When there’s a business to run, priorities have to be made. Unfortunately, that often leaves offices victims of neglect.

Tom Adams, owner of Relax the Back in Overland Park, saw his space become overrun with storage for years and was kind enough to offer it up to a pair of talented designers to get their takes on what a newly focused office would look like for him and his team.

Manager Larry Williams has been with Relax the Back for about four years and isn’t quite sure what the true function is. “I’ve never really considered it an office,” he says. “I just figured it was a storage room with a desk. If I’ve got someone coming in for an interview I take them next door [to Panera].”

Along with their renderings and designs, our two teams provide some insight on why they went a certain direction:

Contract Furnishings and SquareOne Studio
To plan for an enviable workspace, we begin by assessing the user’s work processes. Assessment includes measuring work surface area requirements and inches of filing requirements. We try to understand the individual’s requirements for meeting space, and balance it with their need for privacy. We always consider proper lighting and good ergonomics.

Our design concept utilizes vertical space to optimize use of the office. Three-high lateral files take up less floor space than the vertical files and hold a greater quantity of filing. Wall-mounted upper cabinets with glass doors can be used for binders and smaller boxes/supplies.

On the opposite wall, clean-lined, floating open-shelves continue to take advantage of wall space. These shelves can be used to store personal items, binders or anything that needs to be readily accessible. A monitor on the wall replaces the small television. A full storage low credenza includes a pullout printer nook and is shown with a modern back-painted glass-top executive desk.

Finally, to allow for large items to be stored behind closed doors, two large, deep cabinets set on the front wall with enough room remaining on the wall to stack any oversized boxes.

Tran + Thomas Design Studio LLC
With Larry Williams’s (store manager) favorite color of blue, we created a space that works the way he does. It was important to him and the owner that the office have storage of all kinds, privacy, a place to interview people and room to leave it spacious.

Our solution: Create a separate space for the office and for storage. Keeping boxes and items stored out in the open makes work more difficult. We added wall sculptures and window treatments for sound absorption and a handsome look. Artwork and furniture choices tie back into the store’s focus of healing the body. The natural woods lend themselves nicely to the feel of the store and the goals of those using the space. The new position of the desk will reduce glare on the monitor, which was no doubt an issue before and causes him to close the blinds, cutting him off from nature. We wanted to be sure natural light could begin to be used by including the right type of window treatment.

The space is now functional and the ideal image is conveyed to those who enter.

See the story HERE!