New schemes that allow companies to buy a single floor of an office block are a big step forward, says David Spittles.

A novel property concept that allows small firms to buy, rather than rent, an office floor and then order a designer fit-out of the space is available for the first time in London. The initiative is collaboration between property company London & Regional and loft developer Yoo, co-founded by designer Philippe Starck. It marks the overlap between residential and commercial property; the blurred boundaries between work, rest and play.   Basicially, business occupiers are being offered a similar package to what flat-buyers get at a new development: a long lease and a share of the freehold. Then they choose one of four designs "palettes" to transform the office shell.

"Many people spend more waking at work than at home, yet so little thought goes into office interiors," claims Yoo chairman John Hitchcox.

The four design styles are labelled Classic (dark wood and leather), Minimal (sleek and zen like), Culture (bursts of colour and texture) and Nature (warm, organic and restful greens). This may sound gimmicky, but Hitchcox believes there is an untapped demand for fashionable and affordable fit-outs. He says the secret is to avoid the "banal functionality" of tradional office space and the "intrusive wackiness" of dotcom offices, with there table football machines and bean bags.

"Neither do we want to domesticate interiors so they look like twee versions of live/work units," he says.