Our meeting room has undergone a pretty major refurbishment over the last few weeks.

Plot twist: it’s not red anymore.

And we wanted to share with you what all the hard work (and loud work – who knew even laying carpet could be such a noisy job?) of the last few weeks has resulted in.

When you stop to think about it, it’s interesting to consider how important the decisions we make about the spaces we occupy are.

So, we thought we’d also take the opportunity to take a brief look at the impact our environment has upon us…

The impact of interior design

Studies show that our environment can have a huge effect on us and can impact everything from our mood to our health. And people are increasingly paying more and more attention to the choices we make about the spaces we occupy.

For example, the new children’s department at Manchester’s hospital – The Christie – which specialises in cancer treatments, has been designed to distract patients and make the experience of being in hospital less unsettling.

With animal characters and interactive elements, every space has been thought through with the intention of creating a friendlier feel and, hopefully, have a positive impact on the mental health and general wellbeing of patients, their families, and all the staff who help care for them.

Similarly, Guy’s Hospital in London invested in the creation of a relaxation room to address another element of cancer patients’ mental health.

So, knowing all this, it’s only logical that we pay close attention to, and make conscious decisions about, how we design the environment of one of the places we spend the most time in – our workplace.

Various studies have shown that workplace design can have a big impact on employee retention, productivity, and general happiness. It can also play a big part in attracting prospective employees. In fact, some studies have shown that:

“Although salary has the largest influence on the attractiveness of a job (45% share), workplace culture (32%) and facilities (16%) combine to outweigh the influence of salary.”

First impressions matter, whether that’s in terms of prospective employees or clients, and those seemingly inconsequential (but actually very consequential) details of our environment make a big difference.

And, for those long and important meetings, no one should underestimate the importance of a comfortable chair.

Back to our meeting room…

The design choices of our own meeting room have been made with the aim to create a cosy space. One which is immediately welcoming and makes people, whether client, visitor, or mark-maker, feel at ease.

We also wanted to better utilise the space so that the meeting room could double up as a breakout area.

“The mm* meeting room is often the first and only room our clients will visit, which makes it a very important space. It needs to embody the personality of the agency, but also to be comfortable and creative. We want our clients to feel calm and inspired in order to facilitate ideas and positive interactions, whilst also ensuring the design is empathetic to our beautiful Cotswold building.”

– Nic, Creative Director

We’re a little in love with it. And very much looking forward to showing it to you properly on your next visit.

We hope you’ll find the chairs as comfy as we do.