By Andrew Johnson Managing Director, Intermain, in partnership with Ray White Commercial
Fitting-out an office is something most companies will do at least once. But with many complexities and moving parts involved, mis-steps can generate both financial and opportunity costs. At Intermain, we advise our clients of five ways they can prepare for their next project to get the very best outcomes for their business whilst ensuring on-time and on-budget delivery.
1. A GOOD BRIEF IS GOLD
A comprehensive brief is multi-layered, and goes well beyond the square footage and workstations required. We guide our clients to think about their ambitions for the business so we can design and build a smart space that supports this. Some of our questions might include ‘what is the desired working culture at the company? What are the growth expectations? What is the company’s brand identity? How do staff interact? What functions does the office need to support?’
Understanding these points means we can tailor a clever scheme that directly supports staff productivity and engagement, creates a space that people ‘want to be’, communicates the company’s brand identity, provides the right infrastructure and future-proofs the office for expansion.
2. FIT-OUT PROJECTS ARE COMPLEX WITH LOTS OF MOVING PARTS
Timing is everything and a successful fit-out project balances the staging of works with the procurement of suitable materials and fittings. By working with a single, multi-skilled team who can manage design and sourcing of materials, through to construction and delivery, companies can de-risk their project significantly. And rather than juggling different contractors who may have competing agendas, this approach gives the client a single, accountable point of contact throughout the project and provides a seamless experience. A good delivery partner will also guide your material and furniture selections to ensure delivery timeframes are aligned with project milestone dates.
3. GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH TIME
Allowing sufficient lead time gives you far more scope to identify opportunities and economies for the fit-out. Once a design brief is agreed, a typical project should allow around three weeks for procurement and a further six-week construction period. But before work can start, companies should ensure they have satisfied all landlord and council approvals, a process that can be extensive if a full Development Application (DA) is required, for instance if your office is located in a heritage building. A good delivery partner will manage this for you, helping you navigate the process and expediting the approvals.
4. CLEVER DESIGN DELIVERS VALUE
With the right design and clever selection of materials, a high-end finish can be achieved even on a limited budget. An example is the Krispy Kreme headquarters we recently completed in Sydney. To ensure we achieved the company’s vision for a stylish and engaging space that reinforced their brand ethos on a limited budget, we created visual focal points around the office using high-end joinery. With these features setting a sophisticated tone across the office, we then had the licence to use more cost-conscious materials elsewhere, bringing the project in on-budget.
5. SELECT A TRUSTED DELIVERY PARTNER
It sounds obvious, but working with a trusted design and construction partner is key to de-risking your fit-out project and ensuring a successful outcome. At Intermain, our definition of a good delivery partner is one who dedicates a quality and experienced team to the task. They will invest the time to fully understand your requirements and design a scheme that achieves your vision well into the future. They will communicate well throughout the project, will always be available to you and will keep you fully informed. They will also innovate to identify cost efficiencies, improved functionality or solve problems. Naturally, attention to detail and pride in their work sets a good provider apart, as does the project management skills to keep the works on track from both a budget and timing perspective.
Andrew Johnson is Managing Director of Intermain, an established multi-skilled commercial fitout company focussed on excellent customer service and high quality building standards across building refurbishment, design and construct for corporate offices, ‘make-goods’, retail and hospitality. Intermain work nationally from offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and have one of the largest, state-of-the art joinery workshops in Australia.
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