Once you’ve decided you’re due for an office revamp, it’s time to engage the services of a professional to ensure the entire process goes as smoothly as possible.
While it is perfectly sensible to search for ‘interior design firms’ or ‘commercial fitout companies’ or ‘office refurbishment businesses’ in your area, you may in fact be wasting an opportunity to reap maximum benefit – and ROI – from your workplace redesign.
Consider, instead, enlisting the services of a workplace design partner.
What is a workplace design partner?
Most office refurbishment companies tend to approach a workplace design project from a purely aesthetic point of view, quickly producing design concepts without taking the time to truly understand your business, its culture, and your future goals. This means that, while these concepts are impressive and visually appealing, they won’t necessarily deliver much in terms of tangible benefits or ROI.
A workplace design partner, on the other hand, won’t even put pencil to paper without gathering extensive insights about your business, learning about your strengths and weaknesses, and factoring ways in which to accentuate the former and minimise the latter into their design.
For example, is your culture one that thrives on collaboration, or solitary contemplation, or perhaps both? Is your company using certain technologies, or moving to new ones? How can the redesign further facilitate communication, or promote health and wellness, or cater to a multigenerational workforce?
Advantages of a workplace design partner
Here are just some of the benefits of working with a workplace design partner:
They’ll develop a workplace design strategy
The best workplace design partners will take an evidence-based approach to the design, creating a strategy that is carefully tailored to your employees’ preferred ways of working, your company’s culture and aspirations. (Not to toot our own horn, but this is a particular strength of Axiom’s.)
They’ll point out things you may not even have considered
The best workplace design partners are extremely detail-oriented, and will not only consider how a design looks, but also how practical and functional that design is. They may even assist you in cutting costs by helping you to determine things like how much office space you really need with greater accuracy.
They’ll think outside the box
Your business is unique – your office should be too. A great workplace design partner will be up to date with the latest trends, changing regulations, and new materials and technology, and they’ll be able to apply this knowledge to ensure each design is fresh, modern and will last long into the future.
What to look for in a workplace design partner
In order to help you find the right workplace design partner for your next fitout, here are some questions you should ask during the vetting process.
1 . What is their process like?
You want to ensure your workplace design partner is really going to take the time to get to know your business inside and out, so you get an outcome that everyone loves, but that also helps them perform at their peak. It’s important, therefore, to look carefully at the process your shortlisted design firm takes, and ensure information gathering and analysis is a key part of that process.
2 . Do they have a wide range of experience?
A workplace design partner that’s produced great results for clients in diverse industries shows that they can create a design that’s highly customised to your business. Be sure to look at case studies to get an idea of their previous projects.
3 . Do they deliver on time and under budget?
A workplace design project that is delayed or over budget can have negative repercussions on the business, so you want to be sure your workplace design partner has a proven track record of delivering projects on time and under budget. It can also be useful to talk to previous clients to find out more about what it will be like to work with them.
At Axiom, we have extensive experience using an evidence-based approach to design for a range of clients. Could we be the right workplace design partner for you? Contact us today for a free consultation.
