Plaza Office? Office Building?

Firms weigh many parameters at once when they pick an office. Options have also grown: detached office projects, plaza offices, restored older buildings. More choice makes both the decision and the office designs harder. This article is for people still undecided. We set a plaza office against an office building; we do not name a winner.

Each has pluses and minuses. What matters is your need: where the brand sits today, the growth plan, headcount. Until those three are clear, “which is more advantageous” stays empty.

Start with the plaza office

• Plazas are buildings people use when they give directions. A floor in a known plaza can speed brand visibility, especially for a new venture.
• Security, reception, sport, food and parking often arrive with a monthly charge; you do not have to build them on your own plot.
• Plaza offices are usually central and near public transport. Detached office projects do not always sit on that network.
• In a plaza planned as a business centre, office designs often run faster and with a narrower intervention.
• If the team is large and mostly in the building, plaza floors on a tight plot may not be enough. Splitting across floors costs pace.
• Busy shared rooms can feel tight for a guest from outside.

What about an office building?

• A detached office building usually costs more to run. In return you cut the programme to your work: from scratch or by renovation.
• Your own structure says you are a brand with a sign of your own; that is a different language from plaza prestige.
• A detached plot is private: the office stays with you, the team and the guest.
• If you prefer, you can sit away from city noise, with a garden.
• The budget for security, reception and parking is often higher than a plaza service charge.

Whatever you pick, an interior architect is part of the job

Whether a plaza office or an office building — take a professional view of the office designs.

Since 2009 Umut Gürler Interior Architecture — Ankara Interior Architecture has worked on office design and build. Write to talk about scope and budget range; we do not invent a price list here.

On growth: from plazas to detached offices. References. More notes: office articles.