Designing the Perfect Front Office Reception Area
The front office reception area should be an extension of your value system and what you are building. It needs to carefully crafted into a space that is modern, functional and stylish, and at the same time project professionalism. It’s one thing to greet office visitors and make them feel welcome, it’s another to make them feel welcomed as soon as they step into your office. With the “Perfect” Front Office Reception design, you have the power to control the latter.
For corporates that welcome visitors on a regular basis, the reception area really is the public face of the firm. By posing the right set of questions you can easily come up a space that is more appealing and welcoming.
Since this interaction is all about first impressions and precedes any human intervention, it makes it all the more important for the reception area to send out the right message. You can do this if you take the time to thoroughly plan each detail of this important aspect of your office space. In this post, we’ll help you ask and address all such questions.
Questions to keep in mind while designing the Perfect Front Office Reception Area
The Aesthetics
Is my office reception design looking at par or better than my competitors? What impressions does it send out to people who step in for the first time? Would I love to step into my own new office?
Some might suggest you keep this particular question for last however, we want you to start off straight with it. Determine the look and feel you want your office reception area to project. Focus mostly on the aesthetics of the place. Find out what kind of impressions would you want your front area to make and how would changing the aesthetics affect these impressions.
To get a better picture you could visit other offices spaces and analyze your own feelings when you step into any office. How does it make you feel when you step into ‘XYZ’ company? Then try to imagine the reception you want and identify your own feelings when you step in. If it’s not something you would love to be a part of. Change it.
Ideally, you should cater to the style and tastes of the type of clientele who frequently visit your office. Keeping them in mind you can come up with with a space that could be anywhere from sleek, creative, cozy or even imposing.
Color Theme
Which color combination will make my reception stand out? Should I be using my brand colors? Would random neutral colors suffice?
Earlier we spoke about your front desk representing your brand values. Selecting the color theme of your new front reception office with striking brand colors is a no-brainer. This makes your visitors recollect and relate to your brand via the colors. However, there could be a possibility that your brand colors make the place look unprofessional. In such cases, you can always choose neutral colors. Light neutrals and earth tones blend well with a wide variety of furnishing options.
There are also colors that match the best according to a particular Industry Type. Read this article to know more about such color combinations — The Best Colors For An Inviting Waiting Room
You can also use the same color combination for carpeting, wall coverings, and window treatments. Alternately, you can choose to focus on materials such as glass, chrome, acrylic, and tile for a more modern appearance. Also, remember to check if your current lighting fixtures need to be upgraded for a better display of colors.
The Best Material
How to find out which is the best material that will go into all my main furnishings? Actual wood or wooden finishing? How much budget should I set aside for such materials in my front office reception?
Firstly, it is highly recommended that you select the materials for each item on your furnishings list at the same time. This will help you set aside a budget by taking care of major expenses at one shot. Here are three things to keep in mind before coming up with a favorite material for your office — comfortability, durability and visual appeal.
Although your budget plays a crucial role here, it is recommended that you go for a better — more expensive material than a one-time shiny but low-cost material.
For example, If you are looking for something that will look and feel good for a longer period, you can go with leather. If you are unable to invest in leather, then you should at least invest in stain/wear-resistant fabric-covered seating. Don’t go out looking for anything beneath it, if you really want your reception to look dapper for a longer period. You can even opt for a wood laminate in the reception area which gives the entire place a warmer appeal.
A Place for the Reception Desk
Where will the Reception Table fit in? Should the reception desk be the centerpiece of the lobby? Or should it be at the side? Will I be blocking anything if I keep it here? If yes, then where should I keep it?
The answer to this lies in the shape and size of the desk. Face the desk towards the entry door for an atmosphere of friendly, immediate greeting. Orient it at an angle to the door if you want a more formal setting.
Remember, your Reception Desk is the first place your visitors are headed upon entering your office. Hence, keep it at a place that you might think is approachable from anywhere and doesn’t block the rest of the room. Also, the reception table design should match with the entire theme of the reception area.
Fixing the reception table first will also help you determine many of your other decor choices. Look for originality and an eye-catching design. Again you can have a look at other business’ for reference and adjust accordingly.
Items on the Reception Table
What do I want to have on my reception desk? PCs, printers, fax machines, security equipment, visitor logs? Are all these absolutely necessary? Has it become too cluttered already? What can be removed?
Plan in advance how you will minimize visible clutter. For example, you can use low shelving under the reception desk to house office equipment and other necessary items.
Get hold of a visitor management system(like people call it nowadays) that is not too heavy on the pocket and also takes care of all your paperwork by maintaining everything on the cloud. If you are looking to hire a receptionist then let the Visitor Management System handle some of the repetitive front office tasks letting them be more productive.
A Visitor Management System like Ara is the perfect tool to capture visitor’s information and give out modernistic outlook to your front office reception area. Plus you won’t be needing badge holders, dull visitor logs, N.D.A forms, leaky pens lying about your front desk anymore.
Design for the Rest of the Office Reception Area
How do I want the rest of the place to look like? Am I putting the rest of the space to its maximum use? Is there space that is not being utilized properly?
If you leave the reception desk aside, you are left with the seating area for your visitors. A careful calculation of this area can help you give an estimate on the number of chairs/couches that can fit here and will be used up to seat your visitors on a busy day. Add one or two small tables so you can arrange the chairs in clusters around them if you have room.
If you already have a blueprint of the place, locate the specifications for each item of furniture and check them against the measurements on your blueprints. Make sure there will be room left for the flow of traffic, especially around the reception desk area.
Final Touches
Does my office reception design area look compete? Did I miss out something? Is my brand impression coming out positive?
If you still think “something’s missing” it’s probably because you’ve not made space yours yet. This means that everything is now up to the finishing touches that will complete your office reception area design. This could include placing your logo on places like your door, the front side of the reception desk or on the wall behind it.
You can even keep art displays that are tasteful and elegant, and go with the theme. Pep up space by adding awards/accolades and business statistics as posters on empty walls if you don’t have patterns or designs on your wall. Save the motivational posters for work areas. Use plants as decorations if they are hardy and as it will maintain a fresh and vital appearance over time.
Ending with an info-graphic that combines all these points into one.
If you’ve already seen something that you like, send us a link in the comments section below! Before you go online and see what’s around, here is a collection of few excellent front office reception area designs that we think are perfect! You can find them all of them in this link — Inspirational Office Receptions, Lobbies, and Entryways
Apart from this, there is also a huge wealth of excellent design available both offline and online. If you are thinking of using an already pre-designed theme for your office front desk just remember to ask yourself all the questions that we have mentioned above.
Originally published at https://getara.co on April 25, 2018.
