How do you feel about meetings? Chances are, whether you hate them or think they’re great, you participate in a lot of them. And the bigger your company gets, the more important it is to have good spaces to meet in.
Conference room design tends to get a lot of attention, and for good reason. Just think about all the high-stakes discussions that could happen in a conference room:
- Making a pitch to a new business partner
- Interviewing a promising job candidate
- Figuring out the best strategy for your company in the year ahead
But maybe you think carefully-designed conference rooms are just for companies with huge offices in multiple cities — places like New York or Chicago. Or maybe they seem to suit other industries besides yours — tech companies or finance companies, not manufacturers. But guess what? Almost every conference room we’ve designed has been right here in Mid-Michigan for a manufacturing or B2B business.
Designed to Impress
Like the conference room shown at the top of the page, for instance. Saginaw Control and Engineering (SCE) fills contracts on a national scale, but they’re still based in Mid-Michigan. They needed a professional conference room inside one of their main manufacturing facilities, for the same reason any business does: impressing clients, creating a professional atmosphere, and so on.
We paid great attention to the details for this conference room. The polygons on the ceiling aren’t just an enjoyable visual element, they contribute to the branding of the space. (That royal blue is SCE’s signature color.)
Then there are the custom art pieces: the abstract shapes flanking the TV, and three large photographs on the wall. Each photograph shows a dramatic angle on SCE’s work: spark showers flying from the tools, closeups of the machinery they use, and so on. All together, they make the space a dynamic and impressive one.
Facilities that Facilitate Co-working
Another conference room for a different Mid-Michigan company puts the focus on collaboration. The room we created for Magline, Inc (makers of Magliner hand trucks) includes a wall of dry-erase whiteboards. Whiteboards are a main feature of our own conference room, so we know firsthand how handy a whole wall of them is.
Magline’s conference room gets plenty of branded elements, too (brand colors, dimensional logo, and so on). But the whiteboard wall sets the tone for fostering teamwork. It makes it easier for employees to talk through ideas, sketch concepts, and cooperate in finding solutions.
Conference Room Design Inspiration Close to Home
So when you’re thinking about your conference room design, don’t be afraid to take inspiration from some local Mid-Michigan neighbors. Think about what kinds of meetings you plan to hold — presentation-focused, collaboration-focused, or a combination of both. Get your designer to find ways to incorporate your branding. Consider what kinds of technologies (whiteboard walls, for instance) could support your teams’ work style.
And don’t hesitate to ask for elements to take your conference room beyond the ordinary. There’s no size requirement for having a modern, professional conference room!
