The floor plan for a public space or building creates the first strong impression for visitors. Likewise, the processes occurring there can be significantly affected. Architecture also creates an emotional impact that can aid your clients and employees or frustrate them, and it's critical to know-how. Creating a space that is both functional and inviting to clients and employees will help to maximize workflow and create a positive working environment.
Industrial and office spaces must have a good workflow. A poorly built hospital slows transport and confuses patients, creating potentially deadly mistakes and causing unnecessary stress. A tortuous office or factory floor layout creates delays, oversights, and other inefficiencies. The layout of an office building needs to be clean and efficient in design for the ease of traffic in and out of the office building. Elegant retail and professional floor plans can guide you to the products you seek or the dental and doctor's office for your appointment.
Casinos are notorious for deliberately violating the basic principles of smooth flow, to disorient and mislead you, so you'll dawdle or feel frazzled; they want you to make impulsive decisions like drinking or spending more. Depending on what your business does it is important to incorporate a floor plan that works well with what you do.
Architecture can have amazing effects on mental states, usually without you even noticing. A classic example is Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple, in Chicago, Illinois. It is designed to lead the congregation from a windowless narrow entry hall upward to the open well-lit seating in a circuitous way that also takes your mind upward in contemplation of the divine. Even from the outside, the natural shape causes you to think about the world above us.
The Divine Mother Healing and Meditation Center by Vadim Podrobinok, an architect in San Francisco CA, illustrates a similar effect but horizontally; the curved undulating pathways among the trees and buildings along with the water's shore guides you to different destinations in a peaceful way intended to mirror your smooth transitions in life. The way a structure is built can also have a negative impact on your emotions, for example, a poorly lit hallway, or a dark workspace that feels cramped.
Courthouses, police stations, and airports are especially stressful for all parties. Most people working there or passing through are on tight schedules, are paying dearly for the experience, or face significant consequences. Being late for boarding can cause a missed deal, being late for court can lose custody or result in jail time and being in the wrong place in the police station can get you shot. A good layout can alleviate all those risks and elegant architecture design can also put you at ease so you'll make better decisions when the time comes.
Architecture is like the bones of a city, and floor plans like the arteries. When they work right, you hardly notice and life is grand. If they fail, nothing else matters. As you are contemplating the ways in which you can improve the workspace think about the structure of a new building, the layout, and the overall ambiance you want others to feel when they come into your space. A well-structured floor plan will create a better workflow and a more positive experience for clients and employees.
Katie earned a BA in English from WWU and loves to write. She also adores hiking in redwood forests and photography. She feels happiest around a campfire surrounded by friends and family.