Design of meeting rooms

In addition to the fact that the meeting room should have enough space and be equipped with the right AV solutions, it is also important that the meeting is room designed to be a space that inspires creative thoughts and productive meetings. Here, time has passed from vibrant colors and statements on the walls. Today, it's more about creating spaces that give us peace of mind for creative thinking and contemplation.

Only a well-thought-out meeting room designed and designed for the purpose will be worth the investment

Like a checklist of what the meeting room should be technically capable of (notches on flat screen, video conferencing, whiteboard, etc.), a list should also be made of the elements that are beneficial for a good and inspiring environment. Therefore, good acoustics, inspiring lighting and mood-creating and inspiring colors must also be checked.

It is also important that the comfort and layout of the meeting room is adapted to the meeting form. So good, upholstered chairs maybe with armrests for the long meetings or maybe high tables with or without bar stools for the short and a little more informal. It could also be the meeting room in fact serves its purpose better with comfortable upholstered furniture. It may even be that the meeting room does not have to be arranged in a room but as a zone.

A meeting room must offer high speech intelligibility!

Speech intelligibility is an expression of the degree to which one has hit an acoustic, which makes it easy for everyone to follow the conversation or presentation. It is even something that can be measured as the so-called speech transmission index (STI). You do not need to know your STI, but it is important that you work purposefully with the acoustics in the meeting room. Otherwise you risk unfocused meetings where it is difficult to get it all involved. This is something that Grape or other acoustic experts can help you get to grips with.

Did you know that there are lamps that, in addition to providing a good light on the meeting table, also regulate the sound precisely in favor of the acoustics and thus the speech intelligibility in your meeting room? Grape Float and molos cloud are two good examples from here.

The lighting in conference and meeting rooms must be designed in a slightly different way than in the rest of the interior

In an office interior, the focus is generally on creating good basic lighting and proper work lighting. In the meeting room, the situation is a little different. The primary thing, of course, is that there should be a good light on the meeting table. But if you are not careful, it can easily affect other things. The wrong lamps can dazzle the meeting participants and give focal points in the flat screen or on the screen. Therefore, choose either lamps with a soft diffused or indirect light or narrow beam lamps that cast the light directly on the table. Good examples of the two types are Grape Float (narrow beam) or molos cloud lamp (diffuse). They even have good acoustic properties, as mentioned in the section above.

The rest of the meeting room should also be illuminated with care. It could often be a good idea with some effective and inspiring light on the walls, for example with a so-called wall-washer lamp or spots in the ceiling. Toy from Panzeri® is a really nice wall-washer that "blends" nicely into the surroundings.

Colors, shapes and materials must not be solely a matter of taste when decorating meeting rooms.

Personal taste and preferences must never take over the control of how you organize your business. Of course, this also applies to the meeting rooms. Colors, shapes and materials affect our senses more than most people just imagine. In fact, so much so that strong signal colors like red and yellow can increase heart rate, blood pressure and the secretion of stress hormones! A study of nature gives some good ideas about what is good and bad.

The same considerations apply to the design. Nature's soft shapes provide more security than sharp edges (and predator teeth). Not that everything has to be round and soft; but by using soft shapes, the decor of the meeting room becomes noticeably friendlier and nicer to stay in.

It may sound a little high-brow; but to really feel the decor, organic materials are just more present than the synthetic ones. There are surfaces that mimic nature's materials for confusion. But it just never gets quite like the real thing. Therefore, as far as possible, use nature's own materials as they are, or do something completely different. Therefore, choose organic linoleum in a delicious natural-inspired color rather than laminate or foil, which looks like wood.

We would probably keep the technology to a minimum

Who has not helped fight with a striking projector? Or what about the video conferencing call with poor or no sound at all? We know technology is here to stay, and it's definitely getting better. But before you invest in one or more of the meeting room's endless gadgets, consider what is strictly necessary and make it all as simple as possible.

The electronics that end up finding their way to your meeting room should be stored away as soon as possible. Either with some of the fine storage developed for the purpose or by getting a carpenter to build a double wall that can swallow cables, speakers, webcams, etc. Cable spaghetti is a "no go" in the perspective of this article.

The meeting room does not always have to be a room with fixed walls. It can also be an island or a cave

The informal talk may not have to take place in a room behind a closed door. This is because it contributes more to the informal atmosphere if you throw yourself on a sofa in a common area. However, make sure that the sofa talk does not disturb others. The sound must be shielded from, for example, acoustic room dividers. In recent years, the box or alcove sofa - sofas with high backs and in some cases roofs - has appeared in the interior design of companies' lounge areas. The idea is that they should shield from the sound. The Grape Box sofa is our take on how it is made with soft shapes. Its embracing curves contribute to the feeling of security, and the detachable top makes it otherwise convertible and therefore flexible.

The meeting box also wins. The free-standing boxes are intended as an alternative to building solid walls. The advantage, of course, is the flexibility. Grape developed Grape Cozy 6M2 for Copenhagen University with walls covered with cork and felt and lots of good cave atmosphere.

May we help you with your meeting rooms?

If you think the above made sense, there are good chances that we will get on wavelength if you choose to bring Grape on the team when you need to set up new meeting rooms. Finally, contact us for an introductory talk.