Choosing Office Furniture

Posted under Office Furniture

Choosing office furniture can be one of the most difficult tasks for an office administrator; it is an expensive investment that needs to be flexible enough to last for many years. The first task is to work out the workspace requirements for the workers in question, taking into account the need for computers, telephones, power and data access points etc. Many office furniture dealers will offer space planning as a free service if you intend to purchase the office furniture from them, or at least if you give them an opportunity to quote. Many office furniture dealers have sophisticated space planning software which can give you a full 3-D image of your proposed office, including walk-through videos. The next stage is to select the range of furniture; there are many office furniture catalogues which include a full range of desks, office storage cupboards, meeting room furniture and reception furniture which can give a coordinated look to your office environment. There are many styles of office furniture, from classic desks to contemporary modular office furniture. If you are in a business which moves fast, it is important to consider the longevity of the selected manufacturer and range – if you need to add desks at a later date you need to be able to rely on your supplier to get matching furniture, otherwise you can spoil the whole look of the office. Many people think that real wood office furniture is better; however you need to carefully consider your options. Solid wood office furniture is almost unobtainable; the cost is prohibitive and the modern air conditioned office environment is not kind to solid wood, which can dry out and warp. Modern office furniture is usually made from MDF or similar boards, covered with a coating. The coating can be melamine, HPC or wood veneer. Melamine coated MDF is one of the most robust finishes and will withstand hot coffee cups, scratching and exposure to direct sunlight. It can be obtained in all the natural wood finishes, eg oak, beech, cherry, maple etc as well as solid colours, eg light grey or white. Real wood veneer finishes can be used in executive office furniture and boardroom furniture, but these tend to be more expensive and less robust than melamine finishes and also require careful cleaning and maintenance.
Other things to consider when you are choosing office furniture include the following:
- Height Adjustable Desks: many office desk ranges now have height adjustable options, which can be useful if you need to accommodate people with reduced mobility or other special needs.
- Cable Management: Many office furniture ranges include built-in cable management in the legs and supporting beams, which can significantly reduce the wiring clutter found in many offices.
- Office desks became much deeper (up to 80cm deep) in the 80’s and 90’s simply to accommodate large CRT monitors. Now with flat screen monitors available you may find that you can reduce the depth of a desk to 60cm.
- Bench Desk Systems: There are now quite a few contemporary bench desk systems on the market today. They use a shared-leg system which can reduce costs as well as increasing comfort by giving the operator much more leg room. Combined with acoustic screens and cable management, they provide a much more efficient and user-friendly call centre furniture solution than traditional systems.