Space planning is an essential part of creating a fantastic office. It’s absolutely essential that you dedicate enough space to your working areas, as well as your breakout areas. The latter are important centres for creativity and collaboration in any office, and they need to be inspiring and comfortable for your people.
At Niche Projects, we design cutting-edge workplaces for all kinds of businesses in Sydney. We fully understand the importance of great breakout areas, and the impact they can have on creativity and collaboration within an organisation. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how to optimise the breakout spaces in your Sydney office.
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What is a breakout area?
So, what exactly is a breakout space? In essence, it’s any space away from your main working area, which can be used for a range of purposes. Flexibility is key for any breakout area, so that the space can be utilised by employees and adapted wherever necessary. Designing the perfect breakout space requires experience and understanding, which we have in spades.
What do you use a breakout area for?
The whole point of a breakout room is that it can be used for virtually anything. It’s a chance to breakout of the usual working area… for meetings, one-on-ones, a quiet spot of meditation, some stretching, or even working in a change of scenery. The breakout room should be the space your employees use for a breather, and even for a creativity boost.
Getting away from the usual working area can do wonders for our brain. It’s necessary to de-stress, and it’s good for our bodies. But you need to have the right areas for your people to use, otherwise it’s pointless. And when it comes to collaborating with one another, employees will do much better if they have a breakout space to use.
The importance of creativity and collaboration in the office
Creativity is something that many corporate offices lack. But there is always a place for creative solutions, and your office needs to inspire this kind of thinking in your people. In the long run, a more creative workforce will lead to better outcomes, different ways of thinking, more efficient processes, and even a happier group of employees.
Collaboration is essential for any functioning business. Employees need to be able to work together effectively, day in, day out, to achieve the best results. And to do so, comfortable and inspiring collaborative spaces are essential. Your people could simply sit down together in a meeting room, but the average meeting room offers little in the way of inspiration. That’s where a well-designed breakout area comes into play.
This is how to design inspiring breakout rooms
Creating the perfect breakout room in your Sydney office requires a few elements. It’s also important to remember that the best results always come when working with the experts.
Colour is essential
The colours in your office and your breakout room have a really significant impact on your employees’ abilities to be creative. Certain colours will promote creativity and inspire your people, while other colours will dampen their creative abilities. Yellow is one of the best colours to utilise when it comes to promoting creativity. Red energises and excites, while green helps to relax your people. Use a quality combination of these colours to get the best results and truly inspire your employees.
Comfortable, ergonomic furniture
A breakout room should be a comfortable space, which means providing truly comfortable furniture. People will be likely to use the space to relax and take some time out, but it’s impossible for them to do this if the only seats within the breakout room are hard, uncomfortable, and don’t support their posture.
A combination of different furniture is ideal for your breakout room if there is adequate space. This means providing chairs and tables for practical use during meetings and collaborative working, while also delivering more comfortable options for relaxing, such as sofas, cushions, or pods for meetings and one-on-ones.
Something different
The breakout room should be different from the main working area of your office. If it’s simply an extension of the same area, your people won’t exactly feel inspired or more creative… it’ll just be more of the same. This is where you should be utilising expert office interior design services, to really get the best out of your breakout spaces!
Connectivity and technology
Your people won’t be able to do their work or collaborate effectively without access to the necessary resources. That means providing high-speed LAN ports or wifi within the breakout rooms, as well as any other equipment that might be needed. That includes televisions and quality AV equipment for video conferencing. These additions make your breakout rooms truly versatile.
Get expert office design in Sydney
At Niche Projects, we’re experts in all things office design and construction. We’ve created cutting-edge workplaces for businesses big and small, and we know exactly what it takes to craft the perfect breakout room for you and your people.
Get in touch with us today to discuss your needs. We’d love to hear from you.
