The right office style and office layout encapsulates your brand, culture, and values. It should also engage your clients, please your employees, and improve your profitability., We’ve isolated 3 basic office interior styles and their characteristics to help you find the best choice for your business – because office interiors have a proven effect on employee morale and productivity.

How to choose the right office layout?

What your business is all about, the degree of confidentiality needed, the space you have to work with, the needs of your employees and clients as well as your budget all play a part in your choice of style.

1. Traditional Layout

Legal offices, medical clinics, banks and other businesses where most discussions are confidential, are usually best built in a traditional style.

Office space often comprises 30% of this floor plan. 70% of the floor space is open, and workspaces are large (8’ X 8’), with high partitions.

A traditional design also includes several conference rooms plus one dedicated collaboration space.

A comfortable waiting area for clients is usually necessary too.

This structure has the highest cost per square foot of the 3 layouts discussed here.

2. Moderate layout

A middle-of-the-road solution in terms of cost and design, 90% of this flexible floor plan might be open. Partitions and furniture can be moved to accommodate various activities.

Workspaces are smaller than traditional (6’ X 6’), so a higher employee-density is provided for.

The remaining 10% of floor space is dedicated to conference rooms and collaboration areas. Here management and team members can plan, work together and make use of privacy if needed.

Efficient use of space, plus the use of dividing walls versus enclosed offices, brings costs down. However, tech expenses can be higher than in a less dense setup.

The price per square foot here is roughly 8% lower than traditional and 7% higher than the Progressive layout which we’ll look at next.

3. Progressive Layout

Progressive refers to an open floor plan with no enclosed offices. The design does however include collaboration and conference areas.

Bench-style seating (which refers to the table surface of a workspace, not the seat) has replaced the cubicle in progressive-style offices. Workers sit at a long table or ‘bench’ which may or may not be split up into individual workspaces.

The disadvantage of this model is that some work is difficult in a noisy office. Sound absorbing materials can help.

On the plus side, collaboration and engagement thrives in an open office.

For the lowest price per square foot this layout is the way to go. Final costs will vary based on the technology requirements of each particular business.

For help, get in contact with the InDecca team.