Your office reception is the first thing that visiting clients will see of your company and so it is vital that this area is kept up to date in order to make a good first impression. As well as looking good your office reception must be disability friendly, and this means that the standard tall reception counter is no longer such a good choice. Most modern reception counters now include a “cut away” section that is dropped to allow wheelchair users to access the counter, and it is also important to consider visually impaired visitors too, so raised glass surfaces may also be unsuitable. A good counter design will include space for storage underneath, as well as plenty of room for the reception staff, as this will be their primary workplace and so needs as much attention as any other workstation.

It is important to consider soft seating in a reception as visitors will need somewhere comfortable to sit while waiting, and fairly firm tub chairs and two seater sofas are a good choice here. Large sofas tend not to work as well as single seaters, so in a reception with limited space 2 or 3 single seaters and a small sofa would work well. Leather always wears well, especially in high traffic density areas, and is a good choice over fabric for anywhere that has users that may be drinking coffee.

Keeping visitors entertained whilst waiting is important, and a large flat screen displaying company information or a news channel is a god way of doing this. If there is the space an internet (or intranet) point can work well to allow visitors to catch up on work whilst waiting, and this can work well if combined as a touchdown counter with 2 or 3 stools that can double up as workspaces.

Receptions are the one area where you can go really bold with colours, or even use a modern lighting system to add changing colours to white walls. The key thing with any reception though is that it is designed with practicality in mind, and so must allow for adequate circulation space, especially as it is usually also the main fire exit. Call us to discuss how we can revamp your reception, and add a bit of life to your office!