Office refurbishment- Ancient or Modern?

Before you start planning the office you intend to have after refurbishment, you need to work out whether you want to have an old building refurbished or a very old one – there would be no point in refurbishing a new building. The chances are that the choice is either a dreary concrete block, probably built in the 60s or 70s, or a really old building, which might be Victorian or even older.

If you choose a 19th century building, you will have high ceilings, probably with sash windows that let the cold in. The windows are not a problem because modern windows that look like sash windows, and meet new rules, nor are the high ceilings except that a lot of heating will be needed. But you can see that you will probably end up with quite a different style according to the age of the building. Of course, the office refurbishment people will sort out the details, including the design of the new office.

In a post-war building, you will almost certainly want to go for a modern airy look, which means open-plan, but an open-plan that makes people feel they are working in a separate section or office from the others. People like to belong to a small group, and you can do this with portable partitions, screens and pot plants. Pot plants are a very good idea, but remember that they do need a bit more office maintenance than other decorations – perhaps your staff will take care of the pot plants.

In a very old building, it will probably be necessary to keep the rooms divided up, so one way to handle that is to keep the doors to the minimum – fire regulations will dictate that there are quite a few fire-resistant doors.

Before you consult your office refurbishment experts make sure you have a plan of what you want, including the traffic flow you expect through the building, and other things you need. The more information you can give, the better office design you will get.