Tag: partitions for offices

Office Interior Design Tips to Make a Great First Impression

Space Plus Blog

Imagine walking into a deserted business lobby, and wandering aimlessly in search of help. This would immediately leave anyone frustrated as well as skeptical of the company’s professionalism.

You certainly want to avoid this situation in your own commercial space. Ensuring someone is prepared to greet clients is the first element in a long list of steps you can take to create a great first impression.

Keep reading for more suggestions to make your office unforgettable!

Create a visually stimulating atmosphere

An aesthetically pleasing entrance will set the tone and improve a guest’s mood instantly. Plants and creative art draw attention and help put clients and visitors at ease. For a modern office, try abstract art or a geometric display along with manicured plants or even a living wall. If the space is more traditional or transitional, consider big, lush plants and more traditional or photographic art.

Greet guests with a lobby sign

Everyone loves a unique introduction (and a hint of flattery). Use a wall-mounted or rolling chalkboard to create a simple message for your guests—something like, “Welcome, Jane Smith from The Company. We’re thrilled to have you here.” It’s a simple, inexpensive gesture that lets clients know you’re excited about their visit. These little impressions can go a long way—and maybe even steer a prospective client away from your competitor.

Show off your mission statement

Posting your mission statement and core values shows your clients that you care. Positioning it where it’s highly visible will also serve as a reminder to your employees of why they come to work every day. Just make sure employees live up your mission statement and that you inspire them by modeling the behavior you want to see!

Offer refreshments in waiting areas

Show you care about making visitors comfortable. With the large variety of single-serve coffee and tea makers available today, it’s easy to whip together a beverage cart for visitors to help themselves while they wait. Individually packaged snacks are a nice touch, too.

Elevate your office space with sleek sliding glass doors and partitions

The drywall is coming down in offices everywhere, and that’s a good thing. Sleek and modern glass office dividers, partitions and sliding doors are taking their place. These versatile glass panels can be used in any number of configurations for conference rooms, reception areas, office cubicles, “huddle rooms” and more. They’re especially useful for adding privacy and creating distinct spaces in offices with open floor plans. Plus, they instantly elevate the look of office space.

Brighten your space

Poor lighting systems can dampen the mood and drain productivity. Along with a good temperature control system, quality lighting and fixtures are a must. Pay attention to areas where natural lighting could potentially grace the space, but something is blocking its path. Clear glass walls may be the right solution to open and brighten the space. If your office isn’t blessed with plenty of natural light, it’s relatively inexpensive to retrofit the space with quality lighting. And, it doesn’t have to be one-size-fits-all. Today, customized lighting systems allow you to personalize lighting and color temperature in individual work areas.

Create an impressive office with Space Plus

The modern workplace needs state-of-the-art solutions. Enter Space Plus, a division of The Sliding Door Company. Our glass office wall dividers and sliding doors can help you create dynamic spaces for every need—from workstations and conference rooms to lobbies, phone booths, common areas and more. These sleek and modern products are constructed of the highest quality tempered or laminated glass, customized to your taste with a variety of designs, glass types and frame finishes to choose form. The best part? Installation rarely requires a permit or major construction, so the process can stay efficient and within budget.

View our gallery for inspiration and reach out to our expert staff today to get started on the office interior of your dreams.

Building With Confidence

Space Plus Blog

As a contractor, you’re entrusted with the responsibility of creating functionally aesthetic living environments while ensuring the safety and comfort of your clients. This can be a difficult medium to reach while staying on budget and meeting timeline expectations. The trick is to have all pieces to the building puzzle working harmoniously together, including your building team and the wholesalers selling your materials.

The quality of materials you source can be the difference between a successful build and a nightmare project. Working with companies that manufacture solid, reliable products and materials is the best way to ensure a great outcome.

The Building Blocks

Wood, Stone, Brick, Steel, and Cement are any builder’s best friend. But these fine material choices also come with a fair bit of sourcing discretion and a willingness to dig. Not just literally. Anytime you source these precious materials, it’s your duty as a contractor to take a deep dive into the harvesting practices, refinery methods, and treatment by your wholesalers to ensure long-lasting materials that aren’t so impactful on the planet. With the right tools, you can build with confidence and thoroughly impress your clients.

Ready to Refine

Space Plus, A Division of The Sliding Door Company, makes the sturdiest spatial solutions around, including sliding pocket doors, glass barn doors, and floor-to-ceiling wall partitions. What sets this company apart from others is its variety of glass including 5mm tempered glass, 7mm laminated glass, or 10mm frameless glass- which is great for industrial use as well as residential properties. Never worry about failing products or breakable glass again when you work with SpacePlus. Another perk? Their team of installers will come transform a room with the doors being installed in less than a day! Slashing building time while enjoying the expertise of hardworking installers is one big bonus you can’t afford to pass up.

Furnishings to Finish

Whether your new project was built on spec or commissioned by an excited client, interiors are one area you can’t overlook. All the hard work spent constructing the exterior will be lost in translation if the interiors don’t dazzle and inspire. Sourcing high-quality, built-to-last furnishings is key when outfitting your new project. So pass on the plastic! Here are some of our favorite materials that stand the test of time (and look incredible):

Ethical Leather
Organic Wool
Velvet
Wood/Metal framing
Hemp and Bamboo
Organic Cotton
Cork
Glass

At Space Plus, we’ve got you covered. With recyclable and environmentally friendly, LEED points, and a variety of glass options, Space Plus offers the sturdiest spatial solutions on the market. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online for your up and coming commercial needs including glass office dividers and other sliding room dividers. View our online catalog, Get a quote from one of our professionals today, and order the perfect office partitions and sliding doors you need to ensure safety for all online at SpacePlus.com

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Modern Tech Offices Demand A New Level of Swank

Space Plus Blog

It’s no new news that the modern tech industry has surpassed growth expectations, cemented its influence on every corner of modern society, and has moved into just about every major U.S. city. And not only does this tech/startup industry bring money, jobs, and modernization to each new locale it plants itself in, it brings a new wave of design inspiration to a city. From Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, Houston to New York, the business of technology is booming. And over the past decade, that’s meant a massive increase in new building construction, the reimagining of office spaces, and an absolute field day for commercial interior designers across the country. And as an interior designer yourself, surely the thought has entered the mind once or twice as to how exactly one goes about outfitting an expansive, highly coveted work environment for a well-regarded tech client.

Many like to assume that the classic techie is characterized as somewhat of a right-side-of-the-brain, analytically-minded type, but you’d be surprised how well modern Techies can sniff out good interior design versus a lackluster working environment. After all, they’re used to enjoying the fruits of the industry, which undoubtedly have trickled down into everything from their business trips to their comfortable, stylish coworking spaces. So, creating a working environment for these tech brains to create, play, and work within is crucial in their success- both as individuals and as team members. Not only does great interior design help aid their ability to work, but it is also a symbol of the industry’s success, worth, and prestige. With top clients and brands visiting the office often, it’s important to have a well-considered space to host meetings and to showcase work in, among other practicalities. And let’s face it: there’s also simply a bit of indulgence present in the industry. Not a bad thing!

Luckily, being the interior experts we are at Space Plus, a division of The Sliding Door Company, we have the answers you’ve been asking yourself for too long. (We know, sometimes it’s hard to ask for help!) Below is our must-have interior check-list we hope provides you with enough inspiration to get started designing for your new tech clients in the years to come!

First things first: Start with square footage.

As a designer, you need to be able to understand how much room and space you’re working with. Knowing your limitations and how much available space you get to fill is a crucial first when setting out to design a new work environment. This blank canvas is the “skeleton” of your new project that allows you to conceptualize the floor plan before you move on to furniture, desk configurations, and decor. Measure, photograph, and model the space before doing anything else. Creating a map of your intended layout is key!

Next: Begin the Modernization- but make it art.

Our suggestion? Start with the framework before adding in the artful accouterment. This would be everything from wall finish, to doors, office walls, and dividers to material choices. For example, by selecting ultra-modern, well-made sliding glass doors, and office wall partitions, the entire space becomes instantly more functional, updated and contemporized from the start. Instead of continuing with bland office doors, elevate the surrounding space with modern glass pocket doors, and other sliding glass doors that offer both easy and stylish aesthetic. You can decide to go with completely transparent glass, highly opaque for more privacy, and everything in between.

Fill it With Furniture!

Trust us, your clients will appreciate a well-considered furniture selection that offers both comfort and creativity. Even in offices, furniture can be a defining characteristic of the space. Especially when designing a coworking environment, you’ll want to provide thoughtful communal spaces for employees to relax in and bounce ideas back and forth within a comfortable, neutral space. Consider designing multiple seating areas amongst the office with plenty of coffee tables and accent chairs for team members to use during the workday. Create little privacy hubs by installing wall dividers and glass wall partitions to block off visibility from lounge to lounge. These artful spaces are also great to use for casual client meetings!

Next, provide the space with thoughtful juxtapositions. By mixing soft and sleek materials like shearling chairs and velvet couches with raw, earthy opposites like wood and metal you’re able to create interest and intrigue. The combination of indoor/outdoor space is a new must-have in today’s busy and populated world- especially for techies! Provide some much-needed greenery into the office to soothe and freshen the space. Pick houseplants that do well indoors and don’t require much maintenance!

So, there you have it. Our top design tips and tactics can be used as inspiration to help aid your new tech project from the start! Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online for your up and coming commercial needs including glass office dividers, privacy walls, and sliding room dividers. View our online catalog, Get a quote from one of our professionals today, and order the perfect office partitions and sliding doors you need to ensure safety for all online at SpacePlus.com

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Arming Up With Qubi Glass

Space Plus Blog

The holidays are quickly approaching, meaning the onslaught of festive engagements will undoubtedly put a pause on normal work schedules. Veterans Days, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Hanuka, and Christmas all provide for multiple employee days off, meaning an empty place of business. And as the owner or manager of such an establishment, November and December are perhaps the perfect months to make those interior upgrades you’ve been putting off all year. With the holidays just around the corner, you have enough time to finally plan those interior remodeling/upgrades your business needs in order to meet the demands of the current crisis while everyone is out on vacation. And regardless of what industry you’re in, as a business owner, you can probably guess this pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon. So in order to keep your business afloat during these turbulent times, the best means of survival is preparing your business for the long haul. Ensure that your customers, clients, and employees are all spatially distanced and socially safe when they enter your establishment.

So whether you run a restaurant, an office space, own a salon, or manage a gym, the #1 can’t-do-without staple of your business is your ability to welcome customers in through the doors. And if people don’t feel safe, chances are they’re going to bypass your business and go with one of your competitors. Creating a safe space, offering a clean environment, and installing adequate spatial barriers throughout your floorplan are now your best assets for attaining customers! Unsure how to achieve these? Look no further.

If You Manage a Workspace

If you manage an office environment or a business that requires your workers’ attendance “in-house”, this virus has been anything but easy for you. And with millions across the globe experiencing the same frustrations, being proactive is the best way to get your business thriving again. After all, your workplace should be a safe and comfortable environment for all of your hard-working employees! One of the best means for protecting your employees from the Coronavirus, as well as the seasonal flu, is to implement spatial barriers throughout an otherwise open floorplan. And although in recent years there’s been a trendy transition towards the modernized aesthetic of an open floor plan, most workers are already accustomed to the idea of cubicles or free-standing walls to separate work stations and maintain focus in the office. Installing these pop-up walls should be no tough sell!

The Sliding Door Company has just released a new line of extremely durable, meticulously made Qubi Glass wall partitions. These free-standing wall dividers are a top-grade replacement for cheap cubicle walls. The best part? You can wrap existing cubicles with easy-to-clean Qubi Glass for a swift, inexpensive office upgrade, without needing costly and disruptive construction. This new line of Qubi Glass is offered in an array of different sizes, glass opacities and configurations, so finding the perfect Qubi Glass office divider for your unique space is no problem!

If You Run A Restaurant

If you manage a restaurant, the daunting task of outfitting your restaurant for these unprecedented times is no easy thing! And with many states in the U.S. still banning indoor dining, the future of restaurants looks exceptionally troublesome in the coming winter months, especially for those states with months of foul winter weather on the horizon.

Yet despite the undulating circumstances, one way that you can safely prepare your indoor restaurant is to use these slower times to outfit your interiors with Standing Wall Partitions, and Qubi Glass Dividers. These are absolutely fantastic at breaking up space, while still allowing visibility between patrons and restaurant staff. Plus, with glass partitions, you won’t risk closing off spaces and visibility within your restaurant like standard wall partitions which can otherwise shrink floor size. People want to feel comfortable surrounded by others while also being safely distanced, and Qubi Glass is a great solution for achieving this medium. These glass dividers are also a total breeze to clean, sanitize, and continuously disinfect, which, these days, is a total necessity in the restaurant industry!

By putting these spatial solutions into your place of business, you can safeguard your staff, employees, and your customers against the winter flu season and COVID-19. For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom Qubi Glass partitions today!

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Solutions for Social Distancing During early Stages of Re-openings

Space Plus Blog

Restaurant Industry Greatly Affected by COVID 19.

While expected, it appears as though most Americans are still grappling with digesting the new normal, being that many public establishments, restaurants included, are beginning to open their doors at alarming rates. Beaches, parks and other recreational, or “non-essential” businesses are also slowly reopening to the public. Though most are uncertain whether this is a wise gamble, others are overjoyed with the recent developments. Over the course of the last two and a half months, the food and beverage industry (including restaurants) has seen an unprecedented rollercoaster of highs and lows, of prejudices and judgments, of swift evolutions and unfortunate pitfalls and foreclosures. Of course, there is really no telling at this point, how successfully the industry will be able to regain its footing and return to “business as usual”. Likely, things won’t look or feel the same for months, perhaps even years. Though, if there is one certainty, it is that during the coming weeks and months, health, safety, and comfort will be taken more seriously than ever before. As a restaurant owner, it will become imperative to not only provide a safe and sanitized setting for your valued patrons, but your future success will hinge on your ability to convince the public that your establishment has taken serious measures to safeguard your visitors. There are a number of ways that you can ensure a clean, healthy restaurant coming out of this pandemic, so perhaps the ideal restaurant is one which utilizes all of the solutions simultaneously. Below are the top health and safety solutions to implement coming out of COVID 19.

Limit Your Available Capacity

Many restaurants are choosing to reopen as safely as possible, to guard both their working staff, as well as their customers. One sure way to reduce the risk of person-to-person spreading, is to significantly reduce the number of available seats in the restaurant. Additionally, outside seating is encouraged, as fresh air is said to help reduce the risk of air transmission from those in close proximity to one another. By halving your normal capacity, you can effectively create distance and space between your patrons, allowing them the peace of mind of a non-crowded atmosphere, while ensuring a no-contact dining experience.

Indoor Social Distancing

Similar to limiting the establishment’s overall capacity, the main idea is to encourage indoor social distancing within public spaces that are normally overflowing with people. In regards to reopened businesses and restaurants alike, it will be very important to discern which tables should be seated depending on how much space they allow from the next occupied table. People want to know that they can remain a safe six feet apart, so it is the restaurant’s responsibility to grant that. The host or hostess must be aware of the current circumstances, the social distancing recommendations, and be able to plan accordingly when seating guests.

Wall Partitions and Room Dividers

Another solution that businesses, educational institutions, and restaurants are starting to utilize, are wall partitions and room dividers. Easy to install partitions can effectively create additional spatial separation and enhanced safety within indoor environments. No restaurant wants to see their customers feeling uncomfortable or worried about their health while out for their much anticipated, long awaited dining experience. As the owner of a food establishment, make use of the available spatial solutions and integrate easy to clean glass room dividers or breezy sliding room partitions throughout your business to create enhanced separation from table to table, or to limit the restaurants available seating. Some restaurants are now even using glass wall dividers to create see-through waiting zones where customers can wait to be seated in a safe, risk-free enclosure, apart from foot traffic and potential contact. Glass walls are not only antimicrobial, but they are also exceptionally easy to clean and disinfect within seconds. Additionally, glass walls are resistant to damage and water, and conveniently offered in a wide range of glass opacities, from completely opaque, to see-through transparent. They require no construction, and take less than 24 hours to be installed by our team of professional installers.

Continue Encouraging Customers to Take Out

Without a doubt, the surest way to continue providing a safe dining experience for your patrons, is to continue encouraging take-away food, deliveries, and made-to-order items that passersby can easily walk home with. By reducing the number of people dining inside the restaurant, you can maintain maximum health and safety for everyone involved.

Spatial separation will be the most crucial element through this reintegration process to safeguard patrons, restaurant staff, and delivery workers against this deadly virus. Ensure your establishment is as safe as possible for everyone involved! Stop the spread of COVID 19 by integrating glass wall partitions and increased patient separation. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online to view our online catalog, and Get a quote from one of our professionals today.

Your Startup Needs This to Thrive

Space Plus Blog

The competitive nature of startups has generated an entirely novel approach to how we design and exist in office spaces. Most startups today value symbiotic relationships in the workplace, free-flowing exchange of ideas and ample communication amongst its workforce. The design and layout of startup office spaces are largely determined by these factors and have become the inspiration for many an architect, contractor and interior designer across the country. Setting your company apart from the sea of startups is not only crucial- it’s life or death. Great team members are now, dare we say, entitled to have idyllic workspaces in order to maintain productivity, inspiration, and cohesion during the workweek. Providing the best office environment for your workers will ensure a high retention rate and a flourishing output that everyone can enjoy.

Chic exposed brick walls, leather couches, ping pong tables and corn hole games, full kitchens complete with healthy snacks, wet bars, and beer fridges are quickly becoming the new norm across the country’s leading startups. Office spaces are no longer the begrudging labyrinth of narrow hallways and cubicles that they once were. They are essentially a *productive* home away from home- a place where employees plug away on laptops and strive to change the world alongside equally ambitious “teammates”. Often upgraded from warehouses, old clothing factories, or machine shops, trendy startups are utilizing all the rustic aesthetic they can to craft unique and enthusiasm-evoking spaces.

What You’ll Need:

A Great OFP- Open Floor Plan
Amazing Lighting (natural and artificial)
Space-optimizing Designs and Solutions
Artistic Flourishes (and greenery)

Let’s Break it Down:

A Great OFP

To optimize your startup and craft a working oasis for your enthusiastic team, you’ll need an open, lofty and intelligently laid out space. If you want total cohesion and integration amongst your employees you’ll want an effective balance of fewer walls, cubes, and individual offices. Samantha Bernstein, communications manager at Tasting Table touches on this, saying that, “Open plans make it easier for everyone to know what’s happening across departments, and it keeps the team energy level high.”

Of course, and without question, you will need a touch of spatial separation and closed quarters somewhere within your vast swath of office land. Providing a closed conference room or executive office will come in handy when special meetings or presentations are to take place, and not distract nearby workers. Use glass partitions for offices to construct totally enclosed office rooms without any major construction or hassle. Choose from a plethora of varying glass opacities- from transparent to opaque, and everything in between, the customizable options are endless. Sliding door room dividers are another fantastic way to craft a conference room within a larger open floorplan. Want to impress your team with the ultimate artistic flourish? Install the stunning modern take on a rustic design- sliding glass barn doors. This space optimizing solution for a closed office/conference room entryway looks amazing and offers an exceptionally smooth (and quiet!) glide that the entire office will love.

Amazing Lighting

It goes without saying that lighting is everything. This goes far beyond “well-lit” offices and the switch to energy-efficient bulbs. This statement refers to large floor-to-ceiling windows, open floor plans and glass office partitions to make use of ample natural light in peak daytime hours. We are all humans of the earth, and though we have become accustomed to living indoors 80% of our lives, we still need to feel like we’re somehow connected to the outside world. Great big windows do this. Glass office partitions do this. Skylights, mirrors and Edison lightbulbs do this by providing luxurious mood lighting to effectively raise the vibration and increase productivity. Instead of making your employees daydream about the great outdoors, provide your workforce with ample views to the outside world so they feel as though they’re already living and working in an ideal environment.

Space-optimizing Designs and Solutions

Well designed spaces work within the given floorplan and make use of smart space optimizing solutions to achieve a comfortable and fluid environment. Bringing an interior designer on board for your space optimizing needs wouldn’t be a bad idea, although with the unexplained intrigue and lure of a hearty DIY interior design project, why not tackle it yourself? If you’re amongst the many that enjoy the process of doing-it-yourself, here are some tips to keep in mind:

Don’t over-clutter the open floor plan
Keep the decorations to a minimum
Arrange the desks thoughtfully to encourage and integrate discussion while maintaining individual spatial separation
Leave room for a lounge area for your workers to collaborate
Use interior sliding doors so as to save space (as opposed to forward swinging doors)

Artistic Flourishes and Greenery

Again, going back to the whole ‘bring the outside in’ theory, try to integrate as many plants and vegetation inside your working interiors as possible. Plants have been tested in working environments extensively, and have been proven to increase employee concentration, production, and happiness. As previously stated, we are creatures of the earth. We need to be surrounded by natural elements in order to feel safe and healthy.

In addition to integrating essential greenery, aim to decorate your startup space with thought-provoking art, and compliment it with an exciting paint pallet for the walls. Consider drawing it all together with accent pieces such as pillows and rugs, lamps and simple sculptural elements to foster creativity and inspiration amongst your talented team.

Keeping in mind these innovative design elements, feng shui techniques, and space-saving solutions, you’ll be ready to craft the ideal startup atmosphere. You’ll impress your team and promote a healthy life/work balance for everyone to enjoy.

To get started on exciting office improvements, check out our products gallery for inspiration and product images. Schedule a call with one of our knowledgeable professionals to get a free quote and other information on our many available solutions. Simply find a location near you and get that much closer to optimizing your offices for success!