An office refurbishment is a great opportunity to revitalise an old office space or adapt an out-dated office that may not be fit for purpose in a more modern work environment.
No-one office refurbishment is ever going to be the same as the design and fit-out will always be specific to the business and what you want out of it.
But there are several things that every office refurbishment has in common, and that includes the essential things you need to consider before embarking on a refurb.
In this article we take you through the main points you’ll have to think about before committing your investment to an office refurbishment.
1 – Why are you doing it?
One of the biggest problems we see when helping clients with office refurbishments is they haven’t figured out why they’re doing it.
A refurbishment can be a big project so you should understand what you want the end goal to be or what you want to get out of the project.
This can also help to set the scope for the project too.
If you just think your office is looking a little run down and you want to freshen it up, that’s an entirely different project to a refurbishment because you want to adapt the space to fit around a hybrid working model.
2 – Budget
Before you embark on an office refurbishment you definitely need to consider how much you have (or are willing) to spend on the project.
There’s no point an office refurbishment partner drawing up plans for a £50,000 refurb if you’ve only got £10,000.
What we would say about your budget is to set a realistic limit on your spend, but be flexible and have a contingency pot to one side to pay for any unexpected costs that arise along the way.
3 – What office style do you want
The biggest decision you’ll have to make with your office refurbishment is what style of office you want to have at the end of the project.
This decision will set the direction for the rest of the project.
For example do you want a closed office space with more cubicles and desks, one that focusses on privacy?
Or do you prefer something more open plan with social spaces and that’s designed more for open communication and collaboration?
Or do you want a combination or hybrid version of the two?
With this in mind your partner can draw up some plans that will reflect what you want.
4 – Building regulations and rules
While you might have some grand plans for your office refurbishment, you’ll need to keep in mind any building regulations or safety rules you’ll need to abide by.
This is particularly true when it comes to fire regulations and what you can and can’t do with your project.
You should also consider any rules set out in your tenancy agreement if you lease your office space and anything your landlord might restrict you from doing.
5 – Do you need new furniture or equipment?
One of the biggest expenses you’ll likely experience with your office refurbishment is any new furniture or equipment you might need in your new space.
Depending on the nature of your refurbishment, you might be able to recycle some of your existing furniture or equipment, and this will save you some money that you can invest elsewhere.
6 – What will you do during the refurbishment?
You might think that an office refurbishment will be disruptive to your business, but it doesn’t have to be.
If you hire the right office refurbishment company they’ll be able work around you so you and your team can stay in the office while the refurbishment is taking place.
This means you won’t have to sacrifice your productivity or business goals in the short-term in order to get your updated office.
7 – Do you have buy-in from your team?
One thing we always encourage clients to do is to get some insights and buy-in from their team.
After all it’s your team who’ll be using the office everyday so they should have some insight into how the office works and what’s included.
Getting buy-in from employees will give your office refurbishment a better chance of success and mean your team will be more productive and efficient once the project is complete.
Get your office refurbishment from Jennor
Do you want to start the process of refurbishing your office?
Then get in touch.
Our expert team is on hand to help you every step of the way from the initial planning and design stage of office refurbishment, to the final fit out and installation.
If you need some ideas for your office refurbishment, take a look at some of our previous projects to see the kind of work we’ve done in the past and take some inspiration.
In you want more information or to get a quote, get in touch
