At last it seems that the paperless office has become a reality. Most businesses no longer have a need for traditional paper filing, so the demand for filing cabinets and cupboards has dramatically reduced over the past few years. But in its place has become a significant increase in demand for personal storage in the form of under-desk pedestals, lockers and desk-end towers, and albeit less of it, a lot of offices still have a lot of paper filing and general items to be stored away in tambour cupboards, filing cabinets and storage wall.
Our range of office storage encompasses storage wall, credenzas, tambour cupboards & conventional hinged door cupboards, filing cabinets, pedestals and bookcases. Many are available in colours and styles to match and complement our office desking range, but also in generic finishes that will sit nicely with any existing furniture you have in your office.
These personal storage units sit on the end of a desk and offer full desk depth (usually 80cm) of pull-out storage for files, papers and any other items your staff may require for immediate access. Although the same height and depth, ours are all independent of the desk (rather than bolted to or supporting the desk in lieu of a leg) meaning that they are easier to move around should you wish to re-configure your office or allocate the unit to a different desk. We offer units that are the same height as the desk which has the effect of increasing the usable worktop area, and units that extend higher than the desk, some of which incorporate useful open desktop storage. The main benefit of these towers is that they utilise space that would otherwise be redundant, and provide useful storage within arms-reach of the desk user.
You can have some of each, whatever fits your needs, and they can all be lined up next to one another and look exactly right – rather than a complete mismatch. Each of our storage ranges are available in a variety of heights and widths but in matching depths with complementary finishes so that a selection of tambour cupboards, hinged door units, sliding door cupboards or bookcases of varying heights can be positioned side-by-side whilst maintaining a uniform appearance. And we offer a wide variety of fittings to go within these, ranging from plain shelves to pull-out filing frames, lateral filing pocket suspension frames, internal boxes & compartments and coat rails.
Most of us work from open plan offices. But too big and too open can be noisy, impersonal or perhaps even a bit stark. Storage is a great way to divide the space up – perhaps with low or mid-height units – which maintains the open-plan nature of the office but gives the sense of personal space and zones. Furthermore, it can provide significant sound reduction benefits, visual privacy, localised storage and additional worktop space.
Our range provides versatile usage with options including white-board ‘write-on’ backs, acoustic fabric panel backings and acoustic doors.
Tambour doored cupboards are widely used in offices, but have you ever wondered why? Well, in order to maximise the use of office space, cupboards are most often positioned along the walls of corridors or to the side of walkways/aisles within open-plan office spaces. This is because you need a decent amount of standing space in front of a cupboard to access its contents, so instead of creating space specifically for that purpose, why not use the corridor or aisle instead? The reduction on the required office floor area can be considerable. For safety and general good practice, aisles must be kept clear of obstructions which means that if your cupboard doors open out 50cm or so into that space, then the aisle needs to be further widened by the same amount in order to overcome any potential hazard. By contrast, tambours have sliding doors and although they utilise the same physical footprint, the aisle width requirement is substantially less. Of course, there are some disadvantages but by enlarge they are minor and here is how our range addresses or minimises the impact:
Tambour cupboards, as described above, offer great advantages but they’re not the answer all needs. Conventional cupboards generally cost less – certainly ours do – and they also offer slightly more internal space for the same external footprint & height.
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Contact Us
Octopus Interiors Limited: 27 Hertford Avenue, London SW14 8EF | Phone: 020 7367 0800 | E-mail: info@octopusinteriors.com