Designing an Office Space: How I'm Pulling Together This Space
I have the pleasure of designing an office space for a retail store here in Calgary called Bratopia. The words sleek, sexy and hip are all adjectives that I'm working with to pull this design together.
Designing an Office Space
Inspiration
When I first visited the office space it was honestly, quite ugly. And by ugly, I mean fugly! Dreary beige walls, blue vertical blinds, and even an interior door that was installed upside down! Yes - upside down.
BEFORE: Dated and ugly
Prior to me meeting the General Contractor on site, my client sent me a note to state that she really loves the look of the new LinkedIn offices in the Empire State Building in New York but wanted that look on an Ikea budget. A few images that really caught my eye all centred around a minimalistic look, white walls, the addition of earthy elements with wonderful splashes of colour!
First Decisions
When I met the General Contractor on site, he was asking me about the flooring choices and wall colours. You see, when I was called in, the office was at a bit of a standstill until those decisions were made. Knowing that we were going to discuss flooring and wall colours, I brought in a number of samples with me to discuss. Without the owner on site, I needed to make the decision for this office space on my own.Knowing our weather throughout the four seasons and knowing that our spring can be wet and our winters even wetter (with our snow), I chose a flooring that could handle this. A luxury vinyl tile was chosen and with that, a clear path for this design was started!With this flooring, a wall colour also had to be chosen so that work could proceed. I chose a light blue-grey for the main wall colour and the darker grey for the interior doors and casings.
When I went back for the second site visit, the flooring and the walls had been done. Can I just say that I am LOVING it so far?
Marketing Office with the office deck out the window.
Board Room
President's Office with access to the deck.
Moving Forward
Designing an Office Space
Now that the flooring and wall colours are done, it's time to space plan for the spaces. This is what the entire office looks like:
There are so many great large windows in this office that I am going to take advantage of with the design. Nothing, in my opinion, beats natural light! The function of each office will be taken into consideration to ensure the correct furniture sizes will be chosen. I'll be sourcing some additional furniture, lighting (and a few 'feature' lights will be added to this design) as well as the décor. I'm looking forward to pulling this all together for my client! Stay tuned.
Contact me today to discuss your future renovation project.
