Custom Microsoft Places Icons: Making Every Workplace Space Visible
Going beyond Microsoft’s standard Places floor plan icons
At the time of writing this article, the Microsoft Places implementation of IMDF provides just a limited set of standard ‘baked in’ icons for displaying facilities on workplace maps.
The current Microsoft Places icons are WCs, Elevators and Stairs!
But from 15 years experience of doing floor plans, we know the variety of amenities organisations want to offer their employees extends well beyond those options.
From everyday facilities such as lockers and showers to more unusual amenities such as pool tables, prayer rooms and bike stores, every workplace is different.
That’s why we’ve developed our own growing library of bespoke Microsoft Places icons.
Many of these icons have been created in response to specific customer requests. When an organisation wants to highlight a facility that isn’t represented by Microsoft’s standard symbols, we can create an icon to include on its floor plans.
And as new requirements emerge, our library continues to expand, giving customers access to an increasingly diverse collection of workplace symbols.
A growing demand for wellbeing icons
One area where we’ve received an increasing number of requests for icons relates to workplace wellbeing.
Organisations are providing a wider variety of facilities to support employees’ physical, mental and personal wellbeing, and they want these spaces to be just as easy to find as a meeting room or a coffee point.
Our latest additions include icons for first aid rooms, lactation rooms and contemplation rooms, reflecting the growing importance of facilities that support employees’ individual needs.
It’s particularly important that these facilities are easy to identify. Someone looking for a private space to express breast milk, a quiet area for reflection or another specialist wellbeing facility shouldn’t have to search through building directories or ask colleagues where to go.
By creating bespoke icons for these spaces, we can help organisations make the full range of facilities they provide more visible and accessible to their workforce.
Designed to work with Microsoft Places
Creating a new icon isn’t quite as simple as adding an image to a floor plan.
Microsoft Places uses the Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF), so bespoke symbols need to be constructed using compatible map geometry rather than simply importing an SVG or image.
Our icons are carefully designed and simplified to work within these requirements, allowing us to represent facilities that aren’t covered by the standard Microsoft Places icon set.
The result is a growing library of custom-built workplace icons that helps our customers get more from their Microsoft Places maps – while accommodating the different ways organisations are designing workplaces for their people.
Need help creating custom floor plans for Microsoft Places?
Essential can help transform your existing office drawings into clear, detailed Microsoft Places maps, including desks, meeting rooms, collaboration areas, wellbeing facilities and other workplace amenities.
With our growing library of custom icons and experience preparing IMDF floor plans, we can help you represent the features that make your workplace unique.
