant, Sturgis Carbon Profiling.”

The UK-GBC HQ will be subject to a ‘post-occupancy evaluation’ in order to assess its operational performance against performance factors such as energy efficiency and air quality. In addition, staff satisfaction will also be analysed through ongoing surveys, with results compared to previous data collected prior to the refurb.

 

To view an annotated diagram providing details of the suppliers and products used in the refurbishment, click here