If you want to be successful, you have to dress the part. And we're talking about more than your pin-striped suit; your office also sends a message. So say goodbye to silk plants and boring cubicle walls. Now it's all about high-tech offices, modular furniture, comfy leather chairs and plasma screens in every room.

Office design is becoming more transitional, moving away from the traditional Mediterranean veneer of Naples, according to Hal Atzingen, president of Design Purchasing Network. Business owners are creating new ways to show their products and designing tranquil spaces to seal the deal. This new approach to commercial design has been gathering momentum in the past two years, says Jenny Carter, president of K2 Design.

We talked to local interior designers and architecture firms to find commercial spaces that are setting the new standards-from a sleek, modern office in a downtown Fort Myers historic building to a futuristic medical compound in Naples.

Arthrex Inc. Headquarters

Where: Creekside Commerce Park in Naples

Square footage: 132,000 in two buildings

Houses: 400 employees

Built: 2003

Cost: $22 million

For a company known for creating innovative, cutting-edge surgical tools, we expected nothing less of its worldwide headquarters than a futuristic campus buzzing with medical experts. It's a high-tech facility with labs, offices, auditoriums, hospitality suites and formidable conference rooms, all surrounding a lush courtyard garden. Arthrex founder Reinhold Schmieding had a vision for the compound, and West Palm Beach's ATH Architecture designed the buildings-the administration building with labs and teaching areas and a separate manufacturing plant. Schmieding then turned to Lori Wegman of Wegman Design Group for the interior design. "It has a campus layout and an open, airy feeling," says Gregg Seide, Arthrex's facility manager. The sterile white walls in the building contrast with the tropical courtyard, which has rock waterfalls and four bridges that jump over a small creek. Employees savor this view every day, with natural light pouring through walls of windows. But the pièce de résistance is Schmieding's own presidential suite, which opens to a private alfresco conference area. A sturdy teak table is surrounded by ponds and lush landscaping-a tranquil locale for business decisions and dealings.

BSSW Architects

Where: Downtown Fort Myers

Square footage: 7,000

Houses: 22 employees

Built: 1914, renovated in 2004

Cost: $1.8 million

Beneath its historic red-brick exterior, the building on the corner of First and Jackson streets is the picture of modernity-but it took a year and a half to get that way. BSSW Architects took on the challenge in 2004 when it bought the abandoned Bank of Fort Myers building, gutted it, split it up for multiple businesses, and built a modern addition to house lobbies, an elevator and stairs. When it was finished, the team moved into the second floor. "We're not 100 percent complete," says Kevin Williams, one of the four co-owners, "but I'm not sure if we will ever be." The firm's in-house interior designer conceptualized BSSW's office design. Contemporary yet earthy, the office has new solid hickory floors that contrast with the dark Pau Lope wood trim used along the bookshelves and around the windows that look into two conference rooms. The team arranged the desks in the center of the office and built six-and-a-half-foot tall screen walls around them to create office spaces that open up to a center "pit" to foster collaboration between the employees. Indirect lights sit on top of the screen walls to bounce light from the ceiling. Four private offices, which overlook First Street, have floor-to-ceiling interior glass walls, letting natural light into the main office space. The modern, sleek wood trim and glass walls are paired with small touches of history, such as the 1920s-style ceiling fans that whir above the architects' desks. "We took our cues from the old building," says Williams, "but it's quite different."

Morrison & Caudill Attorneys at Law

Where: Vanderbilt Galleria in Naples

Square footage: 3,000

Houses: five employees

Built: 2006

Cost: $1.1 million

David Morrison found the inspiration for his law office design in Bali. In a small artist colony called Ubud, he discovered colorful, dramatic abstract artworks and shipped the canvases back to the states. Then he teamed up with Hal Atzingen, president of Design Purchasing Network, to create a contemporary but functional office space that would showcase the large-scale pieces. The works are distributed throughout the office, appearing in both its public and private spaces. The workspace and private offices are near the rear of the building. Each attorney's office has its own thermostat, and a personal bathroom with shower. The lobby and conference rooms-the public spaces-are at the front. There, plantation shutters, porcelain floors, wood molding and a custom granite reception desk are paired with an antique Chinese chest that stands in contrast to the lobby's sleek leather armchairs. The Asian influence continues in the conference room, where a smoked-glass chandelier hangs over a round Italian table. Atzingen mirrored the table's shape with a recessed circular ceiling. In the private area of the office, light cherrywood tones in the crown molding and trim stand out against the darker carpet and yellow-glass sconces. "When you put a cool color in and you put all that warmth around it, the warmth of the wood molding really warms the whole space up," says Atzingen. "It really works well in the space."

Harvey Engineering Inc.

Where: Bernwood Drive in Bonita Springs

Square footage: 2,000

Houses: five employees

Built: 2006

Cost: $1 million

It's unusual for engineers to have their own freestanding office space-especially one like the Harvey Engineering building in Bonita Springs. But Gary Harvey and his team are not your usual crew of engineers, and Harvey also had a little help from family. He is married to Jenny Carter, president of K2 Design, and together they designed and built the facility to house the two businesses. What resulted was a minimalist design with enough open space to grow and to spread out the large CAD (computer-aided design) drawings for brainstorming sessions. "I wanted it to look smart, but not overly elegant," Harvey says. Polished concrete flooring and an exposed, blue ceiling in the lobby reflect the business's logo. Suede couches and futuristic lighting elements bring a contemporary, industrial feel to the reception area, accented by a large, curved reception desk. A painting, Portal, suggests structural beauty. The engineers sit at HermanMiller modular desks, which offer them plenty of flat work space. The team designed a wall of clear shelving, sized exactly so the title blocks of each CAD drawing peeks out for ready access. The doors are heavy and impressive at eight feet tall. The walls, at 10 feet, don't reach the ceiling, which opens the office space. Funky tract lighting and sheer white shades offer plenty of light. "It's not over-the-top wild because it's an engineering office," says Carter. "I'm trying to move them along without shocking the hell out of everybody."

SIDEBAR:

Get a Cool Space

Jenny Carter, president of K2 Design, offers these tips.

Get a professional. You wouldn't do your own accounting or Web site, would you? An interior designer will have all the tools to create a successful space.

Plan early. The permitting process can be lengthy, and if you have people onboard early you'll make better decisions and be able to explore different ideas and options.

Create a bubble diagram. Draw larger size circles for those who need more space, smaller circles for those who are rarely there, and position them in the office accordingly.

Define work areas by task. Keep the people who are on the phone all day near the back of the house. What you want near the front door is what makes you look good.

Watch adjacencies. Think about workflow. Purchasing should be near accounting; sales near customer service.

Lighting is important. Poor lighting affects employees' productivity. Areas such as conference rooms and lobbies should use lighting for dramatic effect or to showcase work. Light up your work as if it were a valuable piece of art, and that will be your clients' perception of it.

Technology is even more important. Make sure everything is wired before you start furnishing. Wireless is a great way to go.

Understand the psychology of color. If you want people to be agitated and anxious, use red. If you people to relax, use blue. Browns, grays and neutrals express stability. But there's a danger with an absence of color. It's easy to forget a beige office.

Declutter. Doing this will instantly freshen an office space. Get the junk out of the reception area.

Go green. Plants freshen the air, which helps keep employees healthy. They also serve as noise buffers.

Have room to grow. Modular furniture, such as HermanMiller, offers a flexible, plug-and-play approach to design, so your office can grow without having to call a contractor.

Keep the creature comforts. Instead of a break room, create a hospitality area with couches, where people can relax or have impromptu conferences. Always have refreshment stations for customers and employees.

Freshen up. Take a look at how your business has changed and refresh your design every three to five years with carpet or finishes. A new design should be implemented every seven years.