Social Distancing Office Design
With COVID-19 changing the way we live and work, there is a real need to ensure office space is safe so that business can continue. We’ve studied hard to look into what’s needed and come up with innovative solutions for the workplace.
Working from our offices near Thatcham, Berkshire, we help companies across South Central England with their office planning for social distancing.
Space Planning for COVID-19
We work with clients to support them with a return to work following the closure of their offices and the transfer of their teams to home working.
Our services include:
- Design Advice – Providing plans to show the occupancy levels achievable with the distancing measures in place
- Furniture Advice – How to carry out the changes required through furniture reconfiguration
- Home Support – Offering the best in ergonomic work chairs and a range of desk ideas for people working from home.
We have also researched the market for solutions to provide high-quality glazed screens and other products to support the changes required within the workplace, supporting companies who are implementing a staged approach to changing the work environment over a period.
Case Study
Working closely with the estate’s team at a major corporate client in London, we were engaged to provide a space planning solution for their 5,000 workstation office block to allow staff to return to work while practising safe social distancing.
Stage 1 provides the client with approximately 45% of usable desks. Only desks indicated in the plan will be in use at this stage and all desks will be fitted with new clear screen extensions to allow for increased privacy and enable staff to feel safe as they return to work. Meeting rooms have limited capacity at this time.
Stage 2 allows for more staff to return to work in the midterm. Although some workstations have been removed from the floor, this enables around 35 extra desks to be used. Traditional bench desks have been separated into clusters of two, allowing for additional space in between staff. Storage cabinets are relocated to allow more circulation around the office and in between desks. The surplus desks from stage 2 will be stored and used to replace old desks from around the building.
Stage 3 is the longer-term solution for the office. The desks are rebuilt into bench desking once again, and the additional space will be used to provide more agile work settings for the staff giving increased flexibility for the future. As part of the process, we worked closely with our furniture partner, Herman Miller, to provide costings of the additional components needed to carry out Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the project.
Get In Touch
If you would like to know more about how we could help you maximise your workspace, why not get in touch by calling, emailing or completing the enquiry form?