Safety, Function, Beauty: Three Key Components of Commercial Design

When it comes to the success of a small business, the focus is most often on innovative products, smart digital marketing, and robust customer service. Seldom does the spotlight fall on one of the most potent but overlooked aspects of business development: interior design. Commercial interior design can be the silent architect of a business's growth — a strategic investment that speaks volumes about your brand, converts casual visitors into loyal customers, and boosts your bottom line. In an era where customer experience is king, every element of a business, including the aesthetic appeal and functionality of a space, can heighten or diminish the perceived value of a brand.

It's time to formalize an approach that embeds life safety planning into the very DNA of commercial interior design. Thankfully, the PCI podcast team has created a three-part framework that serves as a roadmap to weave life safety principles into every facet of your design process.

What Are the Three Core Life Safety Requirements in Commercial Interior Design?

Randi Lynn Johnson: So Robin, what are the basic things when it comes to life safety?

Robin Pasley: Number one is making sure that there is an exit close enough to you to get out, and that the door is swinging the right direction. One of the things we do in code study is making sure that we have a limitation on how far the farthest point of an interior space can be from an exit door into the corridors and then out to the exit of the building. That's about the path of travel.

The second thing would be signage and fire systems — things that blink and flash, and signs that say "exit here." There are requirements on how many of those have to be in a visual point in a corridor or a room, and emergency lights that come on and illuminate the space. We work in conjunction with the people in their specialties, like the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers. There are fire engineers too, who work on sprinkler systems, but our knowledge base is required to know what needs to be in that area, and then we work with them to finalize all of that.

The third thing that a lot of people don't know is that it comes down to the materials and the furniture. Understanding what wall coverings can give up — they have to be fire rated if they're going into a commercial building. It's different than your house. The same principle applies to furniture: there are fabrics, finishes, and even foams that are approved for usage in a commercial space because of their flammability ratings. As part of commercial space planning, every material specification has to meet those standards before anything else.

How Does a Commercial Interior Designer Balance Code Compliance with Creative Design?

Randi Lynn Johnson: Robin, can you give us a practical, real-world example of how you've done this both/and approach — prioritizing life safety and making sure it's functioning right, but also making it look good?

Robin Pasley: Sure. I'm working on a project right now that would have been really great to have a door missing from a certain wall, because then we could have done some more elaborate wall coverings — but we have to have the door there for life safety code. So we're just reworking our design plan to keep the door where it is. It's also a cost savings for our client to not have to move the door. We're not compromising the design; we're reworking where things land on that wall so we can make sure they can escape if they need to, and so that the design is not compromised.

Randi Lynn Johnson: So you can pivot. You're really good at seeing it and being able to say, "it would be better if we could do this, but we're going to make it work."

Robin Pasley: Yes, we can make it work. That's part of the problem-solving side of design. I'm naturally drawn to puzzles because I love problem solving, and that's 80% of my job. We have to comply with safety, but we also want spaces to be highly functional for the end user — and beautiful.

What Is the Correct Priority Order in Commercial Interior Design?

Robin Pasley: To me, the ranking is: number one is safety and code compliance, number two is functionality, and number three is beauty. This priority order also applies to specialized environments. We do a lot of medical work, so understanding self-healing surfaces and antimicrobial surfaces matters enormously. Specifying a project in a medical setting means making sure all seating has an antimicrobial finish. We want everything to be bleach-cleanable because staff are working in those environments.

Randi Lynn Johnson: Yeah — a kid comes in and is coughing all over a chair.

Robin Pasley: That's part of it. As a commercial interior designer, if you're not fully aware of all the details in a fabric specification — if you don't know what you're looking for — you might specify something and then they go to bleach-clean it, and all of a sudden the fabric isn't holding up or it's deteriorating because of the chemical being used on it. You simply specified the wrong fabric.

Randi Lynn Johnson: A lot to think about, Robin. Thank you. You're always entertaining and enlightening.

Robin Pasley: Thanks for having me. I guess it's my show.

Randi Lynn Johnson: Yeah, it is your show. Thanks for listening to me.

Interior design isn't an extravagance reserved for big brands. It is a tangible investment that can yield measurable returns. In an increasingly competitive market, the merits of this strategic approach can make all the difference in not just surviving, but thriving.

Pasley Commercial Interiors — design to help your business grow.