At Thames Contracts we install all types of solid and glass partitioning for office accommodation in London and the surrounding counties. Here we spotlight five reasons to consider using demountable partitions for your next office refit, and in particular, why using glazed partitions are so often the best choice.
1. Future Proofing
One thing that is certain in the future, is that your business will change in size or shape, requiring a reorganisation or expansion of some kind. This is simply the reality of the business world today, with changes in technology, combined with political and economic flux requiring businesses to be ever more responsive and innovative when it comes to how they organise themselves in order to meet new challenges.
This type of change inevitably results in a need to redesign work space to suit – whether it’s fitting in more people, supporting remote working or providing space for different types of activity.
So, while designing a new office layout can be a challenge in itself, the chances are that it will all need to be changed again in a few years’ time. Demountable solid or glass partitioning offers a solution to this problem, ensuring that if you do need to reconfigure your space in the near future, it can be done so far more easily than if you were to choose fixed walls or stud partitions.
2. Speed of installation
One of the major advantages of opting for demountable office partitions is the speed at which they can be installed. Compared to building permanent walls which may take weeks, demountable partitioning can be installed extremely quickly – often within days – once all the necessary planning and preparation has taken place.
This translates into valuable time saved – enabling you to move into your new office more quickly, or minimising the disruption to an existing office.
3. Building owner agreement
If you are leasing an office and need consent from the building owner for changes, you are going to get agreement far more easily and quickly if your proposed design involves demountable partitioning, compared to proposals that involve removing or adding permanent walls.
As much as a building owner may want to do everything they can to keep a business as a long term tenant, they also know that leases end and tenants may move on – and they need to feel confident that any changes made will not reduce the appeal of the building to future tenants. Because temporary partitions can be so easily removed or reconfigured, this is an approach that most building owners will be happy to accommodate.
4. Cost
Demountable partitions used to be significantly more expensive than installing permanent stud walls, but with the rise in costs for standard construction materials, and the popularity of partitions resulting in a drop in unit costs, the difference in price has narrowed.
Of course, the real long term cost of partitioning depends on how long you retain the partitions and how often you may need to redesign the office. As “re-orgs” become ever more frequent (it is now estimated that a business typically undergoes a reorganisation as many as two or three times every five years), choosing movable, re-usable partitioning starts to look like a highly cost-effective and forward-thinking option.
5. Wide range of options
Demountable partitioning can be either solid or glass – or half-and-half with a solid lower half and glazed upper half. Solid partitions can be provided in a range of colours and finishes, while glass partitions can be embellished with any type of manifestation, either for safety or decorative purposes, to achieve a particular visual effect or incorporate a company logo, for instance.
With all these options comes a greater degree of creativity and the ability to make your office look exactly the way you want it to. This means you not only get the perfect layout for your team to do their best work, but you can transform a generic, and perhaps rather dull, office environment, into a space which is highly distinctive, communicating your brand to staff and clients alike.
6. Glass Partitioning from Thames Contracts
While all partitions offer a great degree of flexibility and creativity, glass partitioning does, in our view, win over solid partitioning in a few important areas:
Flexibility – If you have the possibility of future configuration in mind, glass partitions are more easily repurposed in future designs than solid. Put simply, you cannot make a solid partition transparent or translucent, but you can add blinds or other coverings to a glass partition to provide privacy, should it be required.
Durability – Under normal conditions, glass panels do not deteriorate in any significant way over time. Glass does not stain and all types of dirt are easily cleaned off, making it much easier to maintain a pristine office environment for many years.
Timeless – There is something about glass which always looks modern, but it’s also a traditional material in many ways. In other words, it’s a look which doesn’t date and which can be incorporated into any decorative scheme, from the most traditional to the most high tech.
Light – Above all, glass partitions allow you to make the most of natural light – especially important in large offices with internal areas some distance away from windows. Used correctly, glazed partitions can result in significant reductions in energy bills, as well as helping to create a bright, pleasant working environment.
Glass Partitioning London – We undertake office fitout projects for organisations throughout the capital and surrounding areas including St Albans, Hatfield, Enfield and Stevenage.
