With our lease due for renewal in April 2021 we saw the opportunity to move to a new model of working in a different building that would better support our aspirations:

• a city centre location
• an architecturally significant building with its own front door
• connections with nature
• improved connections with each other
• a lively space, even when fewer people are in the office

Solution

We identified a building, signed a lease and fitted it out during spring 2021, opening at the end of lockdown on July 19^th 2021.

With its front door situated on Bank Place, the new studio occupies a building that was formerly a banking HQ and then a restaurant before lying vacant for three years until we took it on. It’s high ceilings, generous glazing and large volume permitted the introduction of a mezzanine where the design studio, associated project storage, personal storage toolboxes and informal meeting space is located. The space benefits from generous south and east facing glazing, with views of mature plane trees, birds, sky and the impressive St. Peter’s Church opposite. Our team is, at last, connected: they are all together, whether technical, finance, administrative or support.

We no longer have a reception but instead we have a touch-down coffee bar, break-out and central social space - a space where we come together for gatherings, where we can drop-in between meetings and have informal chats with colleagues, clients and fellow consultants – we have an open-door policy – pop in for a coffee and a chat!

The connected welfare space is characterised by a darker colour palette of fittings and finishes and illuminated by concealed lighting and feature pendants over a centrally located natural oak bench which promotes chance encounters and further opportunities to drop in for coffee and catch up on emails between meetings. We have a ‘Shhh’ space too. Here, colleagues can retreat, assured of disturbance-free and confidential working. We know not to bother anyone if they’re set up in here to focus on a tender or they just need some ‘p&q’ – the buzz of the open-plan studio doesn’t suit everybody, all the time. Our ‘Amazon Drop’ tidies away personal deliveries until the end of the day and the array of building materials, components and samples that arrive frequently, until they’re transferred to ‘project storage’ by the project team.

The former bank vaults on the lower ground floor, retain their heavy steel doors –a great feature for us to work with. Emerging into our basement break-out space, the robber makes his getaway with his bag of swag! and our Board Room and Project Room each occupy a former vault. They’re quiet, confidential spaces where high level lights permit views to St. Peter’s Church, it’s trees and the sky beyond. At this level there is also the IT and print room, toilet suites, a shower room and vanity area supporting those who cycle to work or need to get ready for a formal function or night out in the city!

Hybrid working is supported by a new IT system with laptops for all mobile workers and our IT systems including BIM software hosted with our outsourced IT support provider or in the cloud, meaning that whether staff connect to the system in our London, Birmingham, Nottingham or Hangzhou offices or on site, the experience is the same.

We’re settling into the space, enjoying it, enjoying being with each other and being back in the heart of our city. We’re still working with our furniture supplier contacts to identify new and exciting pieces to introduce in our spaces and to promote the way we want to work. It's a space we’ve aspired to for many years, and we’re delighted that we have been able to seize the opportunity afforded us by these exceptional times.

As a collaboration between our architects, interior designers, workplace consultants and graphic designer, it’s a showcase for our holistic approach to creating ‘places that feel better’.