1. Prepared by: Joshima V.M., University of Nizwa.
Office Interiors- Furniture, Lighting INTD405 Modern Practices in Interior Design
Prepared by: Joshima V.M., University of Nizwa.

2. The most common furniture items used by nearly all office staff are:
Desk
Chair
Storage units
Specialized items that are needed sometimes:
Conference room table and chairs
Cashier points
Dealing desks
Bulk-storage

3. Issues on which to base furniture choice
Capital cost: initial price of the furniture.
Cost in use: maintenance, reconfiguration cost etc.
Extent of enclosure: low screens on the desks and tall screens surrounding the workstation.
Desk construction type: screen hung, beam based, supported on C frames. These affect how the workstations come together or fit to the edges.
Cable handling: capacity for cables, number and location of outlets.
Standard of service: supply and installation.
Dimensions
Finishes and aesthetics: color appearance, surface finishes etc.
Ergonomic, comfort, health and safety, green issues.
Mobility and flexibility

4. The combination of a Desk, Chair and local storage of items are called Workstation.
Two general philosophies of providing workstations are:
Stand alone / free standing
Integrated units
Herman Miller produced the first commercially successful system furniture for offices in the 1960s.

5. Aesthetics or Styles Ethereal, slim and high-tech items.
Sturdy cubes that are designed and coordinated with a place for everything.
Total workstations that fold away into cupboards.
Simple items supported on metal or wooden frames.
Self-assembly units.

6. Materials Wood mostly for chief executives furniture.
Metal furniture was initially provided for clerks. Now the new designs in metal furniture are accepted as high quality and form the basis of most of the office interiors.

7. Mobility
Addition of wheels are found in most of the furniture to create options for complete rearrangement of working areas with minimum effort.
Wheels range from discrete carpet friendly casters to large pushchair wheels on the tables.
Some uses folding units for tables, so that they can be neatly folded and stored when not in use.
Some offices take care of the vertical mobility also. Eg: Digital Equipment Company office in Sweden, workers pull the PC down from above as and when required and set back at convenient height.

8. Desktop shapes L shaped: Very cheap Can fit together in many ways
Desk top shapes offer range of flexibility.
Simple rectangular shape:
Very cheap
Can fit together in many ways
Can be of different sizes
Becomes less flexible if the drawers are fixed to the underside.
L shaped:
Extra surface, often a storage unit added to the table
L shape can be on any side according to need.

9. Suitable for deep VDTs (Virtual Data Toolkit).
Deep corner
Suitable for deep VDTs (Virtual Data Toolkit).
But far corner is wasted if very deep.
Less flexibility in planning.
Wave
Informal shape
Various seat positions
Fairly simple and cheap
Less flexibility in planning

10. Gives wide range of possibilities Can cost more.
With extensions
Any shape addition
May be wheeled or fixed.
Gives wide range of possibilities
Can cost more.
Free form
Different angles for different size groups.
3-5 are common
Rigid for planning.

11. Storage Two drawer filing Four drawer filing Cupboard four rows high
Storage is the most important aspect of office furniture.
There are rapid changes in what is being stored in the office and what is needed at the desk.
Types of storage furniture:
Two drawer filing
Four drawer filing
Cupboard four rows high
Revolving
Moving aisle
Power filing
(details in the handout)

12. What to look for in storage furniture.
Suitable dimensions that fit with other furniture and the building.
Strong construction.
Smooth finishes, especially where people come in contact with like the edges, corners etc.
Doors and drawers that move easily.
Good locks.
Easily interchangeable inserts for cabinets that may perform many tasks.
A slot for label
Robust casters with strong locking mechanism.
Materials and colors that can be easily coordinated with rest of the furniture and building.

13. Storage walls

14. UNEP Eco-office furniture labels

16. Office Partitions Division of spaces physically and visually
Partitions are provided in the offices for:
Division of spaces physically and visually
Sound reduction

17. Office partitions
Office partitioning contains various materials, including:
aluminum
structural steel
soft board
whiteboard MDF
gypsum board wall
clear and opaque glass
panel finishes such as wool, wool blends, vinyl, upholstery and other synthetic fabrics.

25. Acrylic room partitions

28. Portable office screens

29. Sound proof partition walls
Sound Transmission Class is a common measurement of sound isolation.
A higher STC figure means more sound isolation.

30. Soundproof partition with carpet tiles.

31. Suspended ceilings
The main purpose of suspended ceiling systems in an office refurbishment are:
to provide fire resistance
reduce heat loss
sound absorption
disguising electrical and mechanical infrastructure.
enhance the aesthetic appearance of your working environment.
Many of the ceilings provide total accessibility, which allows for ease of maintenance for high-level services.

34. Flooring
The choice of flooring in an office refurbishment should involve consideration of appearance but also ease of maintenance.
Entrances and receptions should have an area of barrier carpeting to ensure dirt does not travel into the general building areas.
Mezzanine floors and Computer raised floor systems are common part of new offices.

35. Mezzanine Flooring
Mezzanine is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building.
Area of mezzanine should not be more than 50% of the room area.
The minimum ceiling height for a the mezzanine floor should be 2.1m.

36. Raised Floor or Access Floor
A raised floor or access floors are types of floor that provide an elevated structural floor above a solid substrate.
Created for the passage of mechanical and electrical services.
They are widely used in modern office buildings, and in specialized areas where there is a requirement to route mechanical services and cables, wiring and electrical supply.
Raised/Access Flooring can be installed at varying heights from 51 mm to heights above 1,200 mm to suit services.
Additional structural support and lighting are often provided when a floor is raised enough for a person to crawl or even walk beneath.

37. Lighting Lighting is an essential provision for any workplace.
It is preferable to provide uniform illumination over the entire workplace by combining both natural and artificial lighting.
Good lighting helps us to see and to recognize hazards.
It can reduce visual strain and discomfort.
Poor lighting may affect workers' performance and health as poor visibility increases the chances of errors being made.

38. Types of lighting
General lighting is designed for movement and casual work, such as filing.
Localized lighting provides more intense illumination at the workstations.
Local lighting units illuminate only specific work areas, like a desk.

41. Lighting guidelines
Combine natural lighting with artificial lights to improve your workplace lighting.
Light sources should be well located, illuminating the workplace as well as entrances and corridors.
Disability glare usually happens when broad-band light illuminates your workstation, like light from a window. align your workstation at right angle to windows and similar light sources.

42. Discomfort glare does not cause direct visual interference, but it can be annoying or uncomfortable. It can be caused by direct or reflected light.
This can be avoided by:
reposition of the light source and, or the workstation appropriately,.
avoid the use of well-polished surfaces
reduce the contrast between your work area and its surrounding.

43. The light contrast between your task at the workstation and its immediate background should not exceed a ratio of 10:3. (For example: the document and the desktop)

44. Backlighting will cast shadows of your head and, or body across your workstation.
To avoid casting shadows, attention should be paid on the direction of the lighting.
The minimum level of illumination recommended for work in general offices is 200 lux.
The optimum lighting for normal desk work is between 300 and 500 lux.
It should not be less than 200 lux under any condition.

45. If you are working with colours, like paint or ink, the type of lamp you use will be important.
Generally lamps with high luminous efficiency render colours poorly but fluorescent lamps give both good colour rendering and good vision.

46. All electric lamps emit both light and heat.
Tungsten filament lamps or halogen lamps with reflectors may focus the heat radiation causing possible discomfort or burns.
Use ‘air-handling’ reflectors that disperse the heat, or Use uplighters to re-direct the light and heat radiation to the ceiling.
Alternatively, use higher efficient lamps which demand a lower wattage, to reduce heat radiation.