Five Questions

Jenny Carter, president of K-2 design group in Naples, says she's changing the way businesses think about remodeling or redesigning their work space. According to Carter, there's so much more to commercial design than placing furniture and picking colors. Audio-visual needs, acoustics, privacy, lighting and new technology are all issues that need to be considered.

A graduate of Canada's McGill University, Carter and two other McGill alumni formed a Montreal-based firm in 1985. A longing for family and warm weather brought her back to Florida, where she was born and raised. In 1994, she formed K-2.

Carter operates out of a 5,000-square-foot facility, where she houses a mill shop for making cabinets and custom furniture. She's a licensed architect and interior designer.

What are some challenges you face?

Using creativity and invention when you're on a tight time frame is challenging. K-2's quick sketch renderings provide a complete construction-ready package using computer-aided design and 3-D modeling technology. One client needed to move into 11,000 square feet of existing office space in six months. Space planning dictated the need to demolish the existing interior and rebuild. To complicate matters, the company was sold in a highly publicized deal, and I had to apply more control and focus than usual, but we did it.

How do you come up with your floor plans?

This is where experience really counts. The more construction experience the designer has, the better the outcome of the total project. When I do space planning, I use bubble diagrams [circles] extensively to determine adjacencies. By assigning a bubble to a staff member, a task or the flow of a project, I can try a variety of scenarios until I find the best solution. I also use existing information like architectural and structural drawings, heating, air conditioning and electrical plans.

What are some trends?

Contemporary designs without hard edges and cold surfaces are trendy. Soft colors and speaker music are a New-Age form of relaxation that reduces tension and anxiety. Furniture that moves is in demand because it allows employees to "nest" by task. Air purifiers are also popular because clean air cuts down on employee absenteeism.

How do you structure fees?

To clear a big myth, it's not by marking up furniture. Savvy designers buy direct from the manufacturers and can actually save clients money on furnishings. Fees are determined by the scope of the work, complexity of the design and time frame. A fixed fee for the design work, with a maximum budget for procurement, is preferred. It takes the unknown out of the equation.

Are you a problem solver?

Absolutely. One client couldn't focus when there was outside noise. We used rubber sound buffer membrane behind the drywall and sound-abatement wall panels that were effective and made a beautiful wall finish. Another company couldn't get enough productivity from the reception staff. We took down the wall partitions and removed the Internet system. Being in full view without the distraction of the Internet helped increase productivity.