Why interiors belong inside an IT company.

There are many firms that can deliver a beautiful office, and many that can deliver a robust technology stack. Very few can make them behave and function as one. That is the gap Bechtle fills. Camera sightlines, microphone pickup, lighting, Wi-Fi density, power access, furniture geometry and acoustic treatment all affect whether the tools work as intended. Put the camera in the wrong place and your meeting equity disappears. Skimp on power in soft seating and you will never see those areas used for real work. Get the wrong ceiling treatment and your expensive microphones will fight glass echo all day.

This is not technology for its own sake. It is design with a purpose. The right kit, in the right context, for the task people are trying to complete. Nothing more and nothing less. When interiors, AV, and networking are planned alongside the way people actually work, the workplace stops being a collection of rooms and becomes a coherent environment.

 

From policy to plan.

The fastest way to break a hybrid strategy is to write a policy and only then try to make the space fit. Start with why you want hybrid in the first place. If the primary goal is talent retention, you will make different choices than if the goal is pure space saving. Anchor days change capacity maths. A three days in, two days out pattern with team anchor days means you will experience near full occupancy on the same days each week. If you have designed for a lower desk count on the assumption of average attendance, you will create frustration and then avoidance. People will come in, fail to find a place that works, and go straight back to home setups that they control.

Translate policy into a plan with real data. Map team rhythms, meeting cadences, confidentiality needs and seasonal peaks. Ask what work is actually being done, by whom, and at what times, rather than relying on generic ratios. Then tune desk counts, adjacencies, and power and Wi-Fi density to those patterns. Hybrid is not a slogan. It is a capacity and flow problem that you can solve with the right evidence.

 

Task-based zoning that actually works.

People commute for outcomes, not for amenities. The office must make the work they came in to do simpler than it would have been at home. That starts with task clarity and ends with zones that match those tasks.

Focus zones protect deep work. They are small, quiet, and easy to book. Lighting is controllable, screens are at the correct height, and the Wi-Fi simply does not drop. Collaboration rooms support in-person energy and remote parity at the same time. Displays are sized to the furthest seat. Cameras meet eyes at table height rather than staring down from a ceiling mount. Microphones match room volume, not the budget line. Whiteboards are visible to people on the call, not just to people in the room.

Learning spaces should sit where momentum lives. In our Manchester sales office, the training area is on the sales floor. People do a session, turn, and go straight back to calls. There is no long walk back from a basement room and no energy dip on the way. If the session requires exam-level focus, there are enclosed rooms for that. Most sales enablement does not. The point is to keep context close.

Client and partner zones deserve the same intentionality. If vendors and partners are important to how you operate, do not tuck them away in a back corner. Put them on the natural path of movement so that useful conversations happen as part of the day. The space should make interaction easy, not accidental.

Informal areas matter as social technology. The infamous pool table on a sales floor can be controversial, yet it can also lower barriers between teams that struggle to connect. The object does not create culture. It amplifies what is there. Set expectations, monitor use, and let the space work for you.

 

Make meetings frictionless.

If the first two minutes of every meeting are sound checks, you have a design problem. Fixing it starts long before procurement. Choose camera positions that meet the eye, not the ceiling. Specify microphone strategies that respect physics. A single ceiling puck in a twelve person room will not capture the quiet voice at the far end. Treat acoustics before you invest in better cameras. You cannot equalise your way out of hard surfaces. Put power everywhere people sit. A beautiful sofa without charging is a photo backdrop, not a workplace. Finally, match technology to context. Do not install conferencing cameras in open lounges and then hope for privacy. In those areas, the right solution is usually a laptop, strong Wi-Fi and nearby power.

 

Inclusion and flexibility by design.

Rigidity is the enemy of performance. A pure hot-desking policy can exclude neurodiverse colleagues who need predictable setups. Offer a small pool of fixed desks where routine is essential, and make that pathway clear and dignified. Rethink blanket rules that sound fair but remove access, such as never assigning parking under any conditions. Create exception processes that support people who need them. Inclusion is not only a policy choice. It is a design choice and an operating habit. Build spaces that reconfigure quickly and write norms that can adapt without a six month change project.

 

Two quick snapshots.

In a sales-led regional hub, we placed partner seating at the entrance so no one could slip past the very people who are there to enable them. Training sits on the sales floor so learning turns into action without a pause. Desks are smaller so the floor plate supports shared areas rather than becoming a storage problem. The result is faster learning loops and stronger vendor engagement.

In a professional services firm, confidentiality and quiet dominate. The footprint prioritises focus rooms and strong acoustic treatment. Hybrid meeting rooms are correctly sized and equipped. There are no cameras pointed at open plan. The client suite is concierge-style, with secure guest access and frictionless AV. The result is less risk, more focus time and client sessions that feel deliberate.

 

Launch and change management.

Even the best design can fail if day one is not managed. Treat the office launch like a product release. Pilot first, with real teams doing real work. Capture feedback and adjust. Make day one easy to navigate. Clear signage people will actually read. Short how-to videos that sit where the problem occurs, including QR codes on room panels and pods. Put floorwalkers in the space during the first weeks. Seed power users in each team who can model the right behaviours and help colleagues get unstuck.

Then measure. Track utilisation, system uptime and sentiment. Fix the literal hotspots in the Wi-Fi plan and the figurative hotspots in behaviours and processes. Expect to iterate. If the office does not change in response to evidence, people will assume it is not for them.

 

Budget guardrails that pay back.

When budgets tighten, spend where value returns every day. The backbone comes first. Reliable networking, sensible access point density, and abundant power that you can find without hunting. Treat acoustics in key rooms and open areas. Good sound lifts the perceived quality of every call and every conversation. Invest in core AV for the rooms that matter most, and do them properly before spreading the budget thin across many spaces.

Next, buy flexibility that actually flexes. Modular furniture that can be reconfigured without calling a contractor. Booking and wayfinding that are simple, integrated and accurate. If partners and clients are part of your operating model, design the entrance to be an enablement zone rather than a corridor to pass through.

Leave the experience enhancers until the basics are correct. Whiteboard capture in high collaboration areas is worth it once the audio is clean. Soft seating with embedded power is worth it once charging is ubiquitous. Amenities that fit your culture will help, but only if the fundamentals already work.

Avoid common traps. Do not reduce desk counts in a way that ignores anchor day reality. Do not place conferencing technology in open spaces where it cannot be used properly. Do not launch without training and visible support. People remember their first three days in a new space. Make those days easy.

 

Closing thought.

The office is no longer a default. It is a choice that must be earned. People will commute for spaces that make their work simpler than it would have been at home. That happens when policy, plan, furniture, AV, Wi-Fi and signage are designed as one system and then adjusted in use. The lesson from practice is simple. Do not be rigid. Design for how your people work. Place technology where it serves that work. Keep listening and keep tuning. When interiors live inside an IT company, the workplace stops being a showroom and starts behaving like the high-performing system your business needs.