Design Development
Merika Cafe host sites in the Middle East and India with a unique menu and relaxed atmosphere. Our work to design their newest location in Melbourne’s east involved consultation and design development with their global team, ensuring that it fit the style and aesthetic of their established brand. We reshaped their layout requirements to fit the site’s unusual hexagonal footprint, utilising all areas to maximise seating and views of the surrounding landscape. Key design elements take centre stage while the form and functionality blend seamlessly to create an inviting space. Curved lines of the joinery and ceiling features echo their branding elements and foliage blending spaces from indoor to out
Building Better 🌱
At Macwood Group we aim for excellent service, the highest quality finish and best practice. Our best practice is constantly evolving alongside our surroundings, building standards and customer expectations. We strive to supply the best possible practices and materials, incorporating principles of sustainable development to meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. The benefits of building green incorporates construction and operational practices that can reduce or eliminate the negative impact on our environment. Promoting efficiency can help reduce construction and ongoing performance costs significantly. Using resources effectively, we aim to create healthier environments for people to live and work in.
Restore, Re-use, Renew
MACWOOD Group are committed to reducing our footprint by making best use of beautiful, natural materials. Detailing these reclaimed ceiling beams to create a semi opaque screen. Sanded, edged and sealed with Livos natural oil sealer to restore this local hardwood. New life 🌱
One Foot Forward
MACWOOD Group are proud to support Black Dog Institute raising much needed funds for their amazing work
More details on how we’re involved:
It’s easy to take part and gives you the chance to get moving for a great cause this October!
The challenge is to walk, roll or run 40km, 60km 80km or 100km during Mental Health Month this October and raise funds for vital mental health research.
By taking part, you’ll be joining a community of incredible people walking in solidarity for Australians living with mental illness.
Take action this Mental Health Month!
Black Dog Institute’s One Foot Forward is encouraging you to step up take a step towards 40km, 60km 80km or 100km, as short or as long as you would like and walk, roll or run throughout October to raise much-needed funds for mental health research.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15-44, and 60% of Australians reporting symptoms of mental illness don’t seek help.
Taking One foot Forward will help us drive real change through ground-breaking research into the early detection, prevention and treatment of common mental health disorders.
It couldn’t be easier – register to create your unique fundraising page, share it with your friends and family asking them to dig deep for mental health research, and on October 1 get stepping to take action.
Strategies for transitioning back into the workplace after coronavirus
As COVID-related restrictions ease in several states of Australia, aspects of life are returning to normal and work is no exception, with many businesses contemplating the re-opening of workplaces.
These tips will help you manage your mental health as you transition back into the physical workplace.
Prioritise self-care by maintaining positive habits
While lockdowns are very difficult in most respects, there may have been some silver linings. With more spare time, many of us picked up new hobbies or reignited old passions. It could be painting, reading, cooking, meditating, even your newfound love for jigsaw puzzles. It’s still important to prioritise self-care, so continue the things that put you in a good headspace.
Even if you’re likely to be shorter on time, don’t abandon these behaviours. Even if it’s something as simple as still taking the morning walk around the block that is now part of your routine. There are practical tools available too. HeadGear is a free app, available on the App Store and Google Play, that lets you complete activity-based challenges to build mental fitness.
This pandemic has helped many people put the important things into perspective, so try not to lose that as you ease back into a more familiar version of life.
Manage your information intake
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve become accustomed to updates from the media on virtually everything on a regular basis. Make sure you’re getting your information from reliable sources and remember that advice from regulators and government is designed to enable safe ways of working.
When it comes to your own workplace, you will likely have plenty of questions. It may be frustrating but try to embrace the information provided by your employer, rather than trying to guess or predict what will happen down the track.
This will help you avoid unnecessary stress about things you can’t control.
Understand what constitutes a mentally healthy workplace
With so many people experiencing altered work arrangements and locations of late, the grey area between professional and personal has been blurred like never before. While unemployment has been an unfortunate by-product of COVID-19, plenty of businesses were – and continue to be – super busy in response to the coronavirus, and some employees have been working longer hours than normal.
Everyone has a role to play in helping create to a mentally healthy workplace. With so much change to our ways of working, this period of transition is the ideal time to make sure you’re across workplace mental health risk factors, in order to avoid them.
By doing so, you can reduce the likelihood of burnout and increase job satisfaction.
Celebrate the opportunity to reconnect
Those who have been working from home may have found unexpected perks of the situation, such as no commuting and additional spare time, but we’ve also lost a lot. This includes things most of us probably took for granted, such as morning coffee runs with colleagues or staff drinks (that aren’t online) at the end of a long week. Even just being able to talk to a co-worker to ask a quick question or have a chat has been missed.
So, when the time does come to return to the office or the worksite, enjoy the little things that have been absent over the last three months. Take the time to have that one-on-one conversation with a colleague. Visit your regular café, just like you used to.
They might seem small, but these actions can help with establishing some normality back into your routine.
When it comes time to improving business spaces, most people believe that bigger always equates to better. For certain businesses a spacious office space isn’t exactly ideal, because certain areas are not meant for the whole of the working masses. This doesn’t mean, however, that a small working area need be something that becomes detrimental to your company’s overall capacity to work. In fact, there are a lot of ways to maximise your working space even if you’re given far too little space to work with.
Here are a few tips that can help you increase your small workspace workability without having to sacrifice functionality.
Workspace Innovations: Getting the Best out of Small Working Spaces
Small office spaces and cubicles have become one of the most popular forms of working space of late, especially with the ever-growing necessity of desk jobs. While cubicles and other small work areas function well enough as workspaces, they are far from ideal and may even be troublesome or burdensome, especially with regards to organisation or freedom of movement.
One great way to maximise your limited working space is to employ removable storage solutions. Whether it’s a handy stack-up mini drawer or a pair of lightweight, easily moveable shelves, less clutter means more space to work to with.
Redesigning Workspaces for Efficiency
Redesigning limited workspaces for the utmost in ergonomic efficiency is also a great way to improve workflow, and smaller work spaces can be constructed with comfort in mind. Favouring hidden storage compartments for documents and other office tools, and opting for a minimalist feel with regards to an overall thematic scheme, may also help maximise a given space. Avoiding clutter and unnecessary encumbrances is the key to truly maximising the functionality of your workspace.
It may seem difficult to achieve all of this on your own, but you don’t have too because there are professional shopfitters available that can save you time and money maximising your small business space. Thankfully, there is an expert shopfitter in Victoria that can help you achieve your design goals.
Here at Macwood Group, we offer only the best and most reliable renovation and shopfitting services by highly experienced professional tradesmen in Victoria! If you need a revamp for your small, unsightly workspace, give us a call.
To learn more about our company’s services and to help give you the best visual ideas, please feel free to browse our gallery of amazing office fitouts and other projects.
Decorative echo panels mounted on the walls of your office spaces can do wonders to reduce unwanted noise and sound congestion while clarifying valuable conversations with your clients or conference presentations and removing excess noise distractions from your everyday work environment. Today’s advanced acoustic panels are designed to absorb mid-range to high frequencies from voices, heating and cooling systems, office equipment and necessary worker movement and interaction within your office interiors. Modern sound-reduction paneling is currently available in a variety of ready-made designs and materials, or as custom-made office accessories. After an acoustic specialist performs careful room analysis of your office spaces, the ideal echo panels will be recommended for use in the active rooms of your commercial enterprise.
Major Benefits of Selecting Decorative Echo Panels for Use in Your Office Spaces
The primary advantages and benefits of choosing decorative echo paneling for use in your current office interiors include the following:
• You and Your Company Brand Will Maintain Major Focus. – With effective acoustic paneling placed on the walls of your office interior spaces, you, your staff members and your company brand will claim and maintain the major point of focus in your office environment. With unnecessary noise reduced to minimal levels or completely eliminated, your entire staff will become more focused and productive while you and your clients can give full attention to your brand and its most valuable features and advantages.
• Panels Are Easily Hung and Re-positioned for Optimal Sound Control. – Anyone on your office staff can hang or re-position these lightweight, but highly effective sound reduction panels on the walls where needed to control noise levels or sound congestion. Since office sound levels in different areas of your business can vary greatly with varied volumes of activity during different seasons of production, marketing, promotion, sales and other functions of your enterprise, you may need to move these panels from time to time. By re-positioning your echo panels to the busiest office areas during each cycle of your business activity, you can successfully control noise levels and reduce high volumes of sound that can interfere with worker’s concentration and productivity. Your visiting business associates and clients will praise your decision to use these acoustic panels to improve the quality of your business environment.
• Panels are Eco-Friendly and Made of Recycled Materials. – The most advanced models of these innovative sound control panels are constructed of materials like cellulose and recycled cotton or other fabric. All materials used to manufacture these acoustic absorbing office aids are environmentally safe and biodegradable while providing excellent noise control and sound level reduction. As hanging decoration on your office walls, these acoustic control panels can be designed to complement and enhance your overall office decor.
When you contact the Macwood Group, based in Bayswater, VIC and serving Melbourne and all surrounding regions, you will receive a unique, customized approach to controlling loud noises and excessive or congested sound levels of activity in your office interiors. These office fitout specialists have the professional experience and expertise to recommend the very best type of quality echo paneling to provide excellent acoustic reduction and control to enhance your entire business environment and operations for higher levels of productivity and success.
Experience a strong positive impact on your business by installing a feature wall in your office suite. Whether you choose key wall space in your office reception area, large conference room or individual office space, a well-designed, engaging feature wall design that depicts your brand’s theme, intent or major focus can be an outstanding visual marketing tool. Even a new client or recent business associate who visits your company offices will realize the major concept, focus, intent and goals of your enterprise.
Visual presentation is extremely powerful. If it is significantly strong and meaningful, it can create lasting positive impressions about your business in the minds of all who enter your company headquarters. Tasteful and stylish feature walls in business offices today are like chic, sophisticated interior billboards that announce, enhance and celebrate all the major products, services and innovative features of your company brand.
Effective Feature Wall Ideas and Options for Modern Office Interiors
Popular and effective feature wall ideas with creative options to enhance and empower contemporary office interior decor today include the following:
Panoramic Scenic Views. – If you own a busy travel agency that books and promotes international travel destinations and luxury excursions, your business may gain benefits by installing a feature wall that enlivens your office interiors with an expansive scenic view. Whether you choose a stunning oceanside, mountaintop or aerial view of a beautiful luxury destination amidst nature’s amazing, colourful grandeur, this mesmerizing scene will undoubtedly engage your clients and business guests. They will want to learn more about all that your brand offers and how they can become more active and involved as your clients or business associates.
Vintage Cars or Equipment. – If you own an automobile dealership, you may want the design of your corporate offices to include a feature wall displaying captivating images of vintage and modern cars that accent their varied designs and popular models. If your business distributes digital equipment and accessories, you will most likely gain attention and new customers by displaying a product-related feature wall showing images and functions of your most popular items and models. You can add video and streaming audio or text to your wall as well, updating these additions whenever needed.
Urban Brick Wall with Graffiti. – If you are head of an urban renewal enterprise or a foundation that funds inner city school arts programs, you may favor an office feature wall painted to depict a weather-worn, urban exterior brick wall inscribed with creative graffiti. You clients and visitors will feel the strong impact of your commitment to your foundation’s purpose as soon as they enter the premises, and this first powerful visual encounter can be very effective in gaining new interest and support for your many valuable projects. You can also have your feature wall designer add new graffiti whenever a new word, phrase or sound bite of popular slang comes into everyday verbal use.
When you contact the office fitout specialists at the Macwood Group, located in Bayswater, Victoria, you will receive expert advice, designs, creative craftsmanship and installation of your brand-related feature wall in your business offices. This new dynamic and highly visual presentation that emphasizes and promotes your brand, its primary products and varied services will positively impact your enterprise, bringing your company brand greater visibility and rapidly increasing rates of success.
At the Macwood Group, we have specialised in helping our customers turn their offices into the place of business that they have always dreamed of. Typically, we help our clients to completely change their office from the floor to the ceiling and everything in between. While much attention is paid to renovations and furniture, more attention should be paid to the type of floor covering that is implemented. In fact, the choice of floor covering that you pick for your office can completely change the mood of the room. Today, we are going to look at a few of the top flooring options around as well as why they can be of benefit to you and your workspace.
Picking the Right Flooring for Your Office
Alright, when you sit down and sketch out your perfect office, what do you see? You’ll likely spend a ton of time picking out the right furniture and desk as well as the colour of the walls but how much time did you spend considering the floor? Your floor sets the tone and it sets the mood for everything that happens in the room. Here are our favourite flooring options for usage inside of an office as well as why we think they fit the bill.
A) Carpet: With carpet, you can immediately warm up a room and lean into the comforting aspect of the emotional spectrum. With carpeted flooring, you have a flexible choice between colours as well as the added benefit of affordability, ease-of-installation, and even noise insulation. Carpets ARE tough to clean in comparison to some of our other options, so keep that in mind.
B) Hardwood: Nothing says ‘professional’ quite the same as a classic hardwood floor. Hardwood flooring is perfect when you want to present yourself as an elegant, classy, and presentable office. Hardwood is durable as well as easy to clean but you do have to be aware of the maintenance involved. Hardwood flooring has more upkeep and is more expensive than something like carpet or one of our following options.
C) Laminate: If you don’t want to go for hardwood but you still want something classic looking then laminate is your choice. Laminate is easy to install, affordable, and extremely durable. Laminate is as flexible in terms of options as carpet.
D) Vinyl: Finally, we look to vinyl flooring. Vinyl is great for any high-traffic office. Vinyl is incredibly durable and easy to clean.
With our attention to detail and long track-record of success, Macwood Group is the only company you need in order to get your office remodeled for business.
As time passes, busy office spaces can easily begin to ‘burst’ at the seams, and available space becomes harder to find, especially in smaller offices. When this becomes the case, productivity suffers and something needs to be done – relocate the office, expand, or redesign the layout to maximise space.
While businesses grow and take on new staff, often times space to accommodate growth is hard to find, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that an office needs to relocate. In fact, most of the time, simply redesigning an office to be more ‘spacious’ and efficient is the best solution. Ideally, an office fit out can produce the best results. Here are some helpful tips for maximising your office layout space.
Maximise Your Office Layout Space With These Helpful Tips
If you need more space in your office, and you aren’t sure where to start or how to go about freeing up space, then you will surely get some great ideas from these tips below:
Examine your current office layout – before you start looking at ways to free up space, it is necessary to consider how you currently use the space you have. In fact, simply changing or moving furniture, tables, chairs, desks, or office equipment around could help free up space where needed. Basically, clear a way and provide more access to areas of the office that get the most traffic.
However, consulting with office fit out professionals is advised before you invest any considerable amount of money into redesigning your office space.
Prioritise furnishings and storage spaces – prioritise only the furniture and equipment your office actually needs and uses. Removing what is not absolutely needed will definitely help to free up space, so will defining or relocating storage space that is not accessed daily. Sometimes, offices have files, equipment, and other items that are being stored in the same area where daily work is being conducted. The best solution is to find a place for storage outside of the hustle and bustle of the office.
Walls and doors can get in the way – when businesses grow, it is common that the initial layout of office spaces ceases to serve its purpose effectively, and walls and doors need to be removed or relocated to accommodate current needs. The best solution is to hire an office fit out expert. They can help show you the possibilities of removing walls to create a larger working area.
Effectively maximising office layout space takes understanding about how you use space, some creativity, strategic storage planning, and experience, that is why office fit out specialists are in demand.