Systems furniture, space planning foster efficiency

by Christine Ballew-Gonzales

SBJ Contributing Writer

To get the most out of existing office space, local interior designers and space planners say the answer can be summed up in two words systems furniture.

Long gone are the days of acquiring an office space then arranging a hodgepodge of office furnishings without a thought to efficiency. Space planning is now an important part of turning a place of business into the most productive, efficient space possible.

"We do a lot of space planning here," said Kris Evans, AFID/IIDA, principal and interior designer at Interior Planning Consultants. "We do some sort of space planning on at least 90 percent of our projects, which have included projects in health care, hotel and restaurant settings, but mainly corporate office projects."

How can a businessperson get the most out of his office space? "One of the ways to gain more office space is switching to modular (a.k.a. systems) furniture," Evans said. "It's where you eliminate a lot of your permanent partitions."

Besides its streamlined style, modular furniture has something else going for it the use of vertical space. "Modular furniture utilizes vertical space and gets storage up higher," Evans said.

"That helps you get more use of your space because you're putting so many things up vertically." Taking advantage of vertical storage means that items previously kept on a desk or floor can be out of the way.

Flexibility in configuration is another reason why modular office furniture can help solve space problems in offices, Evans said.

"That's the big thing in office space right now flexibility," she said. "U-shaped and L-shaped workstations, where the user can turn around and have access to everything, are becoming more popular. It makes the office space more efficient and productive, and that's what it's all about."

Modular office furniture also makes the most of office space because the partitions can be placed in clusters of four, six, or eight, which saves space by eliminating hallways, while offering employees privacy.

While traditional file cabinets are not obsolete, Evans said full-height pedestals mean more storage for the workspace.

Establishing a central, shared office area where all files are kept can also stem file overflow in individual cubicles. Since typewriters are still used in offices for some tasks, Evans said, placing typewriters in a shared workstation could free up more surface space.

"When you put a typewriter and a computer in a workstation, you're taking up a lot of space," she said.

Heather Hoerschgen, architectural intern at C. Warren Bates Jr. and Associates, said taking a close look at the way an office works is the first step to solving space problems. "Looking at the circulation and flow of an office that's probably where the biggest waste of space is," she said.

Hoerschgen said using creative storage options, such as putting up extra wall shelves and using dead space under desks, could go a long way toward freeing up office space.

In addition, the use of open office plans, which use workspaces instead of traditional offices, could free the mind as much as the floor space, Hoerschgen said. "That promotes the sharing of ideas and gives a little less of a slope on the hierarchy," she said. "It works really well."

Using such a plan could also prevent some of the office stratification and competition over who gets the best office.

Tami McCune, interior designer at Groom's Office Systems, said systems furniture is a way to both gain space and bring different office technology elements together.

"It's become very popular, both from a space-saving standpoint and also for the integration of technology through the system," McCune said.

Systems furniture can adapt as easily as an employee can. "The system has the capacity to handle 'churn' (the changing of job descriptions and duties) within the workplace, because it is easily reconfigurable," she said.

In addition, items traditionally kept on a desk or other surfaces, such as in and out trays, calendars and file dividers, can be hung on panels or wall strips, making use of unused vertical space and eliminating desk clutter, McCune said.

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