Space Planning
During the interior design process, space planning is essential. You risk creating a design that won’t work well for your client if you don’t plan properly for space. A successful design job begins with identifying the purpose of the space to be designed. To plan out a space that will suit your client’s needs, you need to ask all the right questions and gather all the necessary information.
Today’s work environment is highly congested, and it may be difficult to accommodate a workgroup or a workflow in a given space. The solution often involves reworking the space or reconfiguring in our terms. These moves are complex, disruptive to staff, and apply a chain of events that include coordination with IT and facilities involved.
Whether it is the design and construction of a new space, an expansion or consolidation of an existing facility, or cosmetic improvements, Office Outfitters can provide you with creative, practical solutions that will maximize your space.
You will be able to create a well-balanced, easily navigable, and visually pleasing space using your in-depth analysis and basic design principles. Here are practical space planning tips to help you design more efficient spaces.
How to Create a Space Plan?
Determining purpose and defining zones
First things first – even before you start designing, you need to identify zones based on the space’s purpose. Ask your client what the space is primarily used for. When designing a kitchen, for instance, find out how often your clients cook, how many people they cook for, if they usually cook together, if they have kids, what kind of storage they need, what appliances they need, and so on.
Asking these questions will help you determine the room’s primary purpose, making it easier for you to define specific zones.
Allowing easy circulation
Easy circulation is (or should be) a priority in a home, a significant component of space planning. When navigating a room is difficult, it cannot be considered functional. It is your responsibility to ensure that passageways are not blocked by obstacles and that the distance between structures is comfortable enough for people to walk through or workaround.
For example, when designing a kitchen, there are particular measurement guidelines you need to follow to provide a seamless experience. The distance between counters, appliances, and the sink must be measured before executing your design for optimal results.
Maximizing lighting
Proper space planning also includes maximizing the amount of light in the room. You can do this by adding or replacing windows or simply by ensuring sufficient artificial lighting in the space.
If you are adding windows, make sure they are facing the right direction to let as much sunlight in as possible (unless the client prefers indirect sunlight). Make sure you layer artificial lighting in order to achieve the desired level of brightness.
Depending on the room you’re designing and the client’s needs, you can opt for ambient lighting, overhead lighting, task lighting, or a combination of the three. Dimmer switches can be useful for adjusting the brightness as required.
Placing outlets and switches
Strategic placement of outlets and switches is crucial. When creating your design, you need to think about how many appliances, lights, and other devices will potentially be plugged in. Asking your client what they use the space for will help determine the number of outlets and switches necessary in your design.
If you’re designing a living room and your client plans to mount their television to the wall, you can draw out your plan and place the power and cable outlets halfway up the wall. This way, your client won’t have to worry about drilling a hole in the wall to remove the electrical wires.
Considering accessibility
If your client is differently-abled or wishes to stay in their home for as long as possible, you should plan to provide them with as much freedom and convenience as possible.
Suppose you’re designing a kitchen or bathroom for a differently-abled client. In that case, you need to consider things like adjusting the height of the kitchen sink, installing pull-out trays for the pantry and cabinets, front-mounted controls for cooktops, changing the size of the toilet, installing grab bars in the shower, and much more.