Modernizing commercial office spaces to be more employee-friendly and promote higher productivity is a necessary trend for companies wanting to improve both employee retention and work outcomes. There is a debate going on about how to best design an office environment. Are closed offices, open floor plans, or cubicles the best way to go? The answer might be to use a good commercial interior designer who can give the office a combination of open and closed spaces.
What are Cubicles and Why Are They Used?
Cubicles are the contemporary way of dividing a large office space into multiple sections of personal work spaces. They come in all types of shapes and sizes. Cubicles can dictate the personality of a large office space. Their main purpose is to serve as dividing walls between desks. Cubicles form small offices or serve as visual dividers between desks.
One advantage of cubicles is that they are movable so an office can be reconfigured as needed. When you look for cubicles near me, check out Capital Choice Office Furniture inline.
Basically, There are Five Types of Office Cubicles and Partitions
When a business owner starts the process of choosing the right office cubicles, they will find five basic types. Each type has different features depending on the manufacturer. most office cubicles can have a certain amount of customization.
· Partitions that go from floor to ceiling in height. These may be called full-height. They are manufactured panels with steel frames and are covered with fabric of some sort. They divide a space without totally enclosing it. These panels are movable.
· Glass dividers come in either full-length or half-length. They are constructed of aluminum and glass. They help reduce office noise while letting light into the workplace.
· Cubicles are usually half-height and are partitions that offer employees some privacy and personal work space. They can be linked together in groups or separate. They often contain a desk and computer space. workers can personalize their cubicles. Cubicles can be built to be open work spaces, cubicle pods, desking systems, modular workstations, or monolithic cubicle panel systems. They can be high or low-walled, circular, L-shaped, or be built to match a professional worker’s needs.
· Then, there are portable office partitions with rollers at the bottom. These partitions can be moved from place to place as needed. They don’t offer much privacy, but they do reduce noise.
· Accordion walls are very changeable and can provide full enclosure or partial privacy depending on how they are folded.
Advantages of Using Cubicles in Office Spaces
Many business owners modernized their offices to be large open spaces with rows of desks to encourage collaboration and productivity. In multiple cases, this did not work as planned. The noise was uncontrollable and there are too many distractions. But, going back to offices and dividing the space is not an option.
There can be an open-plan office with cubicles breaking up the space and giving workers a little privacy and personal space. Cubicles are flexible and can be rearranged as things change. Cubicles cost more than an open space office but are more likely to meet the needs of office staff.
Have a Combination of Work Spaces
All cubicles or all open spaces do not work as well as they could. The new answer is to have a combination of cubicles, open spaces, and closed spaces. There can be small conference rooms, break rooms, an area of cubicles, and open spaces for collaboration and employee interaction. To get the correct mix of spaces, hire an experienced commercial interior designer and ask for input from the workers who will be using the space.