Author Archives: Bellia Office Furniture

In a year, employees are likely to spend more than 1,500 hours in their workspace, so it is important to create a workspace that will inspire and bring happiness to your employees. Because a well-designed workspace is a major factor in a business’ success, a space that engages your employees, you will position your company for growth.

To design for business growth, flexibility is the key.

To create a functional and versatile environment, so that your workspace can adapt to the changing needs of your business, consider including the following in your workspace:

Reconfigurable workstations/furniture: Having flexible workstations and furniture that can change from big to small or collaborative to individual space will suit all aspects of your business. You can use desks that fold away, tables that double as conference rooms and eating areas and modular furniture with wheels that can adapt and change in a moment’s notice.

Moveable Walls: Are cost-effective, cause minimal disruption during installation and provide your space with tons of flexibility.

Sit to Stand Workstations: Are another great way to add flexibility for your growing business. Not only will the provide different ways to work, but they also bring an added health benefit to get your staff up and moving throughout the day.

Finally, when your business is growing and you are designing your workspace for that future growth, you want to make sure that the design reflects your company’s culture and mission. When your culture is on display, not only will it attract the right candidates for your company, but it will create a powerful sense of identity for your employees.

Your office space is filled with potential to drive your business’ success. If you feel like your workspace could work better for you and you have been thinking of ways to increase productivity, attract and retain top talent and have your workspace better reflect your brand and culture, it might be the right time to consider an upgrade or total renovation to your space. Creating a new, more efficient space can be expensive and time-consuming, but if you understand and identify your goals in making this investment for your business, it will be exactly what your business needs to help you reach your goals.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Does your floor plan boost employee productivity and engagement?
Creating a space that is comfortable and meets the needs of your employees will not only boost employee morale but increase productivity as well. When you create a space that is beautiful, efficient and flexible, you will create an environment that supports motivation, innovation, and creativity for your staff.

Is your space supporting your brand image?
It is important for your space to communicate your brand and convey your message effectively. Displaying your logo and colors is a great place to start, but the entirety of your space can also be used as your brand messenger. When your workspace supports and reflects the essence of your brand, it will bring many benefits to your business including creating deeper connection and loyalty from your clients and staff, increasing employee engagement, attracting top talent, maximizing productivity and ultimately bringing a return on your investment.

Are you planning to grow?
If you are a growing company and planning on hiring new employees in the coming year, it is time to think about renovating or rethinking your current floor plan. If you are hiring more people, it will require more floor space, furniture and other considerations to your current plan. The right team of design professionals can advise you about how to maximize your space to accommodate your growth.

If you think it is time to renovate, update or change your space, don’t try to tackle it alone. Bellia has a dedicated team of experienced professionals that will help you create a beautiful space that you, your staff and your clients will love. Let our team of professionals help you early in the
planning process by conducting a complete analysis to help you reach all of your goals.

Studies have shown that a well-designed workspace is a simple, cost-effective way to improve your business. By bettering the design of your space you can achieve many positive outcomes including maximizing productivity, inspiring collaboration and innovation and attracting and retaining quality employees.  

Before just diving into making design changes that will improve your workspace, it is important to ask yourself some critical questions?

Is the layout of your space helping or hurting the ability of your employees to get work done?  

A great way to determine this is by taking notes or having a professional help you conduct a study of the traffic patterns of your space.  By observing how employees use their desks, conference rooms and even asking employees to track their own movement throughout the day, you will gather important data and information about the efficiency of your current layout.

Do the equipment, furnishings and space support the way your employees work?

Take a close look at your employees during the course of the work day.  Are employees using the collaborative space that you currently have or are they finding other places to collaborate that weren’t intended? Are they bringing lamps and lighting from home to relight the space and take away the harshness of fluorescent lighting?  While these things may seem small, they are very impactful in terms of the efficiency of your layout and design.  If you notice that the equipment, furnishings and design is not working for your staff, it is time to call a professional to really help you redesign your space to better support your employees.

Once you have delved deeper into the ways your employees are using your space and you have found that your space isn’t where you want it to be, a great place to start is by setting some goals for your redesign.  Every workplace has different needs in terms of design, the right team of professionals can help you determine the goals of improving your space and will make your office work for you.  For example, many business hope to achieve some of the following outcomes through the design and layout of their workspace:

• Attract top talent and increase retention
• Balancing collaboration with privacy
• Creating a space that inspires innovation
• Increasing employee comfort and engagement

These are just a few ways that you can improve upon your existing space. The ultimate goal of redesigning your workspace is to see a return on your investment. By evaluating and designing a space with certain business outcomes in mind, you will set the stage for growth and success.  Are you ready to make your space better?

Work-life balance involves finding ways to prioritize work and lifestyle. It is important for people to strike the right balance between important parts of their life, including family and friends, and the demands of their career.  As work styles continue to change, modern employees want greater control over their lives and the structure of their jobs. By helping to improve the work-life balance for employees, you will increase motivation and employee engagement, reduce stress which will lead to overall increases in company productivity and efficiency. Additionally, supporting and encouraging work-life balance has become a major factor in attracting and retaining top talent.

Studies have shown that employees who have a positive work-life balance are more efficient and effective employees.  Promoting a healthy work-life is not only beneficial to employees but to the company as well. Is your workspace supporting a positive work-life balance? Here are a few design features to consider if you want to support work-life balance in your space.

Decompression Space

A common complaint made by employees is that their workplace is too noisy.  From time to time, people have bad days or just need a few minutes to decompress, so having a designated space for employees to step away for a moment is good for their well-being. When creating this space it should be a place that is calming and relaxing, uncluttered and free of company materials. It should be a place that your staff can escape for a moment from the stress and noise of the workplace. Incorporate soft music, comfortable seating and soft lighting for employees to unwind.

Quiet Area

Unlike the decompression space where employees can unwind and escape from work, by creating quiet areas it is a place where employees can really focus on their work.  Depending on work style, many employees may prefer a place where they can focus and concentrate.  These areas can also be used for private discussions or phone calls.

Lounge Areas

A great way to provide employees with a more casual and relaxed area for collaboration or social interaction is by including comfortable lounge seating areas in your workspace.  Recently, Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer, announced to employees that “some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings.”  A lounge is a perfect place for impromptu discussions, to socialize and meet.

Creating an environment that promotes work-balance will alleviate workplace stress that often leads to decreases in productivity and engagement and higher rates of employee absences. Additionally, when you a company supports work-life balance, its staff will feel connected, more committed and want to go above and beyond to get the job done.

If you are thinking about an office renovation project, you may be asking yourself if hiring a project manager will add value to your renovation?  Here are 5 ways that explain how a project manager will positively impact your renovation:

1. Stay on Budget.  If you want to make sure that your renovation budget stays on track, an experienced project manager knows exactly how to do it.  Because a renovation involves managing construction and labor crews and multiple vendors, it can be a difficult task.  A project manager will ensure that crews arrive on time, materials and furniture are there when expected and with no added charges attached costing you valuable budget dollars.
2. Stay on Schedule.  When a renovation is underway, a project manager will ensure that everything happens according to the schedule and plan that you and your project manager have set up at the beginning of the project. By staying on schedule, you will avoid delays that can be costly.
3. Manage Multiple Relationships.  One of the best aspects of using a project manager is that they are well-versed in managing the many relationships with the architect, builders, contractors and everyone else on the job.  A project manager will properly manage, control and if necessary, correct the teams involved in the renovation.
4. Anticipate Project Challenges.  While it would be nice if every renovation ran smoothly without problems or challenges along the way, that is usually not the case. Because an experienced project manager can often anticipate problems, these challenges will impact your project minimally because a solution is already in motion before the challenge occurs.  
5. Pushes the Project to the Finish Line. With a project manager in charge of your renovation, they will add value by tracking resources, schedules, budget and all the various aspects that it takes to make your renovation a success. Everyday, they will make it their responsibility to make sure that your project finishes on scope, on time and on budget.  

But it is worth noting that an experienced and professional project manager can see the big picture. They have a keen understanding of how all aspects of design will help you achieve your business goals.  Are you ready to start your renovation? Contact us!

Bellia Workspace Professionals has been named 2017’s  BEST OF BIZ in the Office Furniture category. 

South Jersey Biz, Best of Biz awards identify businesses who have proven themselves to be reliable and resilient to get the job done in today’s sometimes tumultuous economic environment.  The winners were chosen through editorial selections and readers’ picks and are considered the best and most trustworthy businesses in the community. You can view all of the winners here!

About Bellia

Bellia Workspace Professionals is a third generation family owned and operated business. The company has grown and expanded over the past 40 plus years but remains steadfast in its ideals and principles of integrity, quality service, and community involvement.

At Bellia Workspace Professionals, our mission is to increase the magnetism within the Tri-state area by creating modern, inspiring workspaces to attract and retain top talent and increase productivity that will drive the business growth of our community which is why receiving South Jersey Biz’s  “Best of Biz” award is such an honor.  Bellia would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our clients, community and all those who voted!  Thank you!

530 Federal St, Camden, NJ 08102

During its expansion into downtown Camden featuring a new Nursing and Science building, Rutgers University was looking for:

• A welcoming connection between the University and nearby Cooper Hospital in the form of an “ed-med” corridor.
• A full service learning facility.
• An energy efficient, “green” learning hub. 

Bellia, along with architect Perkins Eastman, furnished a facility that will truly transform the higher education learning experience in the State of New Jersey. The facility is complete with any and every space imaginable that would be essential to maximizing learning and collegiate studies including welcoming classrooms, tech savvy computer labs, conference rooms, lecture halls, student study stations, and all appropriate administrative offices. Both the students and staff can utilize everything this world-class facility has to offer. 

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Workplace design is continually changing and evolving.  The ultimate goal of workplace design is to create a physical environment that supports employees so that they are engaged and productive. Here are the top 5 trends influencing workplace design:

1. Increasing Competition for Talent.  As the workforce continues to age, many companies will face talent shortages.  Because of the slow growth of the labor force expected in the next few years, businesses will need to find new ways to attract the best people to their organization, one way to do that is through workplace design. Providing employees with a workspace that not only supports their wants and needs, but also offers them flexibility and choice will be critical in attracting and retaining top employees. 
2. Maximizing Employee Well-Being. A happy and engaged employee is 12% more productive.  Focusing on employee wellness when renovating or redesigning an office, will not only increase employee wellness but can increase efficiency and productivity and decrease overhead spending.  Because more flexible working practices are taking hold, such as working from home, many workspaces have replaced allocated workstations to more flexible seating such as hoteling or hot desking.  Another design feature that increases employee wellness is landscaping the interior with plants and water features that bring the outdoors in.   
3. Boosting Employee Engagement.  By creating a workspace where employees feel engaged in the work that they do can boost a company’s bottom line by 20 percent.  One of the best ways to increase employee engagement is through flexibility, allowing employees to work when, how and where they choose.  By including a combination of areas in your workspace like collaboration areas, quiet spaces for focused work and comfortable areas to relax will increase employee engagement.  Also, companies with engaged employees have 30-50% less turnover. 
4. Increase Collaboration Areas.  Providing flexible, diverse spaces for employees is key and while companies still include more formal conference rooms within their space, the trend is leaning towards more comfortable and relaxed areas for employees to collaborate.  Including intimate and cozy meeting spaces will encourage impromptu collaboration and conversation for employees, oftentimes where some of the best, most innovative ideas are born.
5. Activity-based Work Settings.  Business is always changing and unpredictable, so designers are including activity zones for specific types of activities which all employees can utilize if the need arises.  Activity zones might include comfortable, impromptu meeting areas, formal conference rooms, break out areas or collaboration rooms.  Because every employee works differently, this provides different areas for employees to work in a space where they will work best.

Rachel Dolente accepted the position of A&D Market Manager for Bellia because she to shares Bellia’s mission of raising the magnetism within the Greater Philadelphia area. Over the years, Rachel has successfully integrated her education, networking experience, and work ethic to provide clients with exceptional customer service. She is passionate about engaging with the architecture and design community so that she can do her part in creating inspiring workspaces that help our clients reach their corporate goals.   Rachel excels in truly listening and understanding the needs of people by continually provide creative solutions.  She is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University with a BA in Administration and Leadership and an AA in Liberal Arts and Psychology.

There is growing evidence about the many benefits of healing environments that are designed around the needs of patients, family and staff. Healthcare organizations are changing the way they design spaces to provide more welcoming environments that reduce stress levels and promote healing in order to improve patient outcomes, increase staff efficiency and morale and create a positive experience that attracts new patients. Because the physical environment is the patient’s first impression of the facility, it becomes one of the most important factors in the how the patient perceives quality of care and the overall satisfaction they will have with the facility. 

Some healing design elements that you can incorporate into the healthcare setting include the following:

• Exposure to nature.  This includes windows with views to outside landscapes, interior or exterior gardens or water features, aquariums and art with nature themes 
• Soothing Interior.  Some ways to create a soothing interior is to provide natural light, use soothing colors (like blues and greens), pleasant sounds and temperature regulation
• Reducing Environmental Stressors.  Some things that cause people stress in the healthcare setting include noise from medical equipment, poor/harsh lighting, poor air quality and medicinal smells which can bring about reminders of past negative experiences.  By offsetting these stressors with design elements, you can have a positive impact on a patient or family members’ experience
• Creating a Home-like Environment.  By providing comfortable home-like seating in waiting areas, movable, convertible chairs that can be used for family visits in patient rooms and customized cabinets that hide medical equipment, patients and families will feel more at-ease and secure

Benefits to the staff

When you use design elements to create a healing environment for patients, not only does it improve patient outcomes but it will also improve staff efficiency and morale. An environment that is welcoming and healing will show your staff that you are committed not only to the quality and care of your patients, but the well-being of your staff as well.