Four Questions Office Designers Will Ask You
by Valerie Glander
Working with an office design team to plan changes in your office space can be a critical component to a successful project. Experienced Office Designers can help you avoid common pitfalls in office planning and offer solutions to meet the unique needs of your team. The process often begins with a walk-through of the space and an initial meeting about the project, where our most critical task is listening to you, our client. We’ll come prepared to discuss your ideas and identify the vision and scope of the project. By thinking through some of these questions in advance, we can make the most out of our time in that critical first meeting.
1. What is the budget for this project?
We’ll get this one out of the way first! Yes, I know this is every client’s least favorite question. Often the budget isn’t as clear cut as you’d like yet, or you’re not certain how much it’s supposed to cost and don’t want to feel out of your element. It’s a tough conversation.
It’s important to determine a realistic budget range. Workstations are modular - the price of the workstation is heavily dependent on the selection of configuration and finishes. A 6’ x 6’ workstation can range from a base price of $1,500 each to over $5,000 depending on the components required.
As a design team, our goal is to partner with our clients to create a productive workplace within the required budget. We have vendor partners at all price points, so being up front with the budget conversation just helps us to get the project done faster and more efficiently.
2. Are there any major time constraints for the project?
Commercial furniture, by and large, is made to order and this does take time. Typically, a ‘quick’ furniture project – start to finish – is going to take 8-10 weeks to complete. This includes two weeks to finalize the design, four weeks for production and two weeks for delivery / installation.
Many of our projects take much longer than this – an office design is a big investment and the decision making process takes longer than expected.
There are in fact some true quick ship options available that will greatly lessen the lead time but it poses limits when it comes to components and finishes.
3. What are you trying to achieve with your project?
Asking open-ended questions about the goals of your project help us to understand what is important for your company. For instance, if your company is growing and the main objective is to accommodate more employees, we’ll anticipate the need to plan for additional growth in the near future. This insight allows us to plan now in order to save time and money down the road. When the project objective is more aesthetic – for instance, to support a company rebranding initiative, our design team will spend some additional time in the design concept state working out how to communicate the branding message through product and finish selections.
4. What is your workflow like?
While it may seem unnecessary to your furniture purchase, understanding how your business works offers critical insight into the type of furniture and space solutions your teams need for a productive workplace. We’ll often ask about how department workflows vary and if this affects their storage or space needs. Adjacencies between employees or departments should be noted as well.
Our team of professional Interior Designers is tasked with discovering and solving office challenges on a daily basis. This level of experience means that we have a unique insight into how to create working environments that are both productive and beautiful. Having clear communication about the project up front can help us set up your project for success. Above all, we want to design spaces that work for your business.
