On one hand, ground-floor offices are ideal. They don’t involve lengthy waits for the lift, or flights of stairs that can chisel you into an Olympian. On the other hand, their accessibility to the general public presents several problems. What we’re referring to here is the windows, and how these can cause several headaches for the typical ground-floor office business owner.
First and foremost, most offices are absolutely basking in computers and other technology. Most of the time, this costs a small fortune and when your office is perched on the bottom floor, you are just inviting prying eyes in. It promotes obvious security concerns and while you can just install a basic set of curtains, this also takes away that elusive natural light that most employees insist on having.
Once upon a time there was no way around this. It was either synthetic light, or a blatant privacy breach. Now, the options are somewhat more creative. Through the top-down bottom-up blind approach, businesses can now block out the lower segment of their window, but still allow natural light to flow in through the upper part. Ultimately, it solves the privacy issue, whilst still allowing natural light to benefit your employees. The best of both worlds? We think so.
Something else that can hinder the typical ground-floor office (or any office level, depending on the time of day for that matter), is the issue of screen glare. Trying to work a spreadsheet or write a letter when the sun is bouncing off your screen isn’t just a recipe for frustration, but one for painful squinting as well. Again, there was a time where we either had to put up with this, or block out all light entirely. Now, as you’ve probably gathered by the tone, things have changed.
Solar shades have entered the picture and are regarded as the optimum fitting for anyone who wants to protect against screen glare. They block out UV rays, and the subsequent heat that accompanies them, meaning that screen glare is finally a thing of the past. Additionally, you can combine such products with the top-down bottom-up shade, to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
From a different perspective, blinds can finally be used to slash those dreaded running costs that most businesses just forget to factor in during the first year of operation. Again, this isn’t necessarily a problem reserved for the ground floor, but particularly on weekends when the office is unoccupied inventions such as insulated shades can be the ideal product to lock heat into a room and stop it from escaping. Ultimately, some firms might be able to completely turn off their heating for the weekend – knowing that the room temperature will be left stable for the influx of workers on Monday morning.
As you’ve probably been able to tell, the majority of rules apply to all offices – not just those situated on a low floor. However, particularly with the privacy suggestion, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that blinds can make even the most visible office space attractive through recent developments.
