Here’s How to Design a Flexible Commercial Building to Grow with Your Business

Every business owner should be asking their design team this question: Will this building still meet our needs in 10 years?

Designing and constructing a new building is an exciting step of growth for your business. Maybe you’ve outgrown an existing location, or perhaps you’re cultivating a brand-new venture from the ground up. Either way, growth is likely what has brought you to this point. And moving forward, growth should be top-of-mind as you draw up plans and break ground on your new property.

So, here’s how to plan for future growth while designing a commercial property in the present…

Designing Adaptability into a Commercial Space from Day One

Flexibility is a decision made early on the drawing board. So, after you’ve chosen a commercial architecture and design partner (more on how to do that here), make sure they know flexible design is a high priority for you.

From our team’s perspective at GAE, these are the main strategies that architects and designers use to build adaptability into today’s commercial spaces:

Flexible Floor Plates & Structure

The size, shape, and structure of each floor in the building can be spacious, simple, and sturdy enough to accommodate multiple arrangements. We accomplish this with design strategies like:

• Wider column spacing
• Higher load capacity
• Fewer fixed interior walls

With these structural and design considerations in place, spaces can be reconfigured as teams and/or needs change over time.

Scalable Building Systems

Even without building a larger property than you currently need, your design can support higher capacity in the future. Ask your design partner, for example, about sizing and zoning mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to handle added occupancy or square footage without a full overhaul later.

Bonus: Planning for that growth now can also save you significant money (and hassle) down the road when your occupancy or square footage needs have grown.

Multi-Use & Convertible Spaces

Beyond each floor’s footprint, our team also designs rooms and zones that can shift function over time, so a space evolves with your business instead of limiting it.

For more on how office designs specifically can be multi-use and adaptable for your business, check out our blog about Future-Ready Workspaces.

Expansion & Phasing Strategy

Take the time to explain your brand’s vision for intentional growth over the next 5 to 15 years to your architecture and design partner.

From there, depending on your unique needs, they may suggest a design that allows for a future build-out or build-up onto the property — and you’ll likely want to have these plans drawn alongside those for your current build.

Another option: build shell space into the property from the start. This extra, open space typically includes perimeter walls and ceilings, without interior walls, customizations, or interior finishes (which you can add when you’re ready to expand).

If a future phase may include a build-out addition or additional separate buildings, how and where your current build is situated on the site will also be very important.

Expansion planning in action: To see how GAE designed a flexible second floor for future growth for one of our healthcare partners, check out our case study on GI for Kids.

Future-Proofing for Technology & Sustainability

Naturally, there is much about the future that we cannot predict, especially when it comes to technology. But we do know it will continue to change rapidly. That’s why your design should include infrastructure for evolving tech, changing energy needs, and shifting codes so the building stays relevant longer.

This applies to both the architecture and the interior design. As Christina, one of our GAE Partners and Interior Designer puts it,

“We suspect that the future of commercial interior design will be driven by flexibility of spaces, wellness, sustainability, and the continued integration of technology into our built environment and methods. Our commercial environments are becoming more adaptable, allowing spaces to serve multiple functions and respond to changing needs over time.”

Want to hear more about how interior design can accommodate growth? We’ve focused mostly on the architectural side here, but your interior design should also be future-friendly and flexible as you grow. Here’s how to create a timeless interior design.

Choose Proactive Design over Reactive Renovation

Clearly, “What’s your 5-year plan?” is not just a topic for a job interview. While there are few certainties in life and business, growth and change are always a given. You can be sure that your business will look and operate differently 5 years from now, and even more so in 10. And though you can’t yet know exactly how that growth and change will look, you can still proactively design and build a property to accommodate it.

And trust us, you’ll thank yourself later… because flexibility designed in from the start almost always costs less than reactive renovation down the road!

If you’re looking for an architecture and design firm to partner with you along the way, our team at GAE Architecture + Design would love to help. Based in Knoxville, Tennessee, we serve businesses across the nation in a variety of industries.

Contact us here or shoot us an email at info@georgeewart.com, and let’s design a flexible property for your brand’s growing future!