Tag: Workplace Wisdom

 Long gone are the days when one serviced office looked almost identical to the next, with clusters of workstations nestled together defining one team from another and doing little to nurture cross-department collaboration.

Today flexibility is at the core of modern working ethics and none more so than when it comes to office layout. As we wrote about in our blog titled ‘What type of Office Space Layout is the Most Productive?’ design experts generally believe a mix of spaces is preferable as diverse office layouts and design will “suit various individuals and teams who are working on different tasks.”

While a diversely laid out office might be ideal to, as Google says, “create many different places so people can be as productive as possible,” not all businesses have the resources and funds to create such an eclectic mix of office space.

Besides, there are certain types of office layouts that are more suitable and productivity-enhancing for specific types of business.

Take a look at the Carrwood Park guide on how different business types require different serviced office layouts. You can then use our guide to help you decide which office layout is best for your business.

So, what different types of office layouts are there?

The main types of office layouts are:

• The Open-Plan office
• A mixture of open and closed spaces
• Cubicle Farms
• The Row Layout Design
• The Cellular (traditional) office

The Open-Plan Office

As we stated in our previous office layout blog, open-plan offices are gathering momentum, and are currently the preferred method of 70% of offices in the United States.

Open-plan offices involve everyone working in one big room that is void of dividers and everyone mixes and works under the same roof. Meeting rooms and conference rooms are often located on the outer walls in this type of office environment.

As the BBC writes, this “new type” of open-plan office “encouraged disclosure, discussion and debate” and can even help businesses reduce overheads.

“Managers were mixed in with the masses, cutting down on the expense of managerial offices and allowing organisations to manage their workforce more flexibly.”

So what type of businesses is an open-plan office design suitable for?

As this type of office design is a creative environment, open-plan offices are great for creative businesses, such as design companies or digital agencies, which often require the use of an open-plan layout to nurture communication among employees.

A mixture of open and closed spaces

Citing the downsides of an open-plan office layout, namely being noisy and germ-rendering environments, Inc.com believes a better solution would be an office that provides and mixture of open and closed spaces.

This type of office has places where people can work alone but can be seen and accessible to colleagues and a place where different teams can potentially work together.

“By mixing open and closed spaces, offices can glean the benefits of open designs – a symbolic sense of mission, a laid-back feeling of innovative enterprise – without the noisy and potentially unhealthy drawbacks,” writes Inc.com.

Cubicle Farms

Cubicle farm-style offices are comprised of partitioned rows of spaces which are separated by dividers that only reach halfway up to the ceiling. The partitioned spaces are usually separated by aisles, designed for communication and negotiation amongst staff. It is important to remember that traffic flow needs to be considered in this type of office layout which is designed for a large number of workers. Aisles, particularly central aisles, need to be wide enough to accommodate traffic flow and employees passing one another.

These cubicles are typically equipped with a computer and phone line. Sometimes there is just one worker per cubicle, but often two or three employees share a cubicle.

Cubicle Farms are most suitable for firms with high volumes of middle management, such as call centres, in which managers can mix and be of assistance to staff with ease.

The Row Layout Design

By the same token, a row layout office is also effective for call centres and businesses where employees spend their day on computers and phones. The Row Layout design is a traditional type of office space which comprises cubicles lined up in rows.

As the Small Business Chronicle points out, the row layout can be appealing to many businesses due to the ease of assembly and the fact it doesn’t require extensive planning. As with the cubicle farm layout, the rows are often segregated by high dividers to give workers privacy.

The Cellular (traditional) office

In its paper about different office layouts, the James Hilton Academy describes the Cellular layout as being offices that are made up of smaller individual rooms in which a small number of employees work.

In this type of office individuals or small teams can be isolated by closing a door.

What type of business would benefit from a cellular layout?

Any business which requires staff to work routinely in a private setting is likely to be most suited to a cellular setup. For example, a law firm which requires individual rooms for lawyer and client confidentiality would require a cellular layout.

Businesses that rely on teamwork between colleagues and creative, spontaneous collaboration such as creative agencies would not be suited to this traditional type of office layout.

The choice of your office design should not be taken lightly. Get it right and an office can be a vital tool in sparking creativity and nurturing productivity. Get it wrong and your employees and ultimately your clients are likely to suffer.

Enjoy this blog? Why not read our other post ‘Setting up your office for maximum productivity’

For flexible, stylish and professional serviced offices in Leeds and Harrogate, get in touch with WorkWell.