Industrial Style Office Designs: Key Concepts to Consider for the

May 26,2024

Find the proper ceiling cable management solution for you to achieve your industrial office design aesthetic..
The industrial style office aesthetic is making a comeback. Originally popular from the brutalist architectural movement in the mid-20th century, warehouse and industrial style office spaces are gaining traction. Visually attractive and more open than traditional conceptions, industrial office design elevates basic, unfinished environments such as warehouses and factories into showpieces, combining decorative and utilitarian elements to achieve bold and daring workplaces. Wood juxtaposed with concrete, high ceilings with exposed wiring, pipes and air ducts, are just a few elements of an industrial style office adopted and popularized by organizations such as Google, Twitter, Redbull, and Capital One. Are you ready to adopt the industrial office aesthetic like so many innovative companies? With industrial-style placing so much emphasis on having exposed utilities, the structured cabling and particularly the ceiling cable management solutions need to be a priority. Traditional and More Common Practices In conventional office design, a clean look usually means that most elements of HVAC, electric power, plumbing and cabling are hidden away. These utilities are not to be seen and a variety of design features are used to keep HVAC ducts, electrical conduits, and cabling out of sight but in commercial office environments, drop ceilings and acoustical tiles are still the most common means for hiding these “undesirable elements”. Traditional methods for supporting cables include: J-hooks This is the most common method and, as the name suggests, this “J” shaped device supports cables above a drop ceiling at intervals of 48” to 60” along the entire pathway. These J-hooks are usually secured to the structural ceiling using powder-actuated tools. There are several different types and sizes of J-hooks available as well as other support options that do not resemble a “J” at all but perform the same function. The decision for which to use is dependent largely upon the quantity of cables being installed. Cable Tray A cable tray system is a common way to support structured cabling. There are many different types of cable tray systems available but all are comprised of an assembly of units joined together to form a rigid structural system that is securely fastened to the building, either to a wall or suspended from the structural ceiling. Cable trays are meant to establish fixed pathways for cables and provide some level of protection. However, the costs to install cable trays can be expensive and the design must be carefully coordinated with other trades such as HVAC and plumbing, to avoid conflicts and even more expensive re-work. It is also not realistic to have cable trays installed to cover every single workstation so J-hooks will still be required to fully support cables per industry standards. Standard wire mesh cable tray installed in combination with standard J-hooks. Conduit It is less common to have conduits installed as pathways for low-voltage