Thursday, 3 April 2008
Office Design has evolved as a specialised service generally from Interior Design and Architecture and depending on the services offered it will be a combination of these two disciplines or more. Some Designers will offer full Architectural support while others may have a stronger background Space Planning, Office Systems and Furniture, but generally all will be able to cover a wide scope of work to provide the Client with a complete Office and Workplace Design solution. In addition, most designers offer Project Management or Supervision of their own work and should be experienced with the contractual procedures required to undertake the project through to completion.Although Office Designers may not have had direct experience as to your type of business, they should have experience of the fundamentals of Space Planning and Design to obtain a design brief from you to understand you business objectives. This can be of great benefit to the Client as it gives an outside view of the business that covers so much more than the practicalities and image. In selecting an Office Designer the project brief will also establish what kind of service you require from them, and it will be down to the Designers to demonstrate how well matched they are or not to the project when submitting their fee proposal. The fee proposal should not just tell you how much it is going to cost to employ them, but also their understanding of the project brief and the scope of work they recommend the project demands and how this is covered in their services.
When considering an Office Design, you will know doubt be looking very closely at the Designer's portfolio to find the connection with your own project brief, however, you are advised to look outside your direct field of business and experience in what the Designer has undertaken for others. If for instance you require your Finance Office to be designed, don't just look for Designers that have done lots of Finance Offices, you could be missing out. There could be an Office Designer that is just right for the project with lots of experience and talent in other business areas, but has not done a Finance Office - yet! When it comes down to it, a good Office and Workplace Designer can design to anything, it matters very little if it is a Control Room for a Waste Disposal Plant or a Office Suite for a Fashion Company, the principles of good Design and Space Planning sweep across the whole commercial sector.
Once you have chosen and engaged your office design team use them as part of your Business Team!
