The BBC noted last week standing desks, which enable workers to adjust their position at work, may boost productivity, improve alertness, and help maintain focus through the day. But it’s not only productivity that can be improved; sit-stand desks can also provide health benefits.

Studies have shown that sitting down for long periods of time can have a negative impact on our health, which directly translates to the workplace. The average office worker spends 35-40 hours per week sitting at their desk, making it a big issue in today’s increasingly health-conscious environment. Enter the sit-stand desk!

Benefits of sit-stand desks:

1. Good for productivity and focus

Amongst the health benefits, there are workplace improvements too. In some offices, sit-stand desks can increase productivity by up to 46%. Which makes for a solid investment in our books!

2. Standing is good for you

One thing studies are clear about is that long hours of sitting are linked to musculoskeletal disorders such as RSI, as well as obesity and diabetes. Therefore, standing for part of the day can help alleviate the symptoms and is actively good for your health.

3. Breaks up the day

The first and most obvious benefit of sit-stand desks is the ability to break up the day, whilst still working. You can effortlessly switch between sitting and standing during the workday without the need to take constant breaks.

All-in-all, sit-stand desks can offer a great range of benefits to a workplace and are certainly worth investing in. If you are interested in providing your office with sit-stand desks, get in touch with us at Meridian. You can choose from different leg options: T-Leg and panel leg, and different finishes: Beech, White, Walnut, White Oak and more. Helping find the perfect option for your office.

Who? Inventionland | What? Invention Factory | Where? Pittsburgh USA

What do you think of when you hear the word invention? Something that has never been made before? The unique creation of a device or method? Unique, creative and unprecedented are certainly words that be used to describe Inventionland – The Invention Factory.

Pittsburgh – The city in the USA known as being at the forefront of innovation is home to one of America’s ‘coolest’ offices – an office space which includes an array of innovative and outstanding themes from a pirate ship to a castle designed for a specific working environment and product field. The workspace known as an ‘Invention Factory’ has been designed of the back off the company’s moto – ‘The best work comes out of the spirit of play.’

George Davison the innovator, visionary and founder of the Inventionland offices decided when designing the workspace to change the ‘expected’ and ‘standard’ working environment to one that inspires, motivates and excites employees to create and produce astonishing and interesting inventions. Davison collaborated with his team of entrepreneurs when designing the space and ensured that the somewhat whimsical office environment was also fully functional and equipped.

Inventionland Motor Speedway

The 150 foot Scalextric space is home to the garage and automotive product field. This area itself has won an array of awards, including winner of the Industrial Design Excellence Award by Business Week!

Nursey Nook

The Giant Shoe which can be seen in the work space is home to Nursery Nook – a space designed to inspire inventors to develop children’s products such as books and toys. The space can also be double as a crib service!

Inventalot Castle

The castle is often described as the heart of the office. The castle which included turrets and a drawbridge is the place of meeting for senior directors, and a hub of brainstorming ideas.

Pirate Ship Discovery

This space, which includes pristine water and is home to Inventionland’s resident shark houses the home for high-tech products and games.

Discover the secrets to mastering office services from office experts, Meridian Interiors Ltd.

Office services are a little bit like oxygen. You never truly realise how important they are until they are gone. When an essential facility like hot water or electricity is no longer available, this can cause significant disruption to the business and can even impact operations to the point where a closure is inevitable until resolution is achieved.

How can a business effectively deliver services in the office environment and ensure that they are available as needed?

Electricians

The electrical systems in a business should have been set up during the construction phase and are generally fine for years without requiring changes or alterations. However regular testing is required of all electrical systems to ensure that these are safe and do not present any danger to workers in the office environment. PAT testing covers appliances – the more often an appliance is used the more frequently it should be tested.

Communication Services

Even though wireless technology is available, most businesses prefer to use the lightning speeds offered by gigabit ethernet cabling for their users. As loose lay cables are a prohibited hazard in most workplaces, this type of network is usually installed in structured housing throughout the office. All services including internet connectivity can be delivered through this network.

One of the advantages of modern networks is that the need for separate services has been rapidly diminished. Whilst some companies may still prefer to use PBX systems and conventional phone lines, an increasingly prevalent picture in the business arena is the office that entirely hosts all contact devices on the internet.

Voice Over IP (VOIP) systems have evolved over the past decade and no longer experience the drop offs and line distortion that have been a decisive factor that have prevented many businesses from implementing them in the past. Now with structured cabling present in most offices for the provision of essential network services, VOIP is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition.

Technology Trends

One of the most significant changes in communication technology has been the arrival of the Smartphone and business tablet in recent times. Clients and customers often expect businesses to offer a public Wi-Fi service to allow them to connect their devices to a communication network.

There are significant dangers associated with delivering this service and it is vital that there is sufficient encryption or security between the publicly available network and the business network. Additionally, the public password should be changed daily to prevent unauthorised third parties using the network to acquire sensitive information from your visitors.

A Final Word

As with all business services the most important consideration for an office management company is establishing strong connections with local professionals who have the staff levels and abilities to consistently meet your service demands. If you are experiencing difficulties in finding the companies to fulfil these expectations then referrals from your existing clients can be a vital factor in locating a competent provider.

Who? Pallotta Teamworks | What? Charity Event Company | Where? Los Angeles, California

Hidden away from the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood Hills is situated the warehouse which houses Pallotta Teamworks – a charity event company which creates multi-day event concepts aimed to challenge participants to work hard for a charity they deeply care about.

Pallotta’s ethos is centred around doing good. Doing good whether it be to people or to the planet, and this ethos was central to creating an eco-friendly, efficient yet exciting office workplace.

In 2002, after years of working in cramped, chaotic and cut-off office spaces a new 47,000 warehouse was sourced located in the northeast neighbourhood of Los Angeles – Atwater Village. The proposition for the project was to create an inspiring and exciting headquarters, created on what can be described as a shoestring budget – $2 million dollars, as equivalent to $40 per square foot. Projects of similar dimensions and degree would cost on average $80 per square foot.

To go ahead and design and build the space Pallotta hired the firm Clive Wilkinson & Associates. On the firm receiving the preliminary budget, it was concluded that the budget was so insignificant that air-conditioning and heating in the space was simply not an option. Not letting budgeting complications regarding heating and air-condition disrupt CWA’s extreme creative flair, a design was proposed which created ‘breathing islands’ or which can be best described as seven white tented villages which contain air-conditioning systems that help to reduce the cost of cooling down the whole area.

The main office areas, breakout areas and conference rooms were placed into large shipping containers painted in bright colours to stimulate and energize employees. The aim of the design was to stay as natural, sustainable and unconventional as possible, therefore the design showcased raw exposed lumber, stainless steel pipes, large sky lighting and incorporation of a small yet effective ‘pond’ area.

Though the project was reliant on a shoestring budget for the work required, the project demonstrates an incredible representation of the company’s ethos – doing good. The noteworthy scheme is a true representation of the company celebrating responsibility, sustainability and eco-friendliness. Pallotta has received honour and attention, not just through media outlets but also through a variety of national awards.

Discover the secrets to mastering office partitioning from office experts, Meridian Interiors Ltd

Not all offices will be built in line with your company’s departments, teams and functions. Fit the space around your business with office partitioning. These cost effective walls can be quickly deployed to create an organisational layout that suits your needs.

Use this quick guide to assess what types of partitioning is best for your workplace to help maximise efficiency, reduce noise between departments and generally provide a non-disruptive flow of foot traffic around the operational areas.

Stud

This is the most basic type of partitioning, consisting of a poly-plastic or metal frame, secured to the floor. This forms a skeleton structure that is subsequently covered with panels to create physical partitions. Plasterboard is typical used in the construction of these partitions.

Glass

Glass partitions are like stud partitions, however instead of solid, opaque panels, glass sheets are added to the structure, creating transparent barriers. This type of partitioning is especially useful when an area of a workspace suffers from a lack of natural light. Glass can be double glazed to create insulation or frosted with the company logo.

Temporary Partitions

Extending curtains or concertina partitions are one way of creating a temporary barrier between different areas of your workspace. This type of partitioning is often found in hotels or conference rooms, allowing the business owners to scale the space in accordance with client’s demands.

Timber Partitions

Timber partitions use an all wooden construction, from the structural supports through to the panels. Creating an elegant and classic profile, timber partitions, particularly those made from hardwood are a stylish alternative to conventional stud systems.

Cubicles

Smaller, individual partitions are available to mark out individual booths or working areas in open plan offices. This type of divider allows for employees to control their immediate working environment, whilst also promoting communication and collaboration through members of the team.

Creating Functional Areas in the Business

The principle reason for partitioning is to delineate space within the office or workplace environment into rooms and sections for various purposes. Separating each individual area promotes a focus on specific business activities, allowing a more ordered and structured organisational framework. Some of the more common uses include:

Sales floor

If you have a busy outbound calling floor this can often create quite a large amount of noise, commotion and energy. Whilst this is great for the salespeople, this can prove disruptive to other functions in the business and partitions can dramatically reduce this issue.

Executive office

Partitioning can allow individual spaces to be created for company directors, offering a degree of privacy for important calls and operational discussions with the business leaders.

Boardroom

Every large business needs a boardroom. Even though such rooms often now function as meeting rooms for different teams and important client presentations, the large table, set seats and chairs create a sense of purpose and presence.

Reception area

Keep clients separate from the functional areas of your business with a designated reception area. Here they can drink coffee and wait for taxis to pick them up following meetings without having to leave the building.

Department location

If your business is large enough to have dedicated departments, then partitions will allow all the members of each individual team to congregate in a set area. Customer service, IT support, finance and HR can all be given their own domain, promoting team cohesion and understanding.

A simple guide to increasing productivity at work through the use of colour in office design.

Whether you are an employer, or an employee you may be looking at methods to increase productivity within the work place. Did you know that it could be as simple as adding colour to your office space?

Colour is a powerful tool to not only increase productivity, but also to stimulate, engage and excite those in the workplace.

To choose the right colour for your office space, follow our simple guide!

Blue – For the Mind

Blue is a colour known universally as the colour of peacefulness and serenity. When used in both living and working spaces, it can create a sense of calmness and order. Science has proved that blue aids in lowering heart rate and blood pressure – not only calming the mind, but also the body.

The colour blue is also a leading colour used within the corporate world. Companies such as Dell, American Express and HP all use the colour within their logos. Blue is so widely used corporately as it is a colour consumers perceive as safe, trustworthy and honest.

In a workplace where productivity levels need to be high to complete daily tasks and various tasks – blue is the perfect colour to adopt into the office theming.

Green – For Balance

Green – the colour synonymous with nature and the environment is the perfect colour to aid in creating balance between the body, the mind and emotions. When the body and mind feel balanced, innovation and creativity are heightened.

For workplaces where innovation and creativity is a key component of the business, green is the ideal colour to use within the theming.

Red – For the Body

Red is the most physically stimulating colour; increasing the heart rate and raises blood pressure. Its attention grabbing, which globally is known as a colour to portray warning. The stimulating nature of red makes it the ideal colour to use within offices where employees are highly detailed-orientated.

Within office design, it is recommended to use red as either an accent colour, or use warmer tones such as burgundy.

Yellow – For Positivity

The radiant and uplifting nature of yellow creates greater confidence and positivity, which in turns increases productivity. It’s a fun and cheerful which not only grabs attention, but can create intensity which in turn creates a welcoming and warming environment to work within.

Similarly to red, yellow is best placed within office design as an accent colour. Painting a single wall yellow is just enough to enforce the cheery and optimistic nature of yellow. Yellow is the ideal colour to incorporate in a space which requires energy and stimulation.

This week sees the launch of Meridian Interior’s Floor to Ceiling campaign. Offering website visitors insight and techniques associated with office planning, fit-out and refurbishment, the campaign will feature a series of comprehensive on-site articles each profiling an individual area of interest.

Paul Kyriakou, Operations Director for Meridian Interiors made the following statement about the campaign: “over our years of working with businesses we have developed established systems of office planning. By providing potential and existing clients with access to our knowledge we hope to help strengthen our existing connections and attract new business.”

He went on to add “in 2017 we are placing a greater focus on utilising the internet as one of the primary tools in our communication strategy. This is why we have opted for an approach that centres of using our skills and ability to provide visitors to our website with an insight into the real value of our service”

The first topics of the two articles are key considerations that companies should review before moving into a new property and a closer look at deploying partitions within an office environment to aid efficiency. The business produces the content in a raw format and then using the services of a professional content expert to style the information into an engaging and intriguing article.

Not only is the campaign intended to assist SMEs in effectively planning office layouts and understanding the furniture options available, it also forms part of a larger web strategy for the business. Through content marketing Meridian Interiors hopes to widen their audience base on popular search engines including Google and Bing.

Meridian Interiors has been in business since 2002. Operating in the commercial sector, they provide clients with a fully comprehensive office interior service. This includes initial design consultations, furniture supply and managing the installation of essential services.

Most businesses decide at some point that they need to consider an office fit out. It could be that you are moving to new premises or perhaps your office just needs updating. Regardless of the reasons behind it an office fit out is something that requires a great deal of thought and consideration.

You will need to think about the current layout and facilities in the office and how you can improve these. There is nothing worse than an office space where employees (especially from different departments) are sat in close proximity often with distracting results. This is perhaps why you should give proper consideration to office partitioning as part of your office refurbishment.

Partitioning enables you to create subtle, yet separate work spaces for employees. This is without going to the hassle and expense of creating extra rooms or putting up permanent partition walls. By having separate workspaces it enables employees to concentrate more fully on their tasks therefore increasing productivity and efficiency.

If your employees are required to use the phone then the partitioning will help to cut out the distracting noise of other people talking, meaning you are better able to concentrate on your own tasks. As the partitions are not forming completely separate spaces everyone can still feel part of the team and communicate with others when required. However, they still have a degree of privacy so can get on with work even if others are talking.

Another benefit of partitioning is that it can easily be moved around. This means if you need to change the layout of the office, if for example a new desk is added, the partitioning can be moved to accommodate this. The partitioning can also be added to if your business grows meaning it is a flexible solution.

Partitioning can take various forms from small partitioning between desks to larger glass partitioning. If you do want a separate office space then glass partitioning is ideal as the glass allows light flow meaning the rooms feel spacious and staff do not feel isolated as they can see into (or out of) the partitioned area.

With all the different options of partitioning available for your office fit out it is often worth discussing it with an expert. An office refurbishment can be a large and stressful job to do on your own so utilising the skills of an expert make it a little easier. Just get in touch: we have a dedicated team of experts ready to answer any of your office fit out questions.

An office refurbishment can seem like an expensive and daunting prospect but sometimes it is exactly what your company needs. If your office and reception areas are drab and tired then it is likely your staff will feel the same. This has a knock on effect on productivity and on the first impression of your business your visitors receive.

Your office and reception area are the first places that potential clients and customers see. If the area looks dull and uncared for then they are likely to be left with the impression that people don’t really care about the company or their customers.

In contrast if the reception and office areas are full of bright, funky furniture and well-designed then the client is much more likely to remember you in a positive way.

If the office refurbishment has been given lots of thought and consideration then you can guarantee your employees will be thankful. A new environment is likely to inspire them, creating new ideas and also boosting their productivity. If you don’t believe that an office refurbishment can boost productivity then just look at the research. The Abius Report was completed in 2009 and reported that 62% of US workers said they would be more motivated to work if their employers made an effort to improve their work surroundings.The facts back this up as the study references research that found enriched work environments improved productivity by around 15%. Involving your employees in the plans was another key in increasing productivity as productivity doubled to 30% when they were involved in refit plans. The British Council of Offices produced a similar study in which they found that office workers prefer funky fit outs rather than traditional ones with 60% of people stating a funky office refurbishment increased their productivity.

It is clearly important to consider an office refurbishment project from all angles and if the research is correct then get your staff involved. Ask what they would like to see or what would be helpful for them.

Specialised office refurbishment

An office refurbishment project may seem quite daunting which is why it is often best to entrust it to a specialised office refurbishment company such as Meridian Interiors. We would like to be able to take the project from its initial concept through to completion.

If you want to leave your office refurbishment project to the professionals contact Meridian Interiors and see your business productivity grow.

If you are considering an office refurbishment you are probably aware that they are no simple task to achieve successfully, and that there are many factors involving careful consideration and planning in order to optimise your redesigned space fully.

Many people try to complete their office refurbishment project independently but find the extra, unnecessary stress this results in is simply unmanageable. Not only does your company have to continue performing at its normal standard, you will have to juggle a horde of builders and suppliers too. If one of these becomes unreliable you are left with a broken chain and possible logistical headache, hindering the smooth transition to your new office space.

Tailored package

Many people worry that the cost of using an office refurbishment company , such as ourselves at Meridian Interiors, could be prohibitive but they are not as costly as you may imagine and will save you a great deal of time and stress. We will provide a complete package tailored to your needs from the start to the finish of your project, however ambitious it may be.

We have the knowledge

We will discuss both your current and future needs and will use this knowledge, combined with our expert experience, to plan your new office to perfection with our 3D design computer software. This ensures you are satisfied with the finished design before work commences to avoid any unexpected and expensive errors occurring.

As an office refurbishment company, we also have an inherent knowledge of the complicated local authority regulations and health and safety legislation meaning we can help you avoid any issues of legality.

Design through to completion

Once you have chosen the design of your office fit out to your exact specifications we will then be able to implement the design. As we will be managing the entire process we will use only the most trusted tradesman and suppliers, resulting in a far smoother process than if you hired a selection of tradesmen separately.

Another benefit of an office refurbishment company is that we will remain working alongside you until the work is fully completed, meaning you have support and a team available for any advice you may require throughout the process.

Here to help

If you are interested in using a full-service office refurbishment company who will support you from design concept to completion contact us here at Meridian Interiors.

We are a very experienced office refurbishment company and have plenty of case studies of satisfied clients on our website so you can see just what is achievable. Contact us today and simplify your office refurbishment by using the experts!