Month: March 2019

The open office layout has been around long enough for us to have a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Nearly 70 percent of companies had an open office floor plan in 2017. However, they’re not right for every company.

Open offices work best when collaboration and impromptu meetings are the norm. But some workers need a quiet, distraction-free environment to concentrate—accountants and writers, for example. In addition, open offices may not work for employees working with sensitive or confidential information (again, accountants).

When the walls come down completely, employees have no privacy. This can drag down morale, and productivity can plummet.

The truth is that a combination of open, semi-private, and private spaces is probably best for most companies. It’s called activity-based workplace design (ABW), and it represents a paradigm shift in the way offices have traditionally been designed.

Cubicles still serve a purpose. They enable you to create semi-private and private spaces for employees who need them.

But you don’t have to settle for the outdated padded fabric cubicles of the past. Modern glass office divider walls and sliding glass doors can preserve the aesthetic edge of your office while still providing privacy and individual work zones for your employees.

Even better, cubicle design has evolved. Movable wall partitions allow you to create dynamic workspaces you can adapt to your needs.

Here are some ideas for incorporating sleek and modern glass partitions into your office space.

• Use modular cubicles with frosted privacy glass to create semi-private and private workspaces. Choose soothing colors and natural elements like potted plants to soften the space.
• Arrange cubicles into distinctive asymmetrical clusters around your office space to add visual interest. This can help you maintain the aesthetic integrity of the space while still meeting your employees’ needs.
• If your workforce is mostly team-based and you want to avoid stifling collaboration, partner people up in shared semi-private workspaces using office privacy panels. This way they can share fresh ideas without being subjected to the noise and distractions of a completely open office space. And, you can reconfigure the workspaces as the needs of your team change.

Reinvent Your Office Layout with Glass Partitions by Space Plus

Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company, has cemented its place as a leading producer of affordable, high-quality interior glass doors and partitions for office spaces. From tech start-ups to healthcare facilities, we help organizations enhance workspace functionality with fresh and modern interior glass door solutions.

Our glass office divider walls help you maximize interior space, create private areas for employees, and enhance the aesthetics of your office. Constructed of the highest quality tempered or laminated glass, our partitions are available in a variety of designs, glass types, and frame finishes. View our gallery for inspiration and learn more about our office partitions here.

Whether you’re a visitor or a patient, if you’re like most people, your goal is to get in and out of a hospital as quickly as possible. That’s because most hospitals are brightly lit, noisy, sterile environments.

Yet, a revolution is happening to make hospitals more comfortable using “evidence-based design.”

The goal of the movement is to improve hospital layout and aesthetics to create a safer and less stressful environment for patients and healthcare workers. This, in turn, can improve patient outcomes and prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections.

Rethinking Hospital Design

Hospitals are some of the most expensive facilities to build, yet for decades they’ve suffered from poor design that actually delays healing and leads to worse patient outcomes.

Most hospitals are still designed with features that have been shown to stress patients out, elevate their blood pressure and heart rate, and slow healing. These include sound-reflecting hard surfaces, harsh lighting, inadequate privacy barriers, and sterile furnishings and décor.

Glass partitions can help hospitals and clinics improve patient experience. Here are three benefits of using patient room partitions with sliding glass doors.

• Privacy: As one doctor laments, privacy remains a challenge in hospitals, despite laws meant to protect patient privacy (HIPAA). He points to research showing that the thin curtains typically used to separate patients in non-private rooms make patients less likely to disclose their full medical history and more likely to refuse parts of their physical exam. They also make it more likely that doctors will breach patient privacy by discussing a patient’s personal health matters within earshot of other people in the same room. Replacing curtains with glass partitions can help protect patient privacy and create a more comfortable space in shared patient rooms.
• Safety: Healthcare-associated infections are a major problem at hospitals across the country. Housing patients together makes the problem worse. Private rooms reduce the risk of infection transmission through the air and by touching contaminated surfaces. But retrofitting to create exclusively private rooms is not always possible or economically feasible. Floor-to-ceiling room dividers with sliding glass doors are an affordable way to help reduce the spread of infections.
• Noise Reduction and Aesthetics: Noise levels in the average hospital far exceed guideline-based recommendations. This puts undue stress on patients and makes it difficult to sleep, which is vital for recovery. Earplugs and quieter conversations among staff can help.

Additionally, research has found that patients placed closer to a window who are exposed to more sunlight had shorter hospital stays. Replacing curtains with frosted interior glass privacy walls provides privacy while still letting natural light in for patients who aren’t near a window.

For too long, hospitals have suffered from poor design. Thankfully, this is changing as hospital administrators come to understand how better hospital layout and design can improve patient outcomes—and boost the facility’s bottom line.

Space Plus: Helping to Redesign the Patient Experience

Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company, is excited to be a part of the movement for better hospital design. Our interior sliding glass doors and glass privacy walls have been used to improve patient experience and privacy by a number of high-profile healthcare facilities, including Dignity Health, Mercy Medical, and Quest Diagnostics.

Our semi-transparent glass dividers allow light to flow from one room to the next, giving occupants on-demand privacy while simultaneously improving the aesthetics of the room and enhancing patient well-being. Our interior sliding doors feature large openings and smooth-gliding tracks—perfect for healthcare settings that require easy emergency access and compliance with ADA standards.

Learn more about our interior glass door solutions for hospitals at Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company. Receive a free quote or visit one of showrooms today.