Lecture 3 - Location and Layout of an Office

Lecture 3 - Location and Layout of an Office

Location

The location of an office depends primarily on the commercial activity of the undertaking in question. A company must have, by law, a "registered office" but although official government and legal documents are delivered to this office, some companies will base their headquarters or main offices elsewhere. The location of an office depends primarily on the siting of the firm. It is the siting of the firm which must take preference and it is important to take into account certain factors:

nearness to public transport and accessibility to other means of transport
nearness to shops, banks, post offices, cafés and restaurants
nearness to firms or establishments of a similar nature
allocation and provision of adequate parking spaces. The Planning Authority will refuse to allow the construction of office buildings without a provision for parking facilities.

Within an office building a number of considerations must be taken when allocating space for offices:

Reception area - This must be easily accessible from the outside and is normally located at the main entrance and will therefore be visible on entering the premises.
Personnel office - In large firms with a personnel department it is wise to place the personnel office as close as possible to the main entrance. This is especially a requisite for firms with a high level of staff turnover or recruitment.
Purchasing Office - Since suppliers will often need to meet with personnel from the purchasing department, this office is often placed close to the main entrance.
Reprographic Office - This is best placed in an area which is most easily accessible to all departments, this is normally at ground floor level.
Centralised offices (mail room, filing, messenger and accounts) should be central and convenient to other departments.

Layout of an Office

Before deciding on office furniture an equipment, an important decision must be taken - the layout of each office. There are two main types of office, and these are discussed below:

Cellular Offices

This is the traditional type of office. This is normally rectangular and similar in size to a medium-sized room with doors and windows. It takes its name from the fact that it is a self-contained room.

The advantages of cellular offices

They allow for privacy
They are relatively quiet for work which requires concentration
Cellular offices may be locked, providing security for anything confidential or valuable.
Special conditions can be provided for equipment which needs controlled temperature and humidity

Disadvantages of cellular offices

Increased supervision is required as each office operates behind its walls
More space is required in a building, because of partitioning, doors and windows.
Increased maintenance costs, due to separate airconditioning, lighting and separate redecoration.

Open plan offices

An open plan office, in contrast to the cellular office, is furnished as one integrated office and will be invariably be partitioned into smaller offices. The partitioning itself normally consists of screens, but may consist solely of plants in pots or stands. The open-plan office generally accommodates staff from different grades (eg. the reservation clerk will share an open office with her supervisor, as well as the Sales Manager) and is favoured by firms adopting the "one stop shop" approach.

Advantages of open plan offices

They are fairly easy to supervise, all staff are generally in view.
Communication between sections and departments can be carried out without delay.
Flow of work is speeded up - it is just a question of moving paperwork from one desk to another.
They enable centralisation of office services to be organised easily.
Managers and senior staff are in constant contract with staff.
They are cheaper to maintain - economical use of space, airconditioning, lighting.
Layout can be changed quickly with minimal expense.

The disadvantages of open-plan offices

They are noisier, because of the lack of partitions.
Employees tend to be distracted, because of people passing to and fro.
Security is reduced - no lockable doors.
Privacy is difficult to obtain.
Infections (eg. colds and cough) spread quickly.
Lighting and ventilation for all tastes is difficult to achieve
Senior staff prefer their own offices which are still considered a 'status symbol'.
The atmosphere is impersonal - employees cannot hang up their own choice of paintings, pictures etc

Office furniture

There is a variety of office furniture designs to choose from. Well-designed office furniture helps health and efficiency in the office. Furniture must be of an ergonomical design - the heights of desks and chairs should be appropriate to avoid slumping and discomfort.

The choice of material is important. Plastic furniture is a fire risk and may cause suffocation within seconds after the outbreak of fire. Steel furniture is therefore preferrable.

For computer operators a shaped module desk with swivel chair provides the user with both a working area and a typing area. Footrests should be made available for all clerical workers.