Adding a Mezzanine Floor to Your Office – Westcountry Group

When it comes to commercial office refurbishment, mezzanine floors are a popular choice for many office environments. Mezzanines are partial or balcony floors that often protrude over the floor below, serving as a gallery space. They add extra room to an office, as well as touch of style, and often help to ease the foot traffic around the building and prevent bottlenecks.

If you feel that a mezzanine floor would make a good addition to your workplace, there are several things you should think about before taking the plunge. In this article we discuss 5 aspects of mezzanine office design that you need to consider.

Planning permission

Planning permission for a mezzanine floor may or may not be needed, depending on where you place it and how in impacts the external structure of the building. Most mezzanines are fitted under the eaves of the roof. If there is sufficient head-room, no exterior action needs to be taken and planning permission probably won’t be needed. If you need to raise the slope of the roof or fit a dormer extension to accommodate the mezzanine, you may require planning permission. If in doubt, speak to your contractor, who will have plenty of experience in this area.

Structural changes

Adding a mezzanine floor is no small task. They tend to be heavy and that extra weight will need to be supported by the existing walls – not to mention the additional stress of people accessing the new floor on a daily basis. This may require structural adjustments to the roof and ceiling, something that an experienced architect or contractor can assist you with.

Building regulations

All commercial office buildings must meet with the appropriate building regulations laid out by the Health and Safety Executive. We’ve already discussed the structural safety, but there are other issues. Chief among them is the flow of staff, particularly in the event of a fire or other emergency. You need to design your mezzanine so it doesn’t hamper peoples’ exit routes. Since mezzanines usually protrude over an open space onto the floor below, you need to ensure there are suitable safety measures and barricades in place to prevent falling accidents.

Party Wall agreement

Is your office connected to the adjacent building by way of a shared wall? If so, then the addition of a mezzanine floor is their concern as well as yours. You will need to speak with the building owners and draw up a Party Wall Agreement before installing your new addition.

Practicalities

If your mezzanine floor is to be used as a workplace, you need to consider how it will function. This includes rewiring for electrical outlets, fitting any lighting or heating fixtures, and so on. If it acts as an access point between floors, you need to ensure that your staff on the floor won’t be constantly interrupted by passing co-workers.

While all of that might sound like a lot, help is at hand. Here are Westcountry Group, we have decades of combined experience in mezzanine office design. Give the team a call today on 0330 030 0330 to discuss your requirements and to get a free, no-obligation quote.