SEC’s Interior Design expert Emma Bannister talks to us about different design styles and how she approaches design projects to deliver the very best for our customers.
Q: How do you approach designing an office space that can accommodate different work styles and needs, such as collaborative spaces, quiet areas, and private offices?
A: The most important aspect of working with a client is to develop trust. To start this process, I begin with an introduction to who I am and to talk them through the design process, how it will be collaborative and supportive.
Taking the brief is a key part and understanding touch points that are important to the client, ones that vary from project to project.
I find out about the culture of their workforce; this can be made up from age range to if a business is heavily male vs female orientated as this can influence a different design style. I need to understand the way in which the customer works and my aim is to inspire them to look at different avenues as sometime, what they think would work well may not be the best for their culture, ideas and structural office layout. It is part of my role to know about the latest furniture and technology that could be implemented within their business as this can really help manage their productivity.
Staff retention and attracting the best talent has a considerable influence on design; for example, if designing a new interior for a call centre, we would have less need for collaborative space – whereas for a marketing company, we would look to incorporate hot desking and pods, areas that will help their creative flow.
Q: How do you incorporate elements of company culture and branding into office design?
A: There are so many levels of culture to take into consideration such as diversity and accommodating introvert and extrovert behaviour which forms a large part in designing work space especially post-Covid. We need to be more sensitive to those who have been isolated at home and are now back into the workspace; this really plays a part in how to accommodate different work styles.
Culture & branding: this can really vary. We have had one customer that prefers not to have any branding across the building as they want it to be an organic and relaxed environment, and not seen as a workforce, as they believe it will influence their creativity. Others wish to be heavily branded such as incorporating core values on the walls, company literature showcased around the office and branded colours throughout.
Ultimately, we aim to bring the personality of company alive through our interior design, often through wall graphics, printed logos on fabrics, scatter cushions etc. incorporating fun elements to the overall design which brings branding and culture to the forefront.
Q: In your experience, what are some of the biggest challenges in designing office spaces, and how do you overcome these challenges?
A: Budget naturally has an effect on the overall design and elements such as furniture and manifestations. Equally, trying to please everyone is a challenge, having too many people involved can cause issues and lead to an elongated decision making process.
It’s important to have a focused team ready to make decisions but also understanding the make-up of that team, such as extraverts support change, introverts are more hesitant. From a starting point, we take on ideas and get an initial design and concept together, then break it down to simplify with the aim of achieving a smooth decision making process.
For a current project we have two directors with very different views on their new interior fit-out. This situation is not uncommon and can often be overcome by keeping up on the latest technology ideas, furniture or other components, so we can find a compromise through design elements they may not have known about.
Building the client’s trust goes a long way to a smooth project delivery and one approach to gain their buy-in that often works well, is to visit a design show to view furniture or other design styles available that they would not have previously considered.
Q: What do you think distinguishes the approach of SEC Interiors from other design firms, and how does that approach complement your own design philosophy?
A: Trust and rapport. We go the extra mile to support and help our clients to get the end result they want, and deliver an interior workspace they will be proud of. Equally we want to be proud of our design and installation teams as well as the relationship we build with our clients. We take our time with them to develop a long term partnership and offer support post-project. This has a direct impact on repeat business from long standing clients as they either grow, adapt in terms of the workspace requirement, or when they move premises. That long term partnership is hugely important to all the team at SEC.
Q: What role do you think technology plays in office design, and how do you incorporate technology in a way that enhances productivity and collaboration?
A: The office design scene is so much more advanced now in the way office space works. We can learn from how universities are set up with the young workforce of today using technology to book locker systems or quiet spaces and they are equally at ease using Apps to see what meeting rooms or equipment might be available.
An important part of office interior design is understanding how the office is used and therefore what needs to be incorporated into the new workspace. Through Workplace Analysis, we can gather data on the movement of staff to see what areas within an office is used, how and where people sit and work, the use of meeting rooms and hot-desking, even through to how staff pay for their lunch. This allows us to know and understand not just their workforce’s culture but how they actually use their workspace day to day.
Technology also allows us to provide productive surroundings for workforce, through enhanced online meeting facilities, or large boardroom areas with high quality cameras and microphones, even sound proofing where appropriate. Post-Covid, the use of online meetings through Webex, Teams or similar has been even more important than before; technology to make this able to run smoothly is a must-have. Equally, businesses are far more environmentally focused that they now understand meetings can be done on screen rather than traveling large distances.
Q: How do you balance aesthetics with functionality when designing an office space, and can you give an example of a time when you had to make trade-offs between these two considerations?
A: Happens more than you think! Budget is just one reason that we sometimes have to forego aesthetics. For example at one client’s 8th floor Central London office, the best views were at the one end of building, and therefore they wanted a break-out area near the large feature window. However the utility facilities were situated at the opposite end of the floor, so function won over aesthetics on that occasion.
Sometime, we have to make a choice between functionality that wouldn’t work or be too expensive for the aesthetics – it’s a balancing act but we make the best of each situation and always look to present another point of view. As part of our client relationship it’s important to manage expectations and they need to trust us in case elements they had hoped for, simply are impractical or not suitable for the available budget.
Design has moved on so much in 20 years – from products that help nurture a biophilic environment, to acoustics, lighting and even recycling. Combining new design features with technology has allowed the interior design industry to come on leaps and bounds, providing an exciting insight into the future.
Q: How do you incorporate environmental factors and sustainability into your designs?
A: Our interior designs aim to deliver a functional, productive and aesthetically-pleasing space taking into account environmental factors such as recycled furniture with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint where possible.
Office designs can have an extremely positive affect on sustainability and we look at add value to our designs at every stage of the process.
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