Month: January 2021

Holiday Health Appointment Frenzy

Space Plus Blog

As the holidays rapidly approach, people will be making visits back to their families and hometowns, and for your booked out health business, this means one thing. A lot of visitors. In addition to the holiday travel that will undoubtedly occur, there’s one other seasonal certainty you can expect, which will leave your waiting room full and your staff busy. Every year, as we round the corner into a new January 1st, people with employee health benefits realize they only have a few months left to use up their dental points or healthcare deductibles through their health insurance. With hundreds of last-minute bookings, your office will receive a ton of patients- meaning full waiting rooms and little in-between time to thoroughly sanitize and disinfect between clients.

As this time of year quickly nears, it’s time your health facility arms up with the necessary safety precautions and solutions to ensure a safe, sanitary visit for everyone, doctors and staff included. Here are a few of the best safety tips and physical barriers out there currently.

Getting Through the Door

Of course, as in any health facility, the current standard is to take the patient’s temperature upon arrival, require masks to be worn throughout the duration of the visit (unless unable) and to have the client fill out a questionnaire to understand their recent whereabouts and current health state. This all helps weed out any patients who may be sick or contaminated with a flu or any other virus before potentially infecting others.

By Appointment Only

Many health facilities (as well as clothing stores etc.) have decided to only open their doors to customers by appointment only. This helps to space appointments out from guest to guest in order to safeguard everyone visiting. Having less contact or pass-by time limits exposure and the potential for spreading COVID and other seasonal flus.

Limiting Visitors

Another way that dental offices, chiropractic practices, and any other medical facilities have managed to keep their doors open and ensure the safety of everyone is to strictly limit visitors to the facility. Some have a max capacity of less than 50% what they used to intake pre-COVID. Now, they only allow a certain number of patients in at one time, and ask people waiting not to stand closely together while waiting outside in line.

Physical barriers

Without question, if you run or manage a health or wellness facility or medical practice, by now you’ve understood the need for safety barriers between patients and staff, as well as from those waiting in common spaces. And many facilities have begun outfitting their practice with smart safety dividers to ensure everyone is relatively safe. Unfortunately, not all health centers have been able to find the right solutions that offer flexible installation and a wide variety of options to choose from. Luckily, Space Plus is here to help. As a division of The Sliding Door Company, Space Plus melds cutting edge designs and modern aesthetic when crafting their sliding doors, QubiGlass Wall Partitions and medical dividers. By using real glass, and providing an array of sizes, glass opacities, and accessories, they make their glass wall dividers uniquely customizable for every business to enjoy. With professional installation, your facilities will waste no time or business outfitting your interiors with protection everyone can feel good about!

By implementing these spatial solutions into your health facility, you can welcome in the hundreds of clients you’ll see in the next two months, safe and risk free. Keep your staff and your customers as safe as possible against the winter flu season and COVID-19. For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom Qubi Glass Partitions today!

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QubiGlass: The Spatial Solution We’ve Been Waiting For!

Space Plus Blog

Arming your office with invaluable safety solutions will be a crucial part of your business’s game plan heading into the upcoming winter months. Rather than focusing on decorations and outfitting the workplace with seasonal accouterment, your transition to winter may look a little bit different this year!

As a business owner, this pandemic has been rough for many reasons. While the Coronavirus loomed over us, we had to steer the ship in uncertain waters, lead our team forward with little preparation or training, and continue on amidst a global crisis with an undefined end in sight. It has been our responsibility to ensure that our employees are safe and healthy, COVID-free, and comfortable enough to return to a physical office environment. This has become one of our most daunting tasks as leaders, and even more so for those of us ill-equipped to separate our workers from one another swiftly. Many of us leading an entire workforce grappled with this issue and desperately sought spatial solutions to achieve the necessary safety barriers within the workplace. Without the time or budget to completely redesign our office spaces, most of us have felt somewhat powerless- until now.

With the introduction of QubiGlass by Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company, we’ve now been able to work with what we have in our current office environments and improve the safety and quality of the workday of all of our employees. These systems have become especially important now, as more and more workers return to shared office spaces and the start of flu season is upon us! These new systems are an integral facet for those of us running businesses.

In our modern era, most office spaces and conference rooms enjoy a vast open floor plan with little physical separation or view-blocking partitions. And until this transformative year, open floor plans were celebrated! However, with the current pandemic, it’s completely unthinkable to maintain large sweeping open spaces indoors in which the virus could easily travel from workspace to workspace. That’s why the best way at stopping an airborne viral spread indoors is to put up spatial dividers and limit contact between employees.

How It Works

QubiGlass systems work by wrapping around pre-existing cubicles or walls to upgrade them with a glass protective layer. This new QubiGlass design makes it seamless to work with what you have and enclose your existing spatial dividers in this glass system, with hardly any disruption to the office during installation! This innovative system is affordable, quick, and painless to integrate into office interiors, and can be installed in less than one day! Compared with other alternatives that require abrasive construction taking up weeks or months, QubiGlass Partitions allow you to get back to the normal workday as soon as possible.

The best part? These sturdy glass systems are extremely versatile. Not only do they work as an addition to wall partitions and cubicle walls, but they are also available in freestanding form, with an array of unique configurations available. Spatial dividers and glass office wall partitions should be able to work with your space, not against it, especially in these turbulent times!

Glass VS Plastic

Throughout this pandemic, there has been much debate over the difference between glass and other plastic glass forms such as Plexi or other synthetic acrylics. So, why is it important to use glass for cubicle surfaces rather than fabric material, plastic, or wood?

Glass is much more sanitary, easier to clean and disinfect, and is far more durable than all other materials used for cubicle lining. And while plexiglass and other acrylic alternatives are shatter-resistant, glass will stand the true test of time. Acrylic is very porous, and after months and years of cleaning with harsh chemicals to disinfect, the plastic surface area used in these acrylic glass replacements will begin to wear, yellow in color, and fog while glass will remain unscathed throughout the years. QubiGlass spatial systems are designed for durability and longevity.

Putting these tips into play, you can safeguard your staff, employees, and your customers against this fall flu season! For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom QubiGlass partitions today!

Keeping The Workplace Safe This Season

Space Plus Blog

As we head into a new season, there is a collective worry that this flu season will be far more devastating than in years past. With no sign of this virus slowing down, and a vaccine still months out, workers are becoming even more aware and considerate about how to keep their workplace safe and comfortable for everyone. Managing an office space and leading a team can be difficult during these uncertain times. But arming yourself and your workplace with the right solutions will make all the difference in the fight against COVID.

So what are some methods to introduce into the workplace to safeguard employees, visitors, and clients alike this fall flu season? Above all else, you and your workforce should use the known and proven-to-work sanitation standards, which should be regularly followed and unwavering. Your employees need to ensure the safety of everyone in the building while coming and leaving work even if they have individual offices, which is why asking everyone to mask up while at work is another simple solution that guarantees safety for all. All communal areas should be socially distanced and mask-required in order to be safe for employees of all ages.

This information is probably not anything new, but before we get into other safety methods, we thought it important to mention those above, though most people by now are well-versed with the standard safety precautions in place. The following fall solutions list a number of new and inventive systems that really help eliminate unnecessary surface contact, potential airborne contamination, and general fear within your commercial establishment.

Keyless Locking Systems

Considering how often we open and close doors, it only makes sense that locking systems should evolve to meet the modern moment and utilize the available technology. Space Plus, A Division of The Sliding Door Company offers innovative keyless locking door systems that connect right to your smartphone! Rather than carting around a set of dirty keys and touching handles and doorknobs unnecessarily, you can unlock your doors with the tap of your finger.

All you need is your smartphone and the locking app. Simply unlock the door and push open, cutting the contact in half. Especially useful in office settings for utility rooms or individual office doors that open and close regularly, these systems make entering and exiting a total breeze.

Sanitizing

The importance of consistent sanitation cannot be overstressed. Your company should have already created a job for one of your cleaning staff or contracted a team of sanitation experts to consistently and professionally clean, disinfect, and sanitize your commercial space. Door knobs, elevator buttons, kitchen counters, and other communal spaces within the office must be wiped down and sanitized often. Providing hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes throughout your commercial building is also highly recommended in order to help keep employees cleaner and safer for all.

Space dividers

Aside from masks, large outdoor spaces, and self quarantines, space dividers are the newest solution of choice. Many of you have likely seen pop-up plexiglass or glass dividers in restaurants, banks, or any other business that comes in close contact with customers. And as a commercial business, it is your responsibility to outfit your facility or office space with top-grade spatial dividers to keep your employees and your customers a safe as possible. Sliding Room Dividers (floor-to-ceiling and smaller sizes), as well as sliding glass doors and Office Partitions, make it possible to welcome back workers safely without risking the health of everyone indoors. You can choose from countless customizable options, handles, accessories, and even glass transparency when you order your sliding office dividers from Space Plus!

Putting these tips into play, you can safeguard your staff, employees, and your customers against this fall flu season! For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors,wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all. Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and start your educational transformation today!

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Modern Tech Offices Demand A New Level of Swank

Space Plus Blog

It’s no new news that the modern tech industry has surpassed growth expectations, cemented its influence on every corner of modern society, and has moved into just about every major U.S. city. And not only does this tech/startup industry bring money, jobs, and modernization to each new locale it plants itself in, it brings a new wave of design inspiration to a city. From Los Angeles to Silicon Valley, Houston to New York, the business of technology is booming. And over the past decade, that’s meant a massive increase in new building construction, the reimagining of office spaces, and an absolute field day for commercial interior designers across the country. And as an interior designer yourself, surely the thought has entered the mind once or twice as to how exactly one goes about outfitting an expansive, highly coveted work environment for a well-regarded tech client.

Many like to assume that the classic techie is characterized as somewhat of a right-side-of-the-brain, analytically-minded type, but you’d be surprised how well modern Techies can sniff out good interior design versus a lackluster working environment. After all, they’re used to enjoying the fruits of the industry, which undoubtedly have trickled down into everything from their business trips to their comfortable, stylish coworking spaces. So, creating a working environment for these tech brains to create, play, and work within is crucial in their success- both as individuals and as team members. Not only does great interior design help aid their ability to work, but it is also a symbol of the industry’s success, worth, and prestige. With top clients and brands visiting the office often, it’s important to have a well-considered space to host meetings and to showcase work in, among other practicalities. And let’s face it: there’s also simply a bit of indulgence present in the industry. Not a bad thing!

Luckily, being the interior experts we are at Space Plus, a division of The Sliding Door Company, we have the answers you’ve been asking yourself for too long. (We know, sometimes it’s hard to ask for help!) Below is our must-have interior check-list we hope provides you with enough inspiration to get started designing for your new tech clients in the years to come!

First things first: Start with square footage.

As a designer, you need to be able to understand how much room and space you’re working with. Knowing your limitations and how much available space you get to fill is a crucial first when setting out to design a new work environment. This blank canvas is the “skeleton” of your new project that allows you to conceptualize the floor plan before you move on to furniture, desk configurations, and decor. Measure, photograph, and model the space before doing anything else. Creating a map of your intended layout is key!

Next: Begin the Modernization- but make it art.

Our suggestion? Start with the framework before adding in the artful accouterment. This would be everything from wall finish, to doors, office walls, and dividers to material choices. For example, by selecting ultra-modern, well-made sliding glass doors, and office wall partitions, the entire space becomes instantly more functional, updated and contemporized from the start. Instead of continuing with bland office doors, elevate the surrounding space with modern glass pocket doors, and other sliding glass doors that offer both easy and stylish aesthetic. You can decide to go with completely transparent glass, highly opaque for more privacy, and everything in between.

Fill it With Furniture!

Trust us, your clients will appreciate a well-considered furniture selection that offers both comfort and creativity. Even in offices, furniture can be a defining characteristic of the space. Especially when designing a coworking environment, you’ll want to provide thoughtful communal spaces for employees to relax in and bounce ideas back and forth within a comfortable, neutral space. Consider designing multiple seating areas amongst the office with plenty of coffee tables and accent chairs for team members to use during the workday. Create little privacy hubs by installing wall dividers and glass wall partitions to block off visibility from lounge to lounge. These artful spaces are also great to use for casual client meetings!

Next, provide the space with thoughtful juxtapositions. By mixing soft and sleek materials like shearling chairs and velvet couches with raw, earthy opposites like wood and metal you’re able to create interest and intrigue. The combination of indoor/outdoor space is a new must-have in today’s busy and populated world- especially for techies! Provide some much-needed greenery into the office to soothe and freshen the space. Pick houseplants that do well indoors and don’t require much maintenance!

So, there you have it. Our top design tips and tactics can be used as inspiration to help aid your new tech project from the start! Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online for your up and coming commercial needs including glass office dividers, privacy walls, and sliding room dividers. View our online catalog, Get a quote from one of our professionals today, and order the perfect office partitions and sliding doors you need to ensure safety for all online at SpacePlus.com

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A New Kind of Necessity

Space Plus Blog

Interior upgrades for your commercial space or retail business that add convenience and offer flexibility are an absolute must these days. If you own and operate any business that interacts with numerous customers per hour, you need to safeguard both your employees and your clients from spreading the Coronavirus by implementing methods for safe separation.

The key to success is finding a solution that is not only quick, affordable, and cost-effective to install, but one that also offers must-need flexibility during the workday. At Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company, we’re the experts at finding the right solutions for your business. Take our advice, and invest in the best. Here’s a list of some of our safety recommendations if you’re currently operating a business during these unprecedented times.

Be Prepared

To run and operate a safe and effective business or medical practice in the modern moment, you’ll need to arm your place of work with safety measures before anyone even enters the door. This looks like:

Hiring a door greeter that is capable of taking people’s temperature or issuing medical questionnaires to incomers.
Offering a hand sanitizing table, complete with wet wipes and sanitizer pumps.
Keeping the doors closed with a sign on the outside stating your requested protocol such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and store capacity number.
Having a time limit for appointments/shoppers to keep the flow of traffic steady and fair to all visiting.
Request that visitors to your business make an appointment online or through the phone prior to visiting.

Pass-through Windows

Pass through sliding panels allows you to open or close spaces between workers and visitors, such as a pharmacy counter, medical testing site, or food window! Reception windows are a perfect solution to healthcare waiting rooms, education, and any commercial space where people walk up to a counter. The best part? Your business can select from various glass types, frame finishes, locks, handles, and other accessories to find the ideal solution for your business needs.

Transition Your Business Online

Many businesses and even medical practices have made the transition to online, offering all the services they can on a virtual platform while COVID cases remain high and safety is a top concern. While not every need can be met through a screen, the majority of shopping, consultations, and medical questionnaires can be fulfilled using a computer. This helps reduce the number of people visiting the physical place of business and cuts back on the number of workers necessary.

With the integration of glass partitions and wall dividers, hospitals, health care facilities, pharmacies, and retail shops will be able to serve patients, clients, and customers in need. Spatial separation is the most crucial element in this process to safeguard citizens against this deadly virus. Make your facility or place of business as safe as possible for everyone involved. Stop the spread of COVID-19 by integrating glass wall partitions and increasing physical separation between visitors and workers. Visit Space Plus, A Division of the Sliding Door Company online for your commercial needs including glass office dividers, privacy walls, and sliding room dividers. View our online catalog, Get a quote from one of our professionals today, and order the perfect pass-through glass windows you need to ensure safety for all online at SpacePlus.com.

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Tips For Retail Success This Holiday Season

Space Plus Blog

December marks the busiest and financially rewarding months out of the entire year for retail. With the holidays and New Year’s all packed into a one-month long extravaganza, it’s obvious how critical the month of December is for every brand, product, and retail store. Most stores actually spend the majority of the year just in preparation for December. And after all the dust settles sometime around the middle of January, most will admit that the payoff was well worth all the chaos, time, and energy put into the holiday season.

Now, you’re probably thinking “well sure, but this year is different”. This year is dramatically different from years past, but that hasn’t exactly slowed down spending. And the companies that will survive and even thrive this holiday season despite the craziness of the pandemic are the ones willing to put in the extra effort with regards to COVID safety and get creative for their customers.

Make Safety Your Mission Statement

Customers coming from near and far this year will be hitting the streets with safety close in mind. This month alone has produced staggering numbers of Covid cases and deaths, more so compared even to the beginning of the pandemic. This means that those who are choosing to go out and holiday shop in person will be understandably wary of putting themselves in harm’s way and entering into retail stores that don’t meet the right safety requirements. As a shop owner or a retail manager, make safety your priority and arm your business with the right precautions. Here are some of the simple yet effective tools you can use to ensure this year a safe shopping experience for everyone.

Set up a greeting table at the entrance to your shop with hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes for guests to use upon arrival.
Ask that all of your customers use the sanitizing methods before entering the store.
For an extra step of security, take the temperature of your shoppers before permitting entrance
Limit the number of customers allowed in your store based on your available square footage
Place flexible wall partitions throughout your retail store to keep sections blocked off. Some stores have opted to create a one-way path for their shoppers by using standing glass dividers. This “path” helps to guide customers through the store without letting them backtrack. This keeps traffic flowing in one direction and is much easier at socially distancing customers and keeping track of their whereabouts.
Continually sanitize your store after groups of customers leave. Real glass dividers are great for COVID sanitizing because they’re sturdy, non-porous, and won’t weather with wear.

Create A Pop-up Shop

One of the most inventive retail solutions this year in light of the crisis is the resurgence of safe outdoor pop-up shops. These retail shops aren’t only a solution to safety concerns, they’re also great at piquing the interest of passers-by. Pop-ups are usually made possible with little resources, time, or labor necessary! They can even be erected within a day by installing room dividers or floor-length glass wall partitions, to help create the mood of being indoors, all while remaining safe in an open-air environment. Next, bring in tables and benches and artistically outfit the space to display clothing and goods for sale! It’s as easy as that!

This holiday season, you’ll be ready for the frenzy of frantic shopping and curious visitors by ensuring your place of business is a safe one for everyone. For more ideas, inspiration, and related blogs, head over to Space Plus, a Division of The Sliding Door Company, for all the best in commercial space-saving solutions! From Bi-Fold doors to swing doors, wall dividers to suspended systems, Space Plus has it all! Schedule a free consultation with one of our showroom professionals and order your very own custom QubiGlass partitions today!