How to Maximise Natural Light in Office Design

A common feature of contemporary office design is to make best use of natural light. Maximising natural light doesn’t just reduce energy costs, it also creates the illusion of a larger space.

As well as this, natural light is said to better motivate employees to work to their full capabilities. In fact, studies have shown that exposing employees to light in the office results in them feeling better rested and having a higher quality of life – which in turn helps them to focus more on their work!

There are 4 particularly clever ways through which you can effectively maximise light in office design.

1.       Open up your space

Perhaps the easiest way to make the most of natural light within an office space is to create an open work environment. Use smart glass panels for private offices instead of interior walls, to allow natural light to travel unencumbered throughout an office space. The open design also has the added benefit of giving employees a larger space to manoeuvre, which is also thought to increase workplace productivity.

2.       Keep your design minimal

It’s not enough to allow natural light to flow naturally into an office space, you have to ensure it can travel throughout the space as well. Bulky furniture can get in the way of natural light and reduce the impact of having wall to wall windows and skylights.

To ensure this won’t be a problem for an upcoming project, keep furniture to a minimum.  If this doesn’t seem feasible with the amount of storage space required, perhaps opt for stylish lockers that can be made into a feature wall, keeping the middle of the office open and not disturbing the flow of natural light.

3.       Install Electronic privacy glass

When you have an open office plan, you risk your employees being distracted by the constant flurry surrounding them. However, since the benefits of a larger space and natural lighting far outweigh the negatives of the “gold fish effect”, privacy glass partitions offer the perfect solution.

The privacy glass allows natural light to travel throughout your office when the transparent mode is selected, while still providing privacy when the opaque option is chosen. Privacy smart glass is ideal for confidential meetings or projects, or even just times when workers feel they need complete privacy in order to concentrate.

4.       Make your surfaces shine

A widely used design hack is to maximise natural light is to installing mirror to bounce light through an office space. However, it may seem slightly incongruous to install a plethora of mirrors in a corporate office. Luckily, there is an alternative available!

Choose sleek surfaces instead of matte finishes to reflect the natural light throughout your work-place, and brighten up the interior. From counters, to desks, to cabinets and partitions, there are plenty of ways you can seamlessly integrate reflective surfaces in your project, and more effectively bounce natural light throughout the room.

Interested in incorporating privacy glass into an office design project?  Feel free to get in touch to discuss your project and request a quote.