When starting the journey of designing your new office fit-out, there is a host of key design decisions to factor in. Whether you are relocating to a new building or refurbishing your current space, there are certainly benefits to engaging a design professional. It may seem like a simple process to begin with but as you dive deeper, you’ll soon realise there are several important factors to consider. Ensuring to work with the right design team will benefit in a successful outcome that reflects your brand, your business and your values.
Partnering with a design studio will enable you to leverage their industry knowledge and relationships to draw out essential information that should be included in the design brief. A high-level briefing session doesn’t need to take very long, it can be conducted within 30-45 minutes over a coffee with considered and relevant questioning. However, a more detailed discovery process can take longer, by conducting an in-depth study that includes a wider range of people from the business through combination workshops, interviews, and surveys.
We’ve highlighted some of the key benefits of having the initial discovery session prior to embarking on your design journey.
It helps the design team understand your business and your future office aspirations.
Having a direct conversation with the designer can unearth important details through targeted questions, generating a solution that aligns with business operations and values.
It builds key relationships early between designer and client to ensure the right fit.
As you’re about to embark on the next chapter in your journey, taking the time, in the beginning, to get to know who will be joining you these next few months will allow you to build a great relationship between you and your designer, thus resulting in a far better outcome. The briefing session is a great platform to get to know the designer early on and to see if their character, values, and methods align with your expectations.
Sharing information early will save time now and abortive work later in the overall design process, whilst providing key information to enable a bespoke design strategy for a better outcome.
It sounds obvious but is often overlooked, providing more information in the early stages will enable the design to progress faster and give a more realistic insight to the final design from the start without having to change mid-way through the project causing further delays.
It builds trust and provides a platform for the designer to challenge a client’s ideas and explore new creative solutions.
Understanding your requirements is a pivotal step in the discovery phase, It allows the designer to understand how the business currently operates along with key insights to your future office requirements.
The discovery phase provides an opportunity to bring together key stakeholders in your business along with your design partner to explore and understand your business requirements and the primary drivers for your new workspace.
If you have the time, It is good practice to conduct detailed workshops to further investigate how each department operates now and unearth opportunities for improvement to increase productivity. The discovery phase allows you to take a step back and establish the ideal outcome for the business and your employees.
Download our Briefing checklist to get you started or get in touch for us to begin your design journey.
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