Ensuring employee happiness is one of the essentials for reducing a high turnover rate and maintaining team loyalty. The comfort and conveniences a workplace offers play an important role in boosting employee morale. Contemporary office interior design calls for the creation of a relaxation or a leisure area.
Many companies in Singapore have already adopted the philosophy, modifying their corporate spaces through the assistance of an office renovation professional. If you’re thinking about the execution of such a project, you may want to keep the following tips and ideas in mind.
Create a Room That Encourages Conversation
All aspects of office design should put emphasis on communication and team work. A relaxation and leisure area is the best place where workers can have a chat and get to know each other better.
The right interior design can encourage the interactions between people. The creation of a seated area where sofas face each other, for example, puts individuals in a position where they’re facing each other. Such social settings make it very easy to interact and to break the ice, even when those present aren’t familiar with each other.
Collaboration seating is also a good choice. Stools, chairs and even bean bags that can be moved around to form a circle or clustered in groups make it easier for people to get together and have a casual chat in the middle of the busy work day.
Comfort is Another Key Essential
Most Singapore professionals have a hectic schedule, and when they take a five-minute break, they want to feel as comfortable and relaxed as possible.
Comfort in the leisure area can be accomplished in a number of ways. The first and the most important one is the selection of the right furniture. Soft armchairs, cushions and throw pillows are an ideal choice. They’re very different from standard office furniture, which is why the mood will change as soon as a person enters the relaxation room.
Lights and colours can also be utilised for the purpose. The standard office lights are bright and somewhat sterile. Warmer and more subdued lights will give employees a chance to rest their eyes for a quarter of an hour.
Colour choices should best be kept within pastels and other gentler tones. Alternatively, a bright and energising colour like orange or yellow could be chosen for an accent wall. The place should feel homey and casual. While there aren’t strict rules for accomplishing these goals, certain interior design choices can make the task much easier.
Provide Food and Beverage Storage
What could be better than sitting in the office relaxation area to have a cold soda in the afternoon? To enable such activities, interior designers should plan for the consumption of food and beverages in the break room.
A small dining table is a good choice. Often, people will not want to sit in the office kitchen and have a meal there. The kitchen is more of a functional space and it may lack some of the comfort that the break room has.
It’s also a good idea to have a coffee machine and a small refrigeration unit with complementary drinks in the chillout area. Little gestures like these make employees feel a part of the team. Depending on your budget, you can also have healthy treats displayed in the nutrition part of the relaxation area — yogurt, granola bars, protein bites, mixed nuts, etc. Think about the complimentary items you want to have there, discuss the idea with your interior designer, and together, you’ll find the best way to display all of the goodies.
Make Sure That the Relaxation Area is Closed Off from the Office
As already mentioned, it’s important for workers to feel the change in mood as soon as they enter the relaxation area. The goal can be accomplished through clever office design, especially through the selection of the right partition.
A relaxation area should be sequestered and shouldn’t feel as yet another part of the office.
Physical separation can be achieved in a number of ways so it’s both functional and aesthetically-pleasing. If the office features separate rooms, the task will be easier to accomplish. In the case of an open floor plan, portable panels and separators will be the easiest and most cost-efficient choice that will not involve office renovations.
Curtains are another very simple choice. The right colour and texture will make them seem stylish, plus such a divider will be easy to move in case it’s not positioned in an optimal way the first time around.
In essence, the process will begin with the selection of the right spot for the creation of the relaxation area. It should be big enough and it should also feel separated from the rest of the office. Once you have the right space, you can describe your idea to the interior design team that will be responsible for the project. Relaxation areas can look very different from each other (just explore a few online examples to get a better idea), so you’re not stuck to one format or vision. Think about the activities and conveniences you want your workers to enjoy and begin work only after.
Choosing the right interior design professionals to get the job done is also going to be very important. The right team should have enough experience in office design. In addition, adherence to the best interior design practices and numerous satisfied customers will also provide indications of quality.
Home Guide’s team consists of professionals who have worked on numerous commercial and office projects. Please do not hesitate to explore our work and get a better idea about what we do. If you like what you see, contact us today to begin transforming and modernizing your office space.
