Office - Setting Up an Office
Considering Commercial Office Space Usage

Considering Commercial Office Space Usage

Partitions
Open offices divided by partitions were in vogue at many large corporations in the 1960s and 1970s. The advantage to this space design configuration is that its flexible nature offers the chance for change while, at the same time, affords a moderate level of visual and aural privacy. No one is looking directly at another employee and conversations can be conducted without fear of being overheard.

There are a wide range of partition systems available. They can be extremely elaborate and complex or inexpensive and simple.

Open floor plan
Another approach to organizing space is the open design. It isn’t extremely common, but many newspaper offices and banks have embraced the open office concept and have their employees working openly side by side.

This design creates a strong feeling of community among workers, but suffers the drawbacks of noise and visual confusion.

Closed rooms
Closed rooms can be a very expensive office design option. This option doesn’t offer the flexibility of either the partitioned or open space plans. It does offer the ultimate in privacy, however.

If you go for this plan, be sure to get the landlord’s permission to complete any construction work required to meet your needs.

Combination
Some combination of the partitioned, open, and closed room floor plans is another approach. You might have, for example, completely open areas for secretarial or support staff, partitioned cubicles for mid-level employees, and closed areas for senior staff.