At Barker, we take time to understand your brief and your objectives, and more often than not we will talk to the users of the office to discern their needs. Designing your office refurbishment is critical to ensure a productive and creative space is built.
Contact UsIf you are planning an office fit out, then Barker is the natural choice. We take time to understand your brief and your objectives, and more often than not we will talk to the users of the office to discern their needs. Designing your office refurbishment is critical to ensure a productive and creative space is built.
Our designers, when appropriate, will propose ways of creating a more natural feel (called biophilic design) and ways of making the office more sustainable – from the materials used during the build to the energy efficiency of the final office. Barker has extensive experience meeting challenging deadlines with projects that are time critical. Hundreds of customers have trusted Barker with fitting out offices and working spaces because Barker is just naturally better.
At Barker we recently conducted a survey of over 300 London office workers to gauge opinions on the quality of their work environments. The results revealed that over half (57%) were unhappy with the current quality of their office accommodation and felt they were in need of specific types of refurbishment.
Respondents revealed that modifications were required to improve health and wellness as well as overall design quality. The most important upgrade wanted by those surveyed was improved ventilation (53%). Second to this was wider spaced desks (44%), less crowded offices (42.5%) and more video conferencing facilities (33.5%).
Survey participants also reported that, whilst over 80% of their employers had made changes since the pandemic, more needed to be done. This signals that the expectations of office workers are much higher in a post-pandemic environment, with 58% revealing the design of an office would influence their choice of employer.
When asked further what design features were needed, many workers felt that biophilic design would improve health and wellbeing within an office. Biophilic design refers to the inclusion of natural features within a man-made space.
Respondents reported that improved access to natural light (75.5%), more plants and vegetation (43.5%) and an increased use of natural materials such as wood, stone and marble (30%) were very important or vital for improving overall spatial quality.
Results from the survey paints a clear picture that office workers are becoming more discerning. They care about their wellbeing at work and their career choices are influenced by the physical environment. In an economy in which attracting and retaining staff is a real challenge, employers should look to enhance their offices to make them more attractive for staff through features such as biophilic and health-centred design. You can read more on our survey here
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