An inspiring meeting room isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity for fostering collaboration and driving innovation. Studies show that informal meeting spaces can help to boost creativity and encourage people to step outside their own team to swap ideas and viewpoints. The right meeting room design has, therefore, the potential to transform dull, unproductive sessions into far more enjoyable, creative and productive interactions.
Currently there’s a shift away from traditional boardrooms towards meeting areas that encourage more flexible working, spontaneous communication and open dialogue – including collaboration zones, meeting spaces with armchairs and more than one table, and even standing tables.
This article offers some practical tips for designing an office meeting area that’s fun and functional – a relaxed, creative hub for engaging people, generating ideas and energising business culture.
Decoration and Design
Colours and Themes
Colour is essential to meeting room design. The colour scheme of a meeting space can have a profound impact on people’s mood, creativity and overall engagement, as different hues evoke specific psychological responses.
For example, while blue promotes calmness and focus and green provides a sense of balance and relaxation, purple can prompt inspiration and imagination, and orange can foster warmth and enthusiasm.
Also consider how well your chosen colour harmonises with any existing branding or design scheme. If, for example, there is a biophilic design approach that brings elements of nature into the office environment to boost wellbeing, a neutral white or green for the meeting room design would tie in well. Alternatively, if you want your meeting room to feel bold, impactful or quirky, red might be the best colour choice.
Artwork and Accessories
The choice of artwork and accessories can make a big difference in delivering a winning meeting room design. For example, using pieces made by local artists, or one large mural rather than several smaller works, can add personality to the space and reflect key brand values.
When it comes to accessories, incorporating interesting plants and greenery into a meeting room design scheme can add a touch of fun and informality: think particularly colourful or structural floral arrangements or maybe oversized succulents or cacti.
Similarly, on-desk accessories like brightly coloured notebooks and abstract ornaments can spark conversations and help to create an informal atmosphere.
The Walls in your Meeting Room
Interactivity and Acoustics
In addition to colour choices, it’s important to consider how some other elements of the meeting room design can enable innovative thinking and idea exchange.
Interactive Wall Elements
Getting employees to write on the walls during brainstorming meetings is a great way to foster a fun and informal vibe that encourages fresh thinking. Rather than simply sourcing standard whiteboards, consider a colourful write-on board in plastic or glass. Installing a fully wipeable whiteboard or blackboard wall that people can write directly onto can quickly break down barriers and get ideas flowing.
Cork boards are also a good addition to meeting rooms, as people can instantly put up notes and create visual plans during their meetings.
Acoustic Treatments
In creative spaces – and meeting rooms in particular – soundproofing is essential. It ensures that any sensitive information shared in a meeting room stays inside it.
In addition, when people feel secure that they are only speaking to those inside the meeting space, they’re far more likely to talk honestly and unleash their full creativity without worrying about judgement and the opinions of the wider workplace.
Remember, acoustic panels can also serve as a striking decorative element that enhances an office’s meeting room design scheme, depending on the style you’re aiming to achieve in your meeting area. Soundproofing panels come in a variety of textures, shapes and styles, allowing them to add both aesthetic and practical value to the meeting space.
Lighting in Meeting Room Design
When deciding on lighting for a meeting space, it’s always a good idea to maximise natural light. Some ways to achieve this include:
- Using glass walls and partitions to allow natural light to flow into the meeting room from other areas
- Building meeting rooms near windows, if you’re still in the process of adding a meeting room to your current office layout
- Choosing light and reflective wall colours to amplify the brightness of the space and make it feel bigger
Where natural light is limited, artificial lighting options can help the space feel brighter and more inviting. The ‘feel’ of light depends on its colour temperature, expressed as kelvins, so it’s important to get this right.
For example, you could use circadian rhythm lighting. This reflects the body’s natural 24-hour cycle which influences certain physiological processes, such as sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, and body temperature regulation.
For example, circadian rhythm lighting reflects the body’s natural 24-hour cycle, which influences physiological processes such as sleep-wake cycles, hormone release and body temperature regulation. This lighting approach uses cooler (blue-toned) light in the morning and warmer (yellow-toned) light in the evening, similar to the change in natural light outside.
This type of lighting is known to improve alertness and productivity, as well as enhancing mood and wellbeing and reducing eye-strain, making it ideal for meeting rooms and offices in general.
Furniture Meeting Room Design
Modular Furniture
Modular furniture is an essential feature in a meeting room design that promotes spontaneity, co-operation and creative thinking. This type of furniture is highly versatile. It can be repositioned to suit any situation and requirement, whether that’s an individual presentation, a formal boardroom-style meeting, or an ideas exchange that demands an open floor.
Modular furniture is also ideal for smaller workspaces, in which every square metre of the floor has to have one or more functions. Its flexibility means it can be set up in a variety of ways to suit the space and task at hand, from a client meeting to an ad hoc break-out.
Comfortable Seating Options
As well as flexibility, comfort is an absolute must: it impacts people’s wellbeing and potentially their physical health – and therefore productivity.
There are lots of seating options to promote more informal meetings – from bean bags to lounge chairs and more. However, before choosing seating it’s essential to discuss this with colleagues to see which type of seating suits them best.
While some might enjoy sinking into a bean bag, it might not be ideal for those who suffer with back problems. And some people may prefer to work in a more upright position, rather than in a lounge chair. It often works best to offer different seating options within the meeting space.
Technology in Meeting Room Design
Designing the right technology into the fabric of a meeting space will ensure it works to its maximum potential.
Here are a few of the essential pieces of equipment and technology to consider incorporating:
- A phone
- A smartboard or television with remotes
- Plug sockets and USB sockets for people to charge their devices
- Video conferencing technology
- A microphone and camera
- Project management tools and other essential apps
Some other tech tools to consider for a meeting space that’s a hub for creativity and freed-up thinking include bluetooth speakers, interactive displays and adaptable lighting.
Bluetooth speakers allow colleagues to play their choice of music during meetings (if allowed), while interactive displays can help set the mood and encourage conversation and collaboration. Adaptable lighting is a great addition to a meeting room design because it lets people subtly alter the mood of the room to match the tone of the meeting, by choosing different lighting colours and temperatures.
Maintaining Your Ideal Office Meeting Room
Designing a fun and creative meeting space that embraces informality is essential for supporting employee productivity and collaboration. It can actively contribute to a dynamic, enjoyable work environment that attracts and retains talent.
Once you’ve selected the perfect colours, accessories and furniture and integrated the technology that works best for your business, think about how to keep the meeting space or spaces working to the max. It’s important to get employee feedback, to ensure everyone is happy and feeling at their most productive and creative while in the space.
And, of course, cleanliness is a no-brainer. The Clean Network has the expertise to keep your inspiring new meeting areas immaculate, protecting surfaces and tech so the space keeps on supporting creativity. Why not contact us to discuss your office cleaning needs or for a free quote?