Creating a high-impact reception area

When you arrive at work, you probably breeze right past reception to reach your desk and get on with your day.

But don’t undervalue your reception area. This space creates a vital first impression and sets the tone for how your clients and visitors engage with your business. Your reception needs to showcase your company while also achieving several important functional goals.

What happens at reception?

Quite a lot!

Depending on the nature of your business, your receptionist may:

• Greet your visitors, guide them to a comfortable waiting area and attend to their needs until your staff is ready to see them
• Manage phone calls or correspondence
• Maintain visitor logs
• Book appointments
• Issue security passes.

Ideally, your reception team manages all this while remaining calm and cheerful. It’s easier for them to maintain their professionalism in a space that’s fit for purpose.

Designing your reception area

Your ideal reception area should support your receptionists in their roles as welcomers, babysitters and gatekeepers. That means you need to think about both layout and furniture choices.

Modern reception desk design

A good reception desk should be:

• Tall enough to create a sense of presence and promote a clean look, hiding phones, computers and notes from view on a lower level
• Large enough to enable your reception team to manage a myriad of daily tasks without creating clutter
• In keeping with your brand, using your logos and colours (this also helps visitors feel confident they’ve arrived in the right place!).

Think about what’s behind your reception desk too. Your visitors will stand at this desk, looking around when they first arrive while your receptionist checks them in.

You could design the back wall behind your reception desk, adding your logo, a mural or a picture or you could emphasise transparency by having a glass wall with other areas of your business on view.

Functional layout

Pretend to be a visitor arriving at your reception. Where do you walk, where do you stand, where can you wait?

Does your layout flow well or is there something awkward about it? What could you do differently?

Now imagine you have a visitor who has grown impatient about waiting. Does your reception layout mean they can easily slink into the main office? Or do they have to get past your receptionist first? If you have difficult clients and security concerns, do you plan to install cameras here or not.

Client comfort and convenience

Your clients may sometimes need to wait when they arrive for meetings or appointments.

Some businesses such as medical and dental clinics may need a sizable waiting area. Others may simply need a couple of chairs and a coffee table.

Either way, the waiting area should be comfortable, pleasant and within view of your receptionist.

Privacy is also important here. You probably don’t want your visitors to be able to overhear private discussions in nearby meeting rooms or offices. That’s an important consideration when designing your office layout.

Brand showcase

A bland reception area is a wasted opportunity. You don’t want clients to feel like they could be anywhere – you want to give them a strong and positive impression of your business.

So, use your reception area to showcase your brand.

Affinity Education, for example, provides enriching learning environments that empower children, educators and office staff alike to grow, achieve, and succeed. Their illuminated nature wall proclaims their mission, reminding staff of their purpose and inspiring visitors.

Ingenia runs lifestyle communities for over-55s in Queensland. Their reception area is a bright, airy place featuring natural elements and bright, happy colours giving a holiday vibe.

They’ve even got a jaunty beach umbrella as a canopy for their waiting area.

Meanwhile, AACo gives a subtle nod to its 200-year history as a leader in Australian beef production with a cowhide rug and leather sofas in its waiting area.

How can Growth Workplace Design help?

So, what could your reception area look like? How could you ensure it inspires your visitors and functions well for your staff?

There are many practical and design considerations here but it can be immensely enjoyable to bring it all together and create a space that sets the right tone for engaging with your business.

Like to know more? Then please talk to us. We’d love to help you.