The Perfect Customer Lounge

What are the key ingredients to a good customer lounge?

Taking a break from the daily grind is important.  Getting up from your chair, your cubicle or just out of your working environment and relaxing your eyes on a different environment other than the screen 1 foot away from your face is a great visual relax.

Now that your out from behind the computer, don’t let the lure of your smartphone take you to another screen merely inches from your face.  If you can take a walk outside to decompress, then get some fresh air.   If you’re in a neighborhood where taking a walk could be a health risk, the weather is not conducive or you just want to hang out with friends,  hopefully your office has a comfortable customer lounge with nice amenities to decompress.

Elements to the Perfect Lounge

What are some nice elements to have in a customer lounge?  Below is a wish list I put together for the ultimate break room to allow for someone to blow off some steam at work.  But every project and client has their unique desires.  Let me know what would be on your list.

My desired list of the perfect Lounge

Variety of seating arrangements.  Places to recline, like a couch or large comfortable armchair.  Small Tables with Bench seating or movable chairs for eating a snack or chatting with colleagues.   Barstool with table for a quick bite, drink or chat.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is serbin-studio-customer-lounge-1024x768.jpg

Water and ice dispenser.  Important to have clean cool refreshing water at your disposal.  Ice for those who want a cool drink on a hot day.

       water ice dispenser

Insta hot water dispenser.  For those tea drinkers, having a readily available hot water to seep the tea bag is wonderful on a cold winter day.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is hot-water.jpg

Coffee.  A Coffee dispenser, such as an automatic dispenser with a variety of options for mochas, lattes, hot chocolate, milk, sugar etc.

automatic coffee

Refrigerator.  This item would work if there were some rules established so there aren’t items left in there for scientific reasons.  Establish a purge on Friday’s to keep things in order.  It’s difficult enough to keep the refrigerator at home purged of expired items.  But for those who want to bring their lunch or a snack, a nice feature to have.

   This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is refrigerator-438x1024.jpg

Vending machine for important carbs or candy urges.  A good bar of chocolate can help you through the day.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is coke-machine.png

Ping pong or pool table.  A quick game of nonsense can relieve stress of the brain grind.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pool-table.jpg

Television.  Try to put something light on, not CNN.  Hearing about the latest stock dip or catastrophe isn’t the best way to relieve tension.  How about some Joe Gatto with Impracticable Jokers or the Family Guy.  Or in my case, car shows.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is tv.jpg

A box full of kittens.  Kind of joking about that, but just imagine the stress they could release.

Customer Lounge Design

I just recently designed a customer lounge for a client.  It was lacking a few of my wish list items but with the amount of available space we had to work with, the finishes and furnishing we were able to incorporate, it would be a place I definitely would enjoy hanging out in.

Currently working on another lounge, for a client’s corporate offices.  Most likely have seating areas, water and coffee station, refrigerator for beverages, television etc.  I’ll forgo presenting the idea of a box full of kittens though.

 Let me know what would be on your list.

Recent Posts

Older Posts

Office Design – Sliding or swinging doors

Swinging vs. sliding doors, what is your option?

The Perfect Customer Lounge

What are the key ingredients to a good customer lounge? Taking a break from the daily grind is important.  Getting up from your chair, your cubicle or just out of your working environment and relaxing your eyes on a different environment other than the screen 1...

Tenant Improvements

You are either looking or just leased a space or own an existing building and have a few changes you want to make.  The first step is to hire a design professional who can make your project successful.  Whether it's relocating a few interior walls, a complete...

BABY STEPS

"A small effort made towards completion of a much larger task" What about Bob? (1991) Comedy staring Bill Murray.  (Movie Clip) Dave Ramsey's - "Baby steps into financial freedom".  I need some of this. UrbanDictionary.com   "To make progress on something in small...

1970’s Gender Neutral Restroom

Its getting close to tile installation at a construction site in Phoenix, Arizona.    A modern Gender Neutral Restroom is being constructed within a single story office complex in Phoenix, Arizona. The exterior of the 1970's building reflects beige stucco, dark roof...

As-Builts: Conduits and J-Boxes

Field measuring doesn't involve blades of grass.  In the architectural universe, field measuring is a process of recording existing conditions of a building.  A "field" is a piece of property on planet Earth with precise coordinates.  An architect loves to say "Yeah,...

Harmonious Machine for Living

On a rainy and gray morning in March of 2023 Jeffrey, Jan, and I embarked on a road trip to Lincoln, Massachusetts to see the Gropius House.  Driving through the dense New England forest, the roads became winding and time slowed.  Approaching the shining wet gravel...

Architectural Acoustics

Have you ever been out to eat and find it impossible to hear what the friends at your table are saying?  You are hearing a phone conversation from a co-worker in the next cubicle over? It may be from lack of attention to sound absorption in the early design phases of...

Hotel Adams Phoenix

Hotel Adams used to stand proudly on Adams Street and (Centre Avenue) Central Avenue in the middle of an emerging downtown Phoenix, Arizona. In 1910 Hotel Adams was a tinderbox for flames and burnt to the ground. Over time there has always been a hotel there. I have...

AT&T Office Lobby Renovation [2017]

AT&T Office Lobby Renovation [2017] in Tempe, Arizona was a project that Serbin Studio helped design a high security entry and customer experience.  Customers are the Data Center tenants, they do not work in the building but check in periodically. The customer...

726 Monroe Building [2020]

726 Monroe Building [2020] was a project designed by Serbin Studio. Architectural design started in 2020 and building construction completed in 2023.   The building is situated along Monroe Avenue in downtown Buckeye, Arizona. The surrounding neighbors are places like...

Parking spaces. How many do I need?

Are you planning on a new building or a tenant improvement.  Wondering how many parking spaces do I need?   Whether it is for a small office, retail, mercantile, restaurant or something even larger, like a large sport complex?   Number of...

Touchless Technology in Architecture

Touchless Technology for Architecture has been around for many years. We have seen this technology show up in door hardware & bathroom fixtures. All this technology can change the way architecture is designed. In designing the built environment, Architects need to...

Open Stair Treads

When is an open stair tread allowed?