First impressions of a workplace are often based on the design of the space. It may come off as an adage to say the feel of the workplace reflects the design of the workplace, but anyone who has experienced the difference of working in a thoughtfully-designed workplace compared to one with poor design will tell you it is a difference that is both real and substantial.

This is the goal of commercial interior design. It involves understanding the needs of a particular business and the needs and expectations of a particular business’s customers and/or clients, and creating a space that adequately addresses all of the needs and/or expectations.

At Pure Interior, Jess helps businesses in the UK with office interiors, commercial refurbishments, and workplace redesigns. Some of the smaller professional practices are helping to fit out new premises and other established businesses are working space redesigns to accommodate how the businesses really operate.

Why Commercial Design Is Different

When working on different types of spaces, such as commercial and residential, the focus will be on different things. A commercial designer who fails to recognize these differences will solve the wrong problems.

The personal nature of a brief means that a home’s design can be assessed on how it feels, how it reflects the occupants, and its overall ambience, e.g. whether it is inviting, calm or energising. These key home design questions are also pertinent to a commercial design brief, but are accompanied by a host of other, more practical questions. For example, how many people work in the space? Would a focused design work better, or one that encourages collaboration? How does the space impact the client’s first impression? Is there enough space to facilitate meetings and future growth? Is the design conducive to concentration, considering acoustic issues?

Aesthetics play a role in commercial design, but only if the issues a design brief outlines are fully resolved first. In that case, aesthetics stem from a design brief and are not an add-on.

What We Work On

Office fit-outs or refurbishments — new office locations or making the office we already use work better. These include effective room layouts, selecting appropriate furniture and lighting, thinking about how sound travels, and choosing the right materials and finishes.

Designing professional environments — solicitors’ and other professional offices, where client areas need to be designed to be credible yet calm.

Designing space for growing businesses — helping SMEs outgrow their first office, especially when the old office has not been fitted properly. This often requires truly maximising the office space.

Meeting and collaborative spaces – in line with the general office fit-out, the design of meeting rooms and flexible working break-out and collaboration spaces has become a project in its own right. As the working model becomes more hybrid, the function of these spaces also changes. Often, existing meeting rooms become inadequate for these changing requirements.

Reception and client-facing areas – first impressions are important in a commercial setting. These areas often represent the best return on design and construction investment.

The Process

Commercial projects start on-site with a briefing session. Jess looks at the existing space, and has thorough, insightful questions to help her better understand the complaints and the barriers of the current design, budget and timing. She seeks to understand the restrictions of planning, leases, landlords and any other hurdles to the project.

This is followed by a concept proposal that includes a sketch for potential layouts, and a draft design for room function and flows, moods and proposed furniture and finishes. With commercial projects this typically includes a draft function plan, which is often where the most critical decisions are made.

Once this is complete, Jess will run the project through to completion using the contractor of your choice, or of her choosing if you require her assistance in identifying a suitable UK contractor. The objective is to design and build a space that will serve your business successfully.

Working With Pure Interior

At Pure Interior we work on commercial interior design projects in the UK and the surrounding areas. If you are planning on relocating your office, refurbishing your office, or even wondering if your current space is working as efficiently as it should, contact us via the contact page to book an introductory chat.