Space Planning

The working environment has a significant impact on staff productivity and a direct influence on a company's bottom line. Improperly or badly designed workspace is not conducive to efficiency. Companies that fail to appreciate the importance of good space planning run the risk of losing their competitive edge. Considerably more attention is being paid to interior design and space planning today. Companies are being pressured to find innovative ways of maintaining the competitive edge. With little to differentiate between competing brands and products, improved service and employee efficiency are becoming critical factors driving business profitability.

The working environment plays a fundamental role in how efficiently people do their jobs. There are two basic principals to consider. Firstly, there are practical considerations, which include the structure and layout of a given environment. It is important to ensure that the construction of the workplace allows  employees to function efficiently. When we look at the construction elements we first make a detailed study of what people actually do within that environment. Once we have determined what takes place in an office, we design the environment from a practical and functional perspective.

The second principal allows for creative expression, which in itself is a key element of effective office design. We first design the environment from how it should operate, then we work on what it should look like. We can be more imaginative here and pay attention to those tiny details which make the office an attractive and comfortable place to be.

We believe that a properly designed environment can improve productivity and efficiency by anything between 10 and 100%. It depends on how unfriendly the original workplace is to start with but there is no doubt that when people work in a more user-friendly and aesthetic attractive office, they do more work, are far more productive and accurate and they enjoy their jobs considerably more.

We maintain that existing buildings, many labeled to be suffering from "sick building syndrome", can in fact be revived and spruced up, even on a limited budget. Naturally, the cost of revamping a tired old building is directly related to the nature and extent of intended improvements. The more sophisticated and technical the desired change, the more expensive it will be. But there are hundreds of ways in which employers can improve their office space and not incur huge costs. It is essential, however to bring in people who can effect meaningful improvements. The cost will be recouped very quickly in terms of better efficiency and production levels.

Arthur Northfield does not only work with existing environments. Prior to a building construction, architects are using the services of specialist design consultants to assist in creating attractive workplaces while the project is still being planned.

This is a specialized field and requires both a knowledge of good design as well as experience in how offices function. The smallest detail can have a profound impact on how an architect plans a structure. Things as simple as the movement of paper and files within an office affect the design. Remember, once the structure is built, it is usually too late to fix mistakes, or will be costly to do so. By calling in professionals at the planning stage, these sorts of error can be minimized, or avoided altogether.