Designing an office space is important in every company. You don’t want to simply provide a desk and chair for your employees to work on every day as this will not bolster morale. As a company, you want to create a conducive working environment for your people. Office design plays a big role in everyone’s productivity and comfort. In this regards, getting an architect to plan out your space is essential. There are many promising architecture firms in los angeles you can inquire from. But know that finding the best architect to design your office comes with a price. Here are 5 tips to hiring the best person to do the job:
-
Create a list of the best local talents around you
You don’t have to look far and out for talented architects. The fact is, you will able to find just what you’re looking for in your own area. Los Angeles is brimming with talent and it’s not short of individuals who have an excellent grasp of office planning and design. A quick online search of architecture firms around you will give you a generous list of people or agencies you can talk to about your project. Based on the information you find online, their location, past projects, feedback and so on, shortlist at least 5 architects to reach out to in order to get your project rolling.
-
Setup a meeting and get to know their style
It’s not enough that they have a nice website and a big portfolio, you must also know their style and see if it matches yours. There are a lot of great designers and architects out there but if their forte doesn’t align with how you envision your office space to be, then there’s no point discussing further. Designing an office space is hardly exploratory and experimental. You want ideas that are tried and tested, and that would contribute to your employees growth and comfort.
-
Communicate your vision to your architect
As a company or someone who represents the company, your vision matters a lot. You’re not just designing an office space that has great layout, pretty interiors, and ergonomic furniture. You also want your office to reflect who the company is and how its culture is. Architects would need to know this. They need to create a space that identifies with the brand, that speaks of the company’s values. As the customer and project owner, this can be discussed by showing the architect who the company is and what its brand guidelines are. Even if you’re still a little vague on how you want the space to look like, your company branding will give you a good headstart in terms of the direction of design.
-
Check their portfolio and previous works
As mentioned, reviewing your architect’s portfolio is important before setting up a meeting with them. In fact, it’s their portfolio that would entice you set up a meeting in the first place. Learn about the different spaces they’ve worked with before. How big a space has he handled in the past? What kind of layout has he worked on? Who are the contractors he hired? Is the layout practical? Would you have issues mounting electricals and positioning tables? These are some of the things you’d want to discuss with your architect.
-
Discuss about the budget
Finally, no matter how much you and your prospective architect jive, if your budget doesn’t meet, it’s going to be hard to make things work. Know your budget and the specifications of the project. And then, you can request a sample quote from your shortlisted architects to see who aligns best to your budget capacity. Don’t be afraid to tell your architect that you only have this amount for this project so that both of you can adjust.
