Are Pocket Doors Good For An Office Space?

A basic duty of an employer in any commercial business is to provide a safe and comfortable workplace for their employees. The health and safety of employees is a fundamental responsibility, but in addition to that, it is beneficial to the business to optimise comfort and provide an ergonomic workstation that enables an employee to maximise their output and efficiency. This means providing the required tools and equipment, comfortable seating and tables, but also creating an ambience that is not suffocating and enables the employee to fulfil their potential and be fully productive.  

Providing a comfortable working space therefore means more than the layout and facilities of a room, but also how large it is, what space is available, the temperature of a room, ventilation in a room and how much natural light there is. These factors can all influence how we think and behave, how dynamic and prolific we are and what decisions we make. So the process of matching working needs with available office space is a very important one, and the pocket door is an influential factor in maximising office space to get the best out of employees.

How the pocket door is best used for office space

Office spaces vary in size, and much like the domestic home, we often have to deal with the space we have available and make the most of it. This isn’t always ideal, but the pocket door is a mechanism for exploiting space and maximising the benefit of it.

We can divide office space into large, medium and small categories, and the pocket door has an influential role to play in all three scenarios, because in all situations the extra space it creates can make a huge difference to workflow, work relationships and productivity.

• Large office space - Double pocket doors are ideal for a large office space that is created as an open plan office, and the extra space can be used to fit as many people in the office as possible, while also allowing for comfort and privacy. Clearly you don’t want people sat on top of each other, but the extra space the pocket door creates might just enable you to fit an extra person in, or to fit other facilities in like a break-out or meeting area with a sofa, or a small canteen area for breaks.
• Medium office space – This is a similar scenario to above where a few extra square feet enables you to maximise space. In this situation you may be looking to accommodate two or three people in the same office, and the extra space created allows you to fit in an extra chair for meetings, maybe a photocopier or a printer all the employees can share. When suitable space is in short supply elsewhere, being able to fit three people in an office rather than two makes a huge difference and helps to build teams and keep morale high by having people work together rather than being isolated.
• Small office space – In this situation the pocket door really comes into its own. By dividing a larger space into two smaller spaces, we can create an adequate office space, but due to the small size we might need to install a glass pocket door. This allows natural light to flow into the room and makes it more comfortable and less claustrophobic, this presents a working environment that is more manageable and more pleasant to spend a working day in, while also being calm, de-stressed and productive. While some working functions benefit from people working together in the same environment, other functions are more solitary, or seniority and authority dictates that they should work separately and with more privacy. Glass pocket doors can be personalised with company logos and can also be made with a satin opaque finish which allows light to shine in, but provides some privacy also. So in the case of a small office space, the pocket door helps to utilise the available space very well.

Other uses for pocket doors in the office environment

Pocket doors can also be used to accommodate storage spaces, and are useful for better utilising large spaces and sectioning-off an area to store files, documents or product and equipment. Pocket doors are also useful for creating computer server rooms, a small canteen or a toilet facility. And double pocket doors can also provide a suitable entrance for boardrooms or meeting rooms, particularly where visitors will often be using the room.

Aesthetically, pocket doors are clean, minimalist and unfussy. This promotes a stylish and professional outlook that will reflect well on your business to external visitors, but will also help to provide a comfortable environment for employees and boost their productivity. If you require any help and support in choosing a pocket door system for your office space, then contact our team at MB Direct today.