Privacy continues to be one of the biggest obstacles our clients face in terms of ensuring productivity and comfort for employees when working in the office, particularly given that open plan offices are the norm.

This month we delve into the variety of ways in which you can achieve visual privacy in an office environment.

Privacy doesn’t have to solely result in dedicated meeting rooms and privacy pods. Creating spaces where employees can concentrate and focus on important tasks without interruption is critical to an effective work environment. We discuss such solutions in detail in our recent article that showcases the latest Smart Pods by Framery, linked here. However, there is also a need to go a step further and create visual privacy for wellbeing and productivity.

Visual privacy can give a feeling of comfort and balances open areas and collaborative spaces with the necessary levels of privacy needed to ensure productivity in the office. We outline some practical examples below to assist you in identifying simple ways to overcome this privacy challenge in the workspace.

Privacy screens:

Examples of visual privacy can be as simple as divider screens on workstations. This helps to define a workspace or dedicated desk, gives a pop of colour and also assists in improving the acoustic performance of the office.

Floor standing divider screens can create nooks and focus spaces that give a feeling of privacy and seclusion, important for private calls or a specific space for focussed work.

Ceiling hung sliding screens are a superb product to control visibility. Acoustically rated, they can be mounted to a sliding track to enable users reduce or increase visual privacy, controlling their preferred level of visual privacy as necessary.

Floor standing mobile boards are a practical way of creating privacy within a space, whilst also providing sound absorbent textile to the back and glass board to the front for versatility.

Zoning with Grid / Modular Storage:

A number of the commercial furniture manufacturers we represent here in Ireland have a wide variety of solutions to overcome this privacy challenge. We regularly create zones on office layouts and designs to space plan offices with specific tasks in mind, i.e. collaborative spaces, creative spaces, focus / concentration spaces, break out / informal spaces etc. Open storage divider units are hugely popular in creating such zones, they divide areas and block sightlines but also create a welcoming and homely feel. The open shelves enable the display of plants, accessories, books and achievements.

Plants & Greenery:

Biophilia creates a beautiful sense of calm and visual privacy when utilised correctly in office design. Planter units at the end of workstations offer visual privacy for employees focusing on desk-based tasks, giving more comfort to those located along a walkway. Green walls can be used to divide space, again to offer visual privacy and placing plants in the corners of spaces can obscure direct views into specific areas.

High back seating:

Using high-back break out seating in informal spaces can encourage people to use such spaces, as sometimes it is the case that low back sofas are under-utilised. High-back furniture can make people feel more comfortable and facilitate those who may want to sit in peace or have some quiet time. The seating can be tall enough to block the line of sight and often act as a sound absorber if taking a call whilst seated in such high back armchairs / lounge chairs.

Open booths are also a popular furniture solution for creating privacy, a less formal look and feel versus privacy pods. Popular in dining areas and break out spaces, they offer people a privacy nook and quiet space with high back and sides, blocking the visual line of sight. They can also be placed against walls to minimise exposure to people walking by.  Open pods can also provide an agile and adaptable private space that lets you focus on your work.

Here at Bizquip Interiors, we can accommodate your evolving requirements to ensure you have a functional workspace that enhances productivity, engages your team and creates a cohesive atmosphere for everyone to thrive in.

Get in touch with our team of workplace specialists to re-evaluate your workspace today, here is a link to our contact form: https://bizquip.ie/contact/ Fill in your details and someone from our team will be in touch.