How to Create a Workplace Employees Thrive In

A well-organised workspace should inspire creativity, focus, collaboration and energy. However, crossing the office threshold can sometimes feel like stepping into a lead and cable-strewn obstacle course. Other issues can soon become apparent. The lighting’s wrong. The tech doesn’t work. The internet is hit or miss and meeting rooms are bereft of audio-visual connectivity, thus rendering effective communication with external contacts a virtual lottery.

So, how can an underwhelming, underperforming office be transformed into a place that offers aesthetic appeal and functions effectively for its employees and the business?

Straining to see

Approximately one-third of our lives is spent at work. Hence, for those whose home-from-home is the office, there are important interior design matters to consider to enhance their comfort and wellbeing.

Appropriate lighting sets the scene for a contented, motivated workspace. An ideal system gently replicates natural daylight tones, adjusting light intensity throughout the day to create an aura that aligns with the body’s internal clock. Circadian lighting is one such system. It uses bright cool light to promote morning alertness and warmer, dimmer illumination as day progresses to night. This improves occupant mood and energy, and by reflecting daylight’s natural rhythms to produce light that is never too bright or too dim, Circadian lighting helps offset a key contributor to a common office ailment: eyestrain. The system can also cut energy bills by up to 60%.

Clutter-free cabling

First impressions matter. Therefore, a mass of tangled cabling above and below desks doesn’t portray an office or business in the best light. A welter of unkempt leads could also pose a safety risk, which is not conducive to a fully focused work environment.

Raised flooring is essential for safe, invisible power and data installations. Desktop power prevents staff diving under desks to plug in chargers. Cable trays make below-desk setup simple and non-intrusive, facilitating a space that is less cluttered and more productive.

Creating team togetherness spaces

Workplaces thrive on teamwork. An idea shared can bring it to life in ways unimagined. Formality, however, can be stifling to a creative, collegiate environment. It’s why regimented rows of desks no longer have a place in modern office design.

Huddle pods, casual breakout zones, and soft seating areas with integrated plug-and-play displays are de rigueur for creating spaces that support agile working and inspirational team togetherness. With the power, data and display in place, an office can be anywhere you want it to be. The technology is there to remove the physical and mental constraints that tie employees to their appointed desks.

Solar power and EV integration

An office’s carbon footprint might compare extremely favourably to a factory or industrial unit involving fuel-driven plant and processes, but opportunities to further improve their sustainability are there for the taking.

Roofs can host a discreet array of solar PV panels, that when connected to a battery system, enable an office to power itself during peak sun hours. At night, stored energy reduces a businesses’ grid use.

Additional sustainable gains are available with the installation of car park EV chargers. These can be integrated with a building management system to access control and usage reports. The adoption of effective, energy-smart solutions hallmark businesses as environmentally responsible and very ‘en vogue’ with current climate concerns. Moreover, it brands an office as modern and future-ready.

Seamless Wi-Fi and lightning-fast data

Wi-Fi dropouts and buffering are the bane of workplaces not properly equipped for 21st- century function. Ensuring a seamless exchange of lightning-fast data requires exquisite planning, whereby each square metre of office is strategically mapped to effectively place wireless access points. For heavy lifting tasks, wired ports should be supported by Cat6a or fibre-backed, resulting in instant downloads and uploads. This level of commitment to installing reliable workplace infrastructure justifies cloud-first and hybrid working.

Invisibility is vital to a high-grade electrical installation. Following an office’s infrastructural makeover, evidence of its change should be left to the renewed sense of purpose, energy and efficiency it has brought to the environment, rather than a tell-tale trail of leads, cabling and chaos. It’s why Pensdown is long-established as a single-source supplier of electrical solutions for the refurbishment and fit-out sector; our experience and expertise mean we can transform businesses without trace.