An Istanbul office for an Arab company starts with a clear branch brief: people, visitors, working arrangements and the decisions shared between headquarters and the local team. Connect that brief to the property, brand, furniture, technology, purchasing responsibilities and a checked move-in plan. Discuss it with SMD Decoration to develop a workplace that expresses the business and supports the activities it actually needs to accommodate.

This guide concentrates on setting up the client team and preparing the branch for occupation. It complements the broader corporate office design and fit-out guide. SMD advertises commercial design and fit-out services; the appointment establishes actual deliverables, coordination, supply and implementation. A company’s nationality does not determine one interior style. Its activity, customers, staff and selected premises provide the useful starting information.

Identify the branch’s decision-makers

Headquarters may control the brand and investment, the branch manager understands daily operations, IT manages equipment and connections, and finance oversees purchasing. Identify a representative who brings those inputs together and the people authorised to decide each subject. Arrange cover for absences. The designer should be able to distinguish a staff suggestion, a request for an option and the company’s confirmed decision without resolving contradictory messages on the client’s behalf.

Separate concept review from material selection, fabrication approval and a change affecting cost or programme. Acceptance of a rendering may leave a meeting table dependent on technology and dimensions. Record the subject, reference, revision, decision and responsible person. Agree the actual approval and change process in the appointment. This is a proposed way to organise information; it does not give contractual authority to anyone the company has not authorised.

Build one starting file for the business and property

Gather the address, plans, photographs, unit condition and available owner and building-management information. Add the brand guide, approved logo, departments, attendance arrangements and equipment. List furniture or systems intended to move from the previous office. Give information a source, date and status, showing what still needs checking. You can start a useful discussion before every answer is available if the gaps remain visible instead of becoming unrecorded assumptions.

If the premises are still being selected, compare them against the same operating brief. Show differences in services, access, existing work and constraints. Relevant qualified parties should review property, use and permission matters for the actual case. The fit-out brief explains how those inputs affect layout, procurement and timing. Selecting an attractive finish does not establish that a unit is suitable for the company’s proposed activity or alterations.

Describe attendance and tasks, not just headcount

Record current users, expected simultaneous attendance and known changes. Explain which roles need a dedicated station and which have short or occasional visits. Include customer meetings, confidential calls, concentrated work, collaboration, training, printing and storage. Ask department representatives to describe the busiest credible working period. A total number of employees alone cannot show how many people need the same kind of space at the same time.

Translate those inputs into a department needs matrix. For each team, list users, activities, devices, meetings, storage, privacy and any unresolved information. Name the manager who confirms the inputs. Compare shared facilities that can serve several departments with spaces required for particular tasks. This gives the designer reasons for allocating rooms and equipment, rather than treating an unfilled part of the plan as available for another row of desks.

Establish what the unit allows

Review measured dimensions, openings, columns, levels, windows and existing services with those responsible for the property and survey. Identify retained work needing assessment, alterations to review and building conditions concerning access, deliveries or implementation periods. Connect constraints to decisions in the brief. A position suitable for an executive office in a reference image may conflict with the actual entrance, structure or service arrangement in the selected unit.

Ask the team to explain alternatives before the layout becomes a purchasing commitment. Coordinate the agreed reviews with the owner, management and relevant specialists. Information about a neighbouring unit can help frame a question but should not silently become confirmation for this property. Use the SMD Istanbul page to present the actual premises and the work you wish to discuss, including what remains uncertain.

Plan the visitor’s route with the company’s workflow

Describe how a visitor arrives, is received, waits and reaches a meeting. Identify where staff work, documents are handled and equipment is stored. Test an appointment while employees are making calls and another visitor is leaving. Reception needs a clear role and useful storage; its quality is not measured by the size of a stone counter. Match the welcome to the business and its genuine visitor pattern.

Review payment or registration activities only if they are part of the operation. Discuss visual and conversational privacy with the appropriate team, without treating a glass partition as evidence of a particular acoustic result. The design should explain how people use the space; responsible specialists determine any required performance and review. Material references and the SMD project portfolio can express identity while the branch brief establishes the operating requirements.

Define meeting scenarios before buying the room

List internal meetings, client presentations, video calls and training as applicable. Identify participants, devices, display, camera, control and connections. Ask IT and the designer to review seating positions, sightlines, lighting, sound and access together. An attractive table and wall screen do not alone demonstrate that the room supports a call with colleagues at headquarters. The intended activity should be understandable before suppliers finalise their separate packages.

Test an appropriate arrangement or sample where useful. Include a laptop, presentation, remote participant and the actions a normal user must perform. Assign equipment supply, installation, configuration, checks and support. If the company purchases technology separately, record the information needed by furniture and service suppliers. A model change can affect mounting, cable routes, power and joinery, so related information should be reviewed before fabrication continues.

Use a workstation approval card

Prepare a proposed card with the role, attendance, task, screens and tools, storage, furniture reference, layout, service points and responsible parties. Add user feedback, sample-review outcome and decision status. HSE’s UK workstation assessment guidance considers the whole workstation, equipment, furniture, work conditions, task and particular user requirements. It is a general reference for the breadth of review here, rather than a statement of Turkish compliance or a health guarantee.

For a hypothetical role using two screens and daily files, compare the real furniture and service arrangement with a short-visit station. Trial the proposed selection with the user and appropriate competent party where needed. If screen dimensions or mounting change, revisit the affected desk, cables, light and movement. Link the approved card to purchasing references so the sample, specification and delivered product can be compared without relying on an old presentation image.

Coordinate IT, services and furniture responsibilities

List stations, printers, displays, network equipment and any specialised systems, identifying who supplies them. Relevant specialists review service needs and the building interfaces. Distinguish cabling from active network equipment, configuration and support. Clarify what the fit-out contractor, building team and company’s IT supplier each deliver and test. A quotation containing electrical outlets should not leave everyone assuming another party is providing the complete operating network.

Include access for maintenance and the information required before ceilings or joinery conceal services. Record any equipment-room needs against the actual equipment and responsible discipline review. A client interface sheet can connect each package with its supplier, required input, installation dependency and check. These are proposed coordination questions, not system specifications. Actual requirements and acceptance belong to the agreed project documents and qualified participants.

Keep support spaces in the operating brief

Include printing, stationery, storage, cleaning and refreshment needs at the same stage as the visible office. Ask how supplies arrive, where equipment is serviced and where daily items return after use. Explain document-storage and access needs using the company’s policies. You need an operational description rather than employee files or other private records to develop this part of the brief.

Coordinate plumbing and electrical work for relevant support areas with the responsible parties. A simple, orderly pantry or store can serve the office better than leftover space that forces materials under desks. Compare the footprint and responsibilities with the main layout before purchasing. The question is how the branch will sustain its daily routine and appearance after occupation, not merely where an unused corner can accommodate a cabinet.

Approve language and brand details before fabrication

The branch may work internally in Arabic, locally in Turkish and with some visitors in English. Identify where each language is useful: room names, visitor directions, reception or equipment guidance. Have the company’s appointed reviewer check the text, spelling, writing direction, hierarchy and logo on an appropriate sample. A supplier should receive approved wording rather than infer the legal company name or translate a job title from an early conversation.

Keep references for names, fonts, colours, materials and sign locations, identifying approvals required from headquarters and the branch. Consider how room or staff names can be updated without remaking the entire element. Review location and installation with relevant property parties. A consistent identity can emerge through selected details and a clear visitor journey; repeating the logo on every wall is not a substitute for those decisions.

Compare a working-day option and a growth option

Develop alternatives using the same attendance and activity inputs. One may include more stations, another more call or meeting provision. Test simultaneous visitors, a client meeting, staff calls and shared equipment before choosing. Record where each activity occurs and any conflicts that need a different arrangement. This makes the comparison more informative than selecting whichever rendering contains the most furniture or the most formal reception.

Discuss a plausible future change separately, identifying which furniture, partitions or service decisions can accommodate it. Record the cost and current-use effect of reserving capacity. Avoid equipping every imagined expansion without a business reason. Ask department representatives to review the alternatives through one client coordinator, then retain the approved revision. An initial suggestion should not return to implementation simply because its image remains in a message thread.

Separate fit-out, technology and relocation budgets

Break the scope into design and drawings, fixed works, services, furniture, technology, relocation and relevant operating items. Identify supply, installation, connection, checks and support for each. Compare proposals against the same references, quantities and specifications. Explain retained items and any dismantling, transport, reinstatement or assessment. A lower total becomes meaningful when the company can see which work, product or responsibility has changed.

Ask for currency, validity, relevant taxes or fees, assumptions and exclusions in the actual quotation. There is no general metre rate here establishing the cost of every Istanbul office. If information is unresolved, show the review needed and the decisions it affects. Discuss design and engineering coordination with SMD, then agree what is included rather than relying on an undefined complete-fit-out label.

Build move-in around checked readiness

Where work overlaps an operating office, responsible participants should assess separation, access, disruption, services and protection before promising continued occupation. Compare phasing or temporary relocation with the real scope. For a new premises move, identify furniture delivery, technology checks, keys, cleaning and user information required before staff arrive. A room can look complete while an essential connection or meeting function still needs work.

Walk through a visitor journey, workstation use, a video meeting, printing, storage and support areas with the appropriate participants. Have responsible specialists perform the agreed checks. Record observations by location, effect, owner and closure evidence. Identify what remains open and who decides the implications for occupation under the actual project arrangements. This proposed review supports a clear conversation; it is not a substitute for required technical or contractual acceptance.

Give the branch an operating handover file

Agree the updated drawings, equipment instructions, warranties, supplier information and other records included in handover. Name the person receiving them for the company and the contact managing maintenance. Provide any agreed user demonstration and distinguish routine support from work requiring a specialist. A useful file connects an installed item with its reference and responsible supplier, so the branch can ask an informed question later.

Start your discussion through SMD’s official contact page. Share the Istanbul location, plans, photographs, departments, attendance, visitor and meeting needs, equipment, retained items, budget and target date. Identify headquarters and branch decision-makers and the work you wish to commission. That starting brief gives the office’s visual identity a practical foundation in the way your company intends to work.

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