Office breakout spaces come in a variety of designs, shapes and sizes. We regularly design and fit-out break out areas for our clients. Often the spaces have to have various uses. Here we discuss what these are and the best ways to plan these into your office design.

A Place to get away from the Desk – chill, relax, quiet time. One of the increasing causes of absenteeism is stress. The growing awareness of wellbeing at work has given space away from the desk a new importance in the modern office. Employees having a nice space to go can make a big difference. Some organisations will even go as far to offer staff PlayStation areas, football or ping pong tables.

An impromptu and informal meeting space – Our experience of working with tech companies has shown us that they prefer scrum type places to the formal boardroom scenario as if encourages creativity and a different way of working. We have also found call centres like conferencing areas near the desk where teams can huddle for training/problem solving. This trend is now extending into general office environments, and we are increasingly asked for high back breakout furniture to help create divisions between teams, and form local meeting space, so they are encouraged to meet away from their desks and not disturb other teams.

A central breakout / town hall space – for all staff to have lunch and breaks. Encourages interaction between teams that might not normally meet. A tip when designing a large breakout space is to consider various heights and types of seating so your employees have a choice e.g. enjoy your coffee at a high poser table, relax in a booth, dine in the café area