The Importance of Design in Commercial Properties

with Megan Pucak

We are used to talking about the more technical and large-scale facets of what we do in the facilities management and construction world, but we rarely get to dive into one of the more complex and detailed areas of our industry: interior design. We know an element is an integral part of what we do when we don’t notice a space with it but we are completely unsettled in its absence. This is what we’re talking about today with our special guest, Megan Pucak!

We love how Megan starts off the conversation by talking about some of the more difficult aspects of being a detail-minded creative in an overview-obsessed world. She impresses that creatives often take their talents for granted, which makes it difficult to assign value to these skills. Think about it, there are plenty of skill-sets that come more naturally to us than others, but creatives have a leg-up in that most are born with natural talent. It’s hard to learn how to draw well, visualize a storyline and translate it into film, or as Megan says, puzzling together elements in an empty space and envisioning the outcome; those things just come naturally to creatives. But when these talents and knowledge is all that creatives have ever known, it’s difficult to imagine others NOT possessing them, which makes it a challenge to monetize a craft or understand the value that is held.

Let’s talk about the creative side of our industry though, what difference does it make?

Workflow

Megan notes that when you have good design in your work space, everything just flows better and makes workers’ lives easier. We take for granted issues like department location, desk spacing, and noise acoustics, but when these are not designed well, the basics of doing our jobs are infinitely harder. Think about it: we never notice when we *don’t* bump into our neighbors, or when a conference call is *not* a nightmare because we can’t hear over infuriating echoes, but with good design, those things just aren’t an issue, making it easier to focus on our jobs.

Company Culture

Well-designed offices note fewer sick days and better employee satisfaction. When we as business owners can provide a well-designed workplace, our people just want to be there. We feel that way in our homes, right? When things are tidy and well-maintained with good lighting and a slew of other circumstances, we love hanging out there and our friends and families do too. The same is true of the office. Our team will feel comfortable and creative energy will never be hard to find when we invest in good design. This can also translate into our client experience. When our people are happy, they want to be team players, it’s simple math.

Saving Money

When we invest in the design practices we discussed above, we can actually save money in the long-run. By providing a more effective office environment for our team, we can report better employee retention, saving us money in the form of recruiting, hiring, and training. When we spend the capital upfront to provide creativity-inducing work-flow, we don’t have to make as many upgrades in the future. Statistically, investing in good design is always worth it, and here at CGP, we cannot recommend taking care of the nest, so to speak, first and foremost.

Big thanks to Megan Pucak for being our guest on the podcast episode that goes along with this blog! Megan is a LEED BD+C certified interior designer. Born and raised in a small mountain town in Colorado, she learned love of nature and the importance of the preservation of those resources at an early age. She attended the Design Institute of San Diego, receiving a BFA in Interior Design. She has now traded the rocky mountains for the beaches of San Diego and feels lucky to call two such beautiful places home. You can find Megan at https://www.meganpucakinteriordesign.com/.

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Facility Manager      interior design