How High?

Panel height is one of the important things that need to be determined when designing your new workspace. What options do you have? Now more than ever you can customize panels to best meet your needs; both functionally and aesthetically. When considering what height of panel and what kind of panel to use there is several things to consider.

1. How do the people in an area work? Are they a team that needs to communicate constantly or do they work independently with little interaction with each other. Generally if people need to see over the panels to the people they are talking to we recommend 42” panels. 42” panels provide some visual privacy but still allow for easy communication. If someone works independently and needs to reduce distraction we generally recommend 62” or 80” panels for maximum separation.

2. How noisy is your office? The taller the panel the better sound absorption you will have.

3. Do you need to have light transference from windows into the interior of the room? Glass is a great way to lighten up a room. You can have glass to the floor or a fabric panel with glass stacks on top to get to your desired height. Glass will also help to make an office with several workstations feel more open and the occupants of the workstations less isolated.

4. Do you need to create more private spaces with the panels? If you want to create meeting rooms or offices you can use 80” panels and full height, locking doors. You can use glass as a sidelight or on top to make it feel less closed in. If you want to maximize privacy and noise you can put panels all the way to the ceiling.

5. Many different materials are available for the panels. Fabric, wood, laminate, glass, markerboard, slat wall are all options which help you further optimize your space and give you the look you want whether that is more formal with wood or dressed down with fabric. Laminate is very durable and easily cleaned. Markerboard tiles can be placed on either side of the panels to give you a convenient spot to make notes or communicate with coworkers. Slat wall tiles allow you to hang paper management components on the panel to help organize your space.

Using these considerations as a starting point Business Interiors can help you create a space that works for you.