Interior Design, Office Design News, Trends & Tips

28 March 2022

Considerations when planning a video conferencing room

Excessive travel is increasingly becoming a business faux pas, especially since the pandemic has taught us that meetings can be conducted in different counties – and even countries – without leaving our desks. As well as a better use of time,...

28 March 2022

Expansion plans grip the buoyant estate agency sector

Coming to a High Street near you are bigger and better-staffed estate agency branches, if the results of a new survey are taken into account. Property company Nested questioned almost 1,000 estate agents this January to establish their attitudes to...

Office in-house café is making a comeback

11 February 2022

Is coffee the answer to increasing post-pandemic footfall?

Coffee is the answer to lots of questions. Need an energy boost before starting work? Grab an espresso. Suffering from a 3pm slump? Sip a sweet latte. Looking for an informal place to meet? Head out for a cappuccino. Coffee is also the answer for...

11 February 2022

Could you work with just half of your desks?

With Covid edging closer to endemic status and a spring season ahead where the Government looks set to ease restrictions even further, the great return to work can begin in earnest. The Prime Minister has called upon Whitehall to lead by example,...

hybrid agent’s first ever High Street branch

03 February 2022

Not on the High Street, or are we?

It was only a matter of weeks ago that MPL was debating the future of High Street estate agency branches. We wrote about Meyers in Dorset, who had chosen a business park over a shopping thoroughfare for the location of its new branch. True to the...

Office design in 2022: plan for persistent uncertainty

03 February 2022

User studies are the star planning tool for 2022

While it is the start of a brand-new year, it is the same old story when it comes to working patterns and places. The ultra-infectious Omicron Covid strain has left workplaces up and down the country understaffed, with reports of 25-50% occupation...

16 December 2021

4 facets that make up the ‘perfect job’

A new survey by OnePoll, which asked people what their dream job consisted of, revealed some fascinating thoughts. As well as the obvious answers about wage (that would be £44,000 per year) and hours (26 hours or even a four-day week), respondents...

16 December 2021

High Street v. business parks: 2022’s debate

For estate and letting agents, it’s hard to find a more positive piece of PR than the opening of a new office. Adding to the network with a fresh branch shouts success. It also displays investment in the brand and serves as an outward sign that an...

Keep your office legal with an eco-audit

11 November 2021

Order your workplace eco-audit now

Did you see our blog on incoming minimum energy standards for non-residential dwellings? If you missed it, new standards for offices and commercial buildings will be introduced in 2023. Each building will be given an energy efficiency rating (an...

28 October 2021

Empty premises? Create a co-working space

Commercial and retail property owners may be thinking ‘what next’?’ for their space. We’re in somewhat of a limbo land, with the strictest of lockdowns over and the furlough scheme wound up, yet a pervading reluctance for people to go back to the...

28 October 2021

Will your eco-failings leave your office unusable?

Many of us are familiar with EPC certificates that shows how energy efficient our owner-occupied and rented properties are but did you know that workplaces will soon be assessed in the same way? New standards set to be introduced in 2023 will see...

17 September 2021

Acoustics become 2021’s biggest office challenge

When the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management questioned 2,000 adults who had been working from home, it found most of them had returned to the office at least once since the lockdown had lifted. Upon their return, 7 out of 10 said they...

17 September 2021

Is your office exciting enough to tempt staff back?

September is always a watershed moment in the year. Summer ends, schools return and for many, it feels like the start of a new chapter. This year, September is also serving as a line in the sand between home working and a return to the office. Not...

24 August 2021

7 walls option to try in your workplace

Many of the commercial refit projects that MPL undertakes involve expansive open place offices that are handed over as shells. Our design team are expert space planners and after taking a detailed brief from the client – learning about the staff,...

4-design-suggestions-for-two-day-a-week-office

24 August 2021

4 design suggestions for a two-day-a-week office

Although a new YouGov survey found that just one in five bosses will ask staff to sit at their central desk for a full working week, and with Institute of Directors claiming two thirds of business leaders will allow remote working, it has been...

3 ways work wooden slats in office design

09 July 2021

3 Ways to Work Wooden Slats into your Office Design

Wood never falls out of interior design and architectural fashion but there are so many ways it can be used to add interest in the workplace, so why stop at furniture? Some of our most well-received office refurbishment feature timber slats – here...

09 July 2021

ITV’s relocation & how it relates to you

When we saw the news that broadcaster ITV had taken on the 13-year lease at White City Broadcast Centre – once the home of the BBC – the MPL office was filled with chatter. The move highlights three current ‘hot topics’ in the office sector, some...

08 June 2021

How to avoid Boris-style wallpaper woes

There can be no more notorious refurbishment than the very expensive one that has recently taken place at No. 11 Downing Street – the home of the newly-wedded Mr & Mrs Boris Johnson. A national outcry occurred when news leaked of a reported...

08 June 2021

The front-of-house is here

Nothing has made us MPL's team of shop fitters happier than seeing retail stores, restaurants and pubs reopen to the public but times have changed. Rather than people casually meandering in off the street, currently tables need to be pre-booked and...

18 May 2021

Raising the bar

How we work and when we work has undergone a radical overhaul in recent years, especially with our predisposition for an open plan, collaborative way of working. This has given rise to a new workplace zone – the break-out bar - which falls...