How to Keep Office Renovation Cost Low in Singapore
When it comes to renting your office space, it’s important to set aside money for office renovation. Office renovation is an important (and perhaps expensive) step of the office rental process but it doesn’t have to burn a hole in your pocket.
Office renovation is a great way to create distinct workplace identity and to communicate the corporate branding to visiting clients, employees and talents. Do check out these tips before venturing into the office renovation process so you can make sure your money is well-spent in bringing success to your business.
Here are 5 things to keep in mind when renovating your office in Singapore:
Prioritize Spending on Client-facing area
Modern classic office reception area
First impressions are everything. You will want to impress your clients with what your business has to offer from their first step into your office reception space. Prioritize spending on getting a good qualified workplace designer to take care of the design, carpet, flooring, seatings, other furniture and everything to boost the look of your reception area and client-facing meeting rooms. Do remember that a positive first impression can instill confidence and trust in you, your services or products and your business, so do spend the money and effort to take care of your clients’ visiting experience and communicate your corporate branding strongly here.
Check out Office Reception Design Ideas ->
Spend on Quality Furniture
While it may seem counter-intuitive, it is far better to spend more on quality than to spend even more on repairing or replacing faulty furniture- especially on heavily used office chairs. Go with furniture which can provide a warranty of at least 3 years, effectively covering the office leasing period.
You will be able to relocate quality furniture as opposed to getting rid of them in every office move. This cuts down on waste and costs drastically and having quality ergonomicfurniture is a great way of keeping your staff happy and productive at work.
Build Less Rooms
Building enclosed rooms are one of the costly works in office renovation. It often entails extensive work to relocate fire sprinklers, fire detection system, install new wiring, floor, ceiling and wall finishes. With the proliferation of cloud-based technology and collaborative tools, it is easier for employees to have non-confidential conversation, exchange ideas in a small team at open or semi-open space without the need to jump into meeting room. So why build them if you could get free-standing furniture or writable screen, which are versatile to facilitate quick collaboration?
Collaborative meeting pods and seatings for quick discussion
Should you need meeting rooms for confidential discussion, do note that meeting rooms, especially those larger than 8pax, are often the most underutilized space in the office. If you occasionally need big meeting rooms, do consider having adjacent 4pax meeting rooms separated by an operable wall, which can be opened into a large meeting room. This concept not only improve utilization rate of prime real estate space but cut down on employees’ complaints of not having enough meeting rooms.
Alternatively, there are options to book meeting room in nearby co-working space. Check out the list of co-working space in Singapore Central Business District near you or your clients.
Keep to the minimal for Back-end Rooms
As stated in our 1st point, the client-facing space is where you will want to spend more for corporate branding and making positive client’s impression. On the other end of the spectrum, back-end rooms like IT server room, storage and utility room should be designed to be practical and functional.
You can consider keeping the existing ceiling board, keep to white wash wall finishes and basic carpet flooring. This will help make your office renovation cost much lower and allow you to spend your money better where it matters most.
Wallpaper design could add new design dimension to the seemingly boring wall or cabinet, conveying corporate culture or values
Office storage cabinet with graphics designed to convey corporate branding & culture
Engage wall decal maker to do up your office space
Minimize Storage Needs
Going digital is a great way to obliterate any cost spent on carpentry works and storage of documents. By maintaining digital formats, you will tremendously lower your costs when it comes to office renting and the renovation aspect is no exception. Make an effort to maximize every square foot of your floor-space, and minimize every added luxury that you possibly can.
Should document filing and storage is unavoidable, do consider compactus to provide best space efficiency.
With this formula, you should be spending your renovation budget well in where it matters most. Check out Office Fit-out Cost guide to plan your renovation budget.
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