August 16
The idea of creating a breakout area where your employees can take a few minutes, relax, and socialize with one another is a great way to deal with the monotony of office life. Here are a few tips to help you understand what a breakout area in the office is, why you need one, and how you can create one successfully.
What is a breakout zone?
A breakout area is any part of the office where employees can step away from their regular working area. The office breakout space can serve a number of functions. For instance:
- It can function as a meeting area for informal meetings
- It can work as the lunch area
- It can be a relaxation lounge
The law requires that employees take time away from computer screens regularly if their day job involves staring at a computer screen all day. Therefore, having a breakout zone also helps encourage employees to take these breaks and avoid over-straining their eyes. There are small businesses that consider this unnecessary, but the benefits of having such a zone outweigh the cost.
What are the benefits of having a breakout zone?
- Your employees will be happy, which has a positive impact on productivity
- Employees sit, talk, and socialize, which creates a work-life balance
- It has a positive impact on your brand image. People want to associate with employee-friendly workplaces
- Lowers rate of employee turnover
How to design a great breakout zone
The ideal office breakout area should be multipurpose because this will help you combat the increasing lack of space problem. The ideal space should be a place where one feels comfortable and forgets about their work life for a while. Look for a part of the building that has a good amount of natural lighting, and is quiet and spacious. When designing the space, think of comfort, like the way you feel the moment you enter the lounge of a five-star hotel. Pick colors that are relaxed, happy, and mellow as opposed to the stiff colors that characterize office interiors.
Choosing the right office breakout area furniture
The design concepts
Have you ever taken the time to look at how innovative brands such as Google, Facebook, and Airbnb conceptualize their office spaces? Well, when creating a breakout zone, you need to think about your brand and what it communicates. For instance, Google showcases a laid-back and quirky breakout space office everyone envies working in. Come up with a concept and get someone to create furniture that matches it. The important thing to remember is that:
- The furniture has to be comfortable. Look for well-upholstered and cushioned sofas to act as the seating and low wooden tables where people can place their items.
- Play with color: learn the art of color-blocking and blending and choose a few bright colors that go well together and still look bright.
- Be generous with live plants, throw pillows, and anything else that takes the room’s comfort to the next level.
- If possible, get a TV on the wall so that employees can maybe watch the news or a short movie or anything that is of interest to them during the break.
Types of furniture to include
The ideal breakout area in office should have a variety of furniture. Try and incorporate chairs such as counter-height, folding, stacking and armless into the entire space’s design. You can have a sitting and relaxing area on one side of the room, and a bar counter on another corner. Folding chairs are great when you want to economize on space.
Furniture material
Furniture comes in a wide array of materials that you can pick from. The common choices that you have include wood, resin, plastic, metal and several other synthetic materials. If your breakout area will be outdoors where there are weather elements, think about getting furniture that will not soak in the water, rot or get broken down by the sun. Ideally, resin and plastic and fiberglass do well, but painted wood and metal can also work just as well. When getting furniture upholstered for the outdoors, look for pillows and other bits that can be detached when it rains. Also, pick fabrics that will not fade fast due to constant exposure the UV rays of the sun.
On the other hand, if the breakroom is sheltered, there is no limit to the choices which you can make. You can decide to pick lounge sofas made of any material, even leather, and mix them up with a few counter-height stools for the bar. The colors can be as vibrant as possible and to make the space even cozier, you can invest in a nice warm carpet for the floor. However, in organizations where the room will be heavily trafficked, avoid getting carpets because cleaning will be a tedious task.
Other furniture and finishing
There is more to breakroom furniture than just the tables and chairs. You may need to look for additional items such as cabinets to act as storage, corner stands, sun umbrellas or shades to keep the sun out if the area is outdoors and a few other additions. The most essential thing is to make sure that the room can convert to a dining area, meeting room or place to relax without much effort.
Keeping it within budget
The best thing about creating this area is that you do not have to break the bank to make it happen. The best way to stay within the set budget is to have an expert handle the design concept for you. They will help you pick the furniture types and materials which suit your budget and carry out the installation in a simple and budget-friendly manner.
Getting an outdoor or breakout space interior office is actually not hard, You just need to visualize what you want and get an expert to help you with the entire design and implementation process.
