Mix Interiors 206
October 2020
STRENGTH & SIMPLICITY
DESIGNERS & MANUFACTURERS OF WORKSPACE FURNITURE
www.gof.co.uk
Contents 26
INSIGHT 8 14 16 20 22 24
UPFRONT MATERIAL MATTERS SEVEN DESERT ISLAND DESKS STEVE GALE PERSPECTIVE
ROUNDTABLE 26
CRUELTY FREE DESIGN IN ASSOCIATION WITH EGE CARPETS
We’re back! This month’s discussion looks at vegan and compassionate design – from products, production and the demand for cruelty-free design.
WORK 34
THE BIG QUESTION
36
PROPERTY: COWORKING David Thames asks if this is the eureka moment for coworking, and we talk to some of the country’s leading figures in the sector about what the future holds.
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COWORKING SPOTLIGHT We ask a selection of the country’s leading coworking/flex space operators how they are adapting their offer in light of COVID and what the short- and long-term futures hold for them.
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THE TRADE DESK FROM PELDON ROSE
58
RECKITT BENCKISER FROM SCOTT BROWNRIGG
64
A NEW WORLD OF WORK BY MCM ARCHITECTURE MCM’s latest research predicts a bold shift in the world of work.
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DESIGNING FOR NEURODIVERSITY Sensory design experts Jolie Studio on creating inclusive spaces for today’s diverse workforce.
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36
HOSPITALITY 76 82
MARKET HALL WEST END SILO ZERO WASTE RESTAURANT
LIVING 86
DEANSGATE SQUARE
92
THE FINAL WORD: MIKE WALLEY
86 Mix 206 October 2020 | 1
WELCOME
Get in touch
A word from Mick You’ll see in this month’s coworking feature that we’ve spoken to a selection of the leading coworking/ flex space operators, asking how they’re fairing and what the future holds for the sector. Without giving too much away, there is a genuine sense of positivity throughout their responses. As we have reported in previous months, the flexible are becoming even more flexible – and are looking to come to us rather than have us go into city centres to find them. Furthermore, these operators have taken immense precautions to ensure their spaces are as safe as possible. Surely then, this is the perfect option for many workers; no major commute, socially distanced interaction with others, ergonomic working facilities, strong broadband – I could go on! Having looked at the subject of mental health in last month’s issue, I believe that it is vital that people have that ability to work alongside others right now – to socially (and safely) interact, to collaborate, to feel part of a wider community. Government directives might well discourage people from leaving their homes when not entirely necessary, but they do have to take into account that people’s mental health is every bit as fragile as their physical health right now.
EDITOR Mick Jordan mick@mixinteriors.com MANAGING DIRECTOR Martin Mongan martin@mixinteriors.com
The cover THE LOGO
Buckley Gray Yeoman’s cover for this month’s issue plays on shadows and colours beside Arper’s new Adell chair. The cover was designed by the studio’s specialist ID team – led by Timothy Shepherd and Jane Maciver – whose international work includes a series of new hotels in Belgium, completing later this year. WWW.BGY.CO.UK
EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE Chloe Petersen Snell chloe@mixinteriors.com HEAD OF OPERATIONS Lisa Jackson lisa@mixinteriors.com OWNER Marcie Incarico marcie@mixinteriors.com DESIGNER Tammi Bell tamzin@tamzinrosedesigns.com FOUNDING PUBLISHER Henry Pugh
THE COVER IMAGE
Smooth like a pebble, soft as mounded moss. With low rounded curves, Adell by Lievore + Altherr Désile Park for Arper is a lounge armchair evoking a precious keepsake from the natural world – whether in use indoors or out. With a shell made from 80% recycled polypropylene, the calming form has been designed with sustainability at its foundation, putting both body and mind at ease. COURTESY OF ARPER
CONTRIBUTORS Steve Gale, David Thame Mike Walley ADDRESS 85 Greengate, Manchester M3 7NA TELEPHONE 0161 519 4850 EMAIL editorial@mixinteriors.com WEBSITE www.mixinteriors.com TWITTER @mixinteriors INSTAGRAM @mix.interiors LINKEDIN Mix Interiors
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2 | Mix 206 October 2020
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Kate Borastero kate@mixinteriors.com
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Through the multiple shapes of our Studio Moods LVT concept you can unlock affordable bespoke floors off the shelf. With 107 QuickShip ready patterns that are available from stock, Studio Moods makes it easy to bring your projects floors that stand out from the crowd. Responsibly made in Europe using renewable energy and with recycled content, Studio Moods lets you play it your way.
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UPFRONT
Design Guild Call for Entries
T
he Design Guild Mark has launched its call for entries for the 2021 awards, inviting designers and companies to submit entries for three categories: ‘Furniture, Textiles, Wall Coverings, Surfaces’, ‘Carpets and Floor Coverings’ and the new ‘Lighting Design’ category. The award recognises the highest standards in the design of furnishings in volume production by the finest designers working in Britain, or British designers working abroad. Designs awarded a Mark benefit from increased industry and consumer awareness, press and social media coverage, with the designers and companies behind them also receiving enhanced brand recognition. The product from each of the three categories deemed to be the most outstanding by the judges will also win the Jonathan Hindle Prize for Excellence. Designers and companies have until 30 November 2020 to submit an entry to meet the early bird deadline and until 22 January 2021 for the final deadline.w
Framery Q Flow
For more information visit: designguildmark.org.uk
Join the Q
H
ere’s some good news from our friends at Welltek. We’re told that Welltek has now reached the impressive sales landmark of £20 million worth of Framery pods – and is also now introducing the next edition Flow pod. Framery, whose pods have been distributed by Welltek since 2015, was one of the pioneers of pods, phone booths and soundproof private spaces, understanding that noise in open offices was a major obstacle to workplace happiness, with constant disruptions from phone calls, ad hoc meetings and discussions. Framery’s booths have now been employed in offices of dozens of the worlds leading companies, including Microsoft, Puma and Tesla. Meanwhile, the Framery Q Flow is a single person work pod designed for uninterrupted work, which can also be used effectively for social distancing. Within the pod is a height-adjustable table that allows for sit/stand working, which has many reported health benefits, such as reduced back pain and burning more calories. There is ample room in the pod to add a stool, making it possible to have informal meetings with a colleague, or for video conferencing. Within the space there are two power outlets and a twin USB to keep users fully connected while inside. Neil Jenkins, Managing Director of Welltek, commented: ‘Ever since we saw Framery, it was a product that we believed in. Open plan offices were on the rise and we realised the necessity of a space that provided privacy and thinking space within the modern working environment. We are absolutely thrilled to have reached such a record landmark of £20 million in sales. It is a product that we are passionate about and, in my opinion, there is not another booth on the market that comes close to its design and acoustic qualities.’w One of last year’s winners: Newson Aluminium Chair by Marc Newson
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NOOM50
NOOM50
www.actiu.com
Multi-format, multi-choice.
Introducing our new multi-format Van Gogh collection. We’ve expanded our existing range to include 16 rigid core colours and four new herringbone designs. Select a gluedown design to create a bespoke flooring pattern, creating a statement floor that is unique to the space, or opt for rigid core perfect for time-sensitive projects that require quick installation with the added benefit of enhanced acoustic properties. Both formats are available in the following sizes: 48” x 7”, 56” x 9” and 28” x 7” herringbone.
T: 01386 820104 | karndean.com/vangogh2020 Featured floor: Warm Brushed Oak VGW121T | VGW121T-RKP
UPFRONT
Making a good impression
K
arndean DesignFlooring has launched its first multi-format Van Gogh Collection, with new natural oak and herringbone designs. Designed to offer designers, contractors and architects greater flexibility, the same designs within the Van Gogh Collection can be specified in either gluedown or rigid core across different environments within the same project. ‘As designers, architects and contractors look to us for more flexibility when specifying our floors, we’re delighted to be taking our first steps in expanding our palette across different formats,’ explains Fleur Carson, Commercial Director at Karndean Designflooring. ‘It means those looking for the continuity of the same colourway throughout are not restricted to just gluedown, especially if they face challenging deadlines or require enhanced acoustics.’ w
PENSON wins big at MIPIM Awards
P
ENSON has announced that JO&JOE Paris has been awarded Best Hotel & Tourism Resort at the 2020 MIPIM Awards. Selected out of three major competitors, the hotel was awarded specifically on its ‘open house’ design and ‘street art’ concept. PENSON commissioned artists to portray its unique character and eclectic atmosphere, with handdrawn, sprayed and painted artwork featuring throughout the hotel as part of JO&JOE’s unique design story. JO&JOE Paris Gentilly is the second JO&JOE open house from PENSON and is the world’s first BBCA low-carbon hotel, offering a genuine experience to its guests – so much so that the hotel was fully booked for its opening month last year. PENSON created the seven-floor, 485-bed hotel as a hybrid – sitting somewhere between an open house, a hotel and a hostel. This model is unlike anything the sector has seen to date – and we’re also a big fan of the self-service beer wall!w
JO&JOE bar, Paris
Grey Brushed Oak
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Mercer Street - Black Circle (Monolithic), Broome Street - Yellow Glass & Black Glass (DBT)
52.643 - Viewmate crossbar - fixed depth
Word on the streets
I
nterface has launched NY+LON Streets, its first range to be paired with CQuest Bio – a new backing containing net carbon negative materials. The backing, which is central to the company’s mission to lower the carbon footprint of commercial spaces, has been created through investment in innovation and is guided by materials science. The process to create the new backing began by adding new bio-based materials, and more recycled content. Then, Interface measured how these materials influence the carbon footprint. These new materials, measured on a standalone basis, are net carbon negative – reducing the total products carbon footprint. The new NY+LON Streets collection is inspired by the world’s most iconic cities, as well as one of the carpet tiles core materials – nylon. Created by David Oakey, Founder of David Oakey Designs and product designer exclusive to Interface, the playful collection uses fresh textures and patterns to encourage a new perspective on urban exploration. This collection will be the first available with CQuest Bio, but the innovative backing is also being rolled out as standard on 11 of Interface’s collections – a total of 46 products. w
52.603 - Viewmate crossbar - depth adjustable
Viewmate: The new black Two of our most popular products, the Viewmate static and depth adjustable and crossbar monitor arms are now also available in satin black! So, If you need a beautiful crossbar solution that matches your black desk, black chair, black hair or black sweater, look no further! Just go to our website to see the 52.603 and 52.642 crossbar solutions in black. Or if black just isn’t your thing, why don’t you check out the 52.602 and 52.642 crossbar solutions in silver! www.dataflex-int.com
UPFRONT Material Matters
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Material Matters Compassionate credentials Inspired by this month’s Roundtable, we’ve compiled some of our current favourite materials championing human-friendly, planet-friendly and animal-friendly design.
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Camira: Deca Engineered from PU to withstand intense heat and moisture demands, this super-soft vegan alternative to leather blends aesthetic qualities with technical capabilities. It’s also bleach-cleanable, making it perfect for the most demanding of commercial interiors post-COVID. Deca is also free from the harmful substances commonly found in vinyl and polyurethane and is certified to Oeko-Tex standard 100. Ty Syml Experimental design studio Tŷ Syml is a name we have heard on the lips of many designers over the past few months. The Wales-based team focuses on the use of mycelium and other natural materials to create a range of products such as lampshades, acoustic panels and even furniture – designed to have a negligible impact on society and the environment.
14 | Mix 206 October 2020
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Graphenstone: Ecosphere Graphenstone Ecosphere is a natural mineral paint with a matte finish. Cradle to Cradle Gold certified, vegan, natural – what’s not to like? From its factory powered by renewable energy to the use of recycled water, Graphenstone considers every part of the production process with the planet and people in mind. BAUX: Acoustic Pulp BAUX Acoustic Pulp is made from sustainably harvested Swedish fir and pine trees, using recycled water, non-GMO wheat bran, potato starch, plant-derived wax, citrus fruit peels… and zero chemicals! Designed by Form Us With Love, this 100% bio-based pulp panel is available in three origami patterns and nine colourways for mixing and matching in any space.
Belong: to have an affinity for a place or space. Life may be unpredictable, but you can always count on Bisley. We’ve a long history of designing exactly the right product for the right time, and now more than ever, the workspace is ripe for reimagination. Whether you’re at home or in the office, Belong by Bisley gives you flexibility - with hardworking, savvy solutions that don’t compromise on style - so you can thrive, no matter your location.
www.bisley.com
Helping you work better anywhere
UPFRONT Seven
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4 steps to flexible home working
While many employers are cautiously bringing their teams back into the office, a flexible approach to enabling home working delivers improved work/ life balance for employees and provides resilience to potential changes in Government guidance for employers. Here, Jon Holding from office power, connectivity and ergonomics specialist, CMD, outlines seven considerations for creating ideal workspaces for the home or the office.
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UNDERSTAND YOUR TEAM’S HOME WORKING ENVIRONMENT Working from home during lockdown has not been the same experience for everyone. While some already had a dedicated home office and were ready to hit the ground running, others have had to perch anywhere they could find and share the space with family or housemates. By understanding the challenges your team faces and the resources (or lack thereof) at their disposal, you can assess what equipment you need to enable employees to transform their home into a productive workspace, while acquiring assets that can also be deployed in the office.
INVEST IN ‘WORK ANYWHERE’ SOLUTIONS While much of the focus during the pandemic has been on enabling people to work from home, longer term, the emphasis will be on choice and flexibility, rather than an either/or office or home option. It’s important to consider whether the workplace solutions you choose now will offer the flexibility to provide a plug and play set-up that can be used at home, for hot desking in the office, in coworking spaces or even in hotel rooms – when we get back to travelling for work.
OVERCOME INTERNET CONNECTIVITY ISSUES One of the biggest homeworking frustrations for many has been having sufficient bandwith to sustain a VPN connection to the company server in order to take part in video meetings, especially if they’re sharing their home broadband with others. A network extender is a critical piece of kit and choosing a unit that combines a boosted data signal with desktop power and charge points delivers a convenient and portable ‘work anywhere’ solution.
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DON’T NEGLECT ERGONOMICS Another risk factor for those working from home is poor posture from leaning over a laptop with incorrect desk and chair height and positioning. A freestanding and adjustable monitor arm and laptop stand can be used to ensure suitable screen height, enabling a more ergonomic workstation, whether used at home or in the office. This is a great way to enable dual screen working from anywhere, while enhancing health and wellbeing.
PRIORITISE EASE OF USE AND CONVENIENCE Selecting items that can be packed away at the end of the working day, without being de-configured, saves time and offers added convenience. This not only applies to those working from home in their living space but to hot desking and agile work environments. With a desktop power, charge and network extender, the workstation can be moved by taking a single plug from its socket, allowing it to be packed away as a fully configured set-up until it is needed again.
ENABLE MULTIPLE DEVICES Powering screens, computers and portable devices all at once, while keeping everything within easy reach, can be just as challenging in the office as it is in the home working environment. A desktop unit with power and charge sockets in multiple orientations overcomes the need to hunt for sockets, which is useful in the home and supports social distancing protocols in the office. CHOOSE SOLUTIONS THAT WILL LAST AND ADAPT TO CHANGING NEEDS The sudden need for people to work from home back in March took many by surprise. The benefit of experience means that we can now plan for improved approaches to flexible working. Equipment that companies buy for their teams now must be robust enough to be moved around and functional enough to work in both home and office environments, so it’s best to select tested products from a trusted manufacturer.w
FROM SCIENTISTS, TO ENGINEERS, TO DESIGNERS. TOGETHER WE CAN REVERSE GLOBAL WARMING.
CARBON NEGATIVE MATERIALS FOR A HEALTHIER PLANET.
The world is facing a huge challenge - climate change. It’s a problem that can’t be solved by one person or company alone; only by working together can we make the changes required to help restore the health of our world.
Brushed Lines LVT Modern. Metallic. Monochromatic.
With a 96% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions at our carpet tile manufacturing sites (since 1996), a 74% reduction in the embodied carbon footprint of our carpet tile (since 1996) , we’re well on the way to our goal to be a carbon negative enterprise. But we’re just one part of a much bigger picture. We want to bring others along with us; empowering and helping everyone to lower their own carbon footprint. Because while a challenge this big requires serious leadership, we know it’s the collective effort of everyone that will turn vision into reality and reverse global warming.
Brushed Lines has a subtle metallic linear design. It has solid colours ranging from warm and cool neutrals to pops of earthy, mineral-like tones. Brushed Lines delivers modern refinement inspired by raw and natural motifs. Mix and match Brushed Lines with other Interface LVT and carpet tiles for endless design possibilities. Brushed Lines LVT contains 39% recycled content, and is carbon neutral with our Carbon Neutral Floors™ programme.
Together, we can build a healthier planet. interface.com #lovecarbon
interface.com
T: +44 (0)800 313 4465 E: ukcustomerservices@interface.com Product NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Black Glass
LVT Product: Brushed Lines - Alabaster Carpet Products: NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Teal Glass & Mercer Street - Graphite Circle
Carpet Product NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Green Glass LVT Product Brushed Lines - Sandalwood
CQuest™Bio – our new backing made with carbon negative materials. We are on a mission to lower the carbon footprint of your space. Guided by materials science, we’ve added new thinking and innovative new materials to make backings with a much lower carbon footprint. First, we added new bio-based materials, and more recycled content to our backings. Then, we measured how these materials influence the carbon footprint. These new materials, measured on a stand-alone basis, are net carbon negative – greatly reducing our carbon footprint. Together, we can build a healthier planet. interface.com/cquest #lovecarbon
INTRODUCING NY+LON STREETS Carpet Product NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Coral Glass, LVT Product Brushed Lines - Blush
Products NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Brick Glass, NY+LON Streets | Wheler Street - Brown Square, NY+LON Streets | Reade Street - Brown Plate
INSPIRED BY...
...TWO ICONIC CITIES...
Taking its name from our carpet’s core material and the inspiration from two of the world’s iconic cities, NY+LON Streets is a playful carpet tile collection that encourages a new perspective on urban exploration. Wheler Street, Old Street, Dover Street, and Reade Street interpret familiar textures in a variety of scales. Mercer Street embraces an unconventional grid pattern, which Broome Street punches up with contemporary colour. And the collection uses our new CQuest™Bio backing, made with carbon negative materials.
...NEW YORK AND LONDON.
Together, we can build a healthier planet. interface.com #lovecarbon T: +44 (0)800 313 4465 E: ukcustomerservices@interface.com
Products NY+LON Streets | Broome Steet - Yellow Glass, NY+LON Streets | Wheler Street - Iron Square
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PLAY AS YOU WORK In a contemporary office people change their work styles smoothly. The proper space arrangement gives employees a chance to choose the place where they want to perform their professional duties. Play&Work sofas can be used in relaxation and informal meeting zones, and thanks to their high upholstered panels, they can become a quiet place for focused work.
designed by: Wertel Obrrfell
www.NowyStyl.com
PLAY &WORK
UPFRONT Desert Island Desks
Desert island desks LEE BIRCHALL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, DV8 DESIGNS Born and raised in Warrington, Cheshire, Lee knew he wanted to get into architecture and interior design from a young age, starting as an apprentice in a small architecture firm in Warrington and eventually attending John Moores University in Liverpool. Having worked for various practices across the North West, Lee established DV8 Design in 2006 – developing from a small home-grown business into one of the leading design practices in the UK. Lee is a regular lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and has been on the judging panel for various design awards. He is passionate about all things design, and always strives for the absolute best, with the aim of bringing a new perspective to the industry.
A Liverpool shirt Growing up in a town right in the middle of two major UK cities, you’re going to be influenced by either city. My head is with Manchester – having worked there for so long – but my heart is in Liverpool. I went to university there, and it has to be in my top five cities in the world!
Walking boots I love the outdoors and travelling. I’ve done so much walking in England, Wales and Spain over the years, and I’m a big believer in us all trying our upmost to preserve our environment. I love the shapes and textures of the mountains and I think it has some influence on some of the designs we do at DV8. I think that, in another life, I would have become a landscape architect!
The Martian by Andy Weir One of my favourite books. It gives an insight as to what it would be like to be marooned in a hostile environment for a few years!
Rugby ball
Buddy!
Growing up in a town dominated by rugby league, you can’t help but be influenced by the sport. Outside of what I do for a living, it’s my second passion and has dominated my spare time for the last four decades!
We had a dog as a kid, but never had a dog in my adult life until five years ago, when we brought our dear Dachshund pup, Buddy, into our home. He’s such a character and is always the centre of attention. I couldn’t be without him, and he also doubles up as our security dog in the office!
Lego When I look back and think of what first got me interested in the world of architecture, it was my first Lego set – I’m sure it set me on the path to a career in design! I still love it today. My son gets Lego sets throughout the year.
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Tracks for the juxebox This Charming Man - The Smiths The Smiths had a major influence on me during the 80s, I’m such a massive fan of Morrissey. I saw him in Manchester during the early 2000s – and I was so dumbstruck that I just stopped on the spot and stared! Starlight - Superman Lovers This one takes me back to clubbing days, back in the noughties. It still makes me want to get up on the dance floor to this day! You’re The Devil In Disguise - Elvis Presley Before my dad passed away, one of his last phone messages he left me had this song playing in the background. It’s not a sad memory – it’s quite a funny one, as he was berating me for ignoring him on the road whilst he was ‘waving his bloody arm off’! Northern Sky - Nick Drake I was quite late to the Nick Drake party, only really discovering what an absolute genius he was around 10 years ago, but I love every single track he’s performed. I’m a Northern lad and there’s nothing quite like a Northern Sky! Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz I was a bit of a gig goer during the 80s/90s, and one of the many artists we went to see during that time was Lenny – an amazing guitarist. I got right to the front of the stage and he gave me his plectrum, which I subsequently lost! Gutted. Come A Little Bit Closer - Jay & The Americans This is from the original ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ soundtrack. Me and the kids love this film and my party piece is singing the words at full volume whilst the kids cringe in the back of the car – it makes me happy!
Create your Reece.
CON FIGU R E ON LIN E: • U PH OL S T E RY F I N I S H E S • FRA M E M AT E RI A L S • ME TA LW ORK COLOU RS • A D D -ON TA B L E S • MOD U L A R
www.sixteen3.co.uk
UPFRONT Steve Gale
The courage to speak softly Steve Gale suggests we treasure our rediscovered solitude.
Steve Gale is Head of Workplace Strategy at M Moser Associates. SteveG@mmoser.com 22 | Mix 206 October 2020
A
recent survey of nearly 100,000 employees by one of our clients found that most respondents agreed with the statement, ‘I could be more productive if I was able to work more from home’, and there were many constituencies where the proportion was well over 90%. The obvious advantages of home working cited in surveys relate to less commuting and increased wellbeing from the freedom to choose how and when to work, but I wonder if there is a more subtle benefit that has not found expression? The other studies I have reviewed record similar enthusiasm for home working, and the last six months have forced organisations to take a view. Some have embraced policies at either end of the office/home spectrum, but most seem to be settling somewhere in the middle, for a mix of both office and home working. Home working might be revealing the hidden introvert in us, which is so difficult to respect in our open plan offices. At home we can often banish undesirable stimulation, and make a quiet space, for a useful amount of time. Greater productivity can come from fewer interruptions and more opportunities to concentrate. I don’t think we will discover that there are more introverts in the world than we previously thought, but there is plenty of evidence that more reflective behaviour might be good for business, as well as the employee. If we have rediscovered the positive aspects of solo working, then it is a good reason to encourage working at home where it can be accommodated, but what about the office?
How much should a central workplace be converted into a facility for unfettered socialising and collaboration? The surveys show that there are still plenty of people who can’t or don’t want to work at home, not to mention those that might feel differently as the novelty wears off. They might crave the same peace and quiet but find it difficult if their workplace is transformed into a private members’ club where interaction is prioritised, and solitude becomes impossible. The home working experiment has handed people the ability to close doors and turn the volume down and find their own conditions for focus. It has also forced us to revisit the dogma that being under the same roof is good for knowledge exchange and innovation. There is little doubt that face-to-face contact is good, but long-term proximity might be self-defeating. Does constructive interaction devolve into idle chatter after a time? Back in 2017, a wide study by Reidl and Williams (Northeastern and Mellon Universities) showed that short bursts of interaction produced measurably more productive results than ‘constant, less focused communication’. As The Economist recently recorded, ‘not much evidence exists that serendipity is useful for innovation, even though it is accepted by many as a self-evident truth’. These are fighting words for some of us, but definitely a hypothesis worth testing. If we have rediscovered the simple power of solitude, let’s give it the space it needs and reassess the doctrine that Susan Cain, author of Quiet: the power of introverts, calls ‘the madness for constant group work’. w
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UPFRONT Perspective
What will your role at Unispace entail day-to-day?
Steven Quick
As CEO, I’ll be focused on leading the company’s growth efforts around longer-term client relationships and driving new Design and Build concepts that fit with the changing world that we live and work in. Day-to-day, this means collaborating with the global and regional leadership teams to consult on current design projects, new leads, and global trends and challenges impacting our clients. A key element is providing direction to our teams and inciting the team to push the boundaries within design in order to create great workplaces, which ultimately elevate our brand position in the market.
CEO, Unispace
What do you feel your key strengths are?
Global workplace specialist, Unispace, has recently appointed a new global CEO to champion client-centred solutions and drive growth in key international markets, as owners and occupiers worldwide continue to grapple with the short and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on office fitouts, commercial tenancies and real estate portfolios. We managed to ask Steven Quick, who took up the role as CEO last month and will be based out of the company’s Chicago studio, all about himself and his exciting new position.
Having worked for large global multinational companies within commercial real estate for over two decades, I have a broad perspective on how people think about the evolution of their workspaces and deep industry understanding. I think my other main strengths lie in devising strategies that help companies grow and innovate and in adopting a client-centric mindset. Every company has its own unique needs and aspirations, and it’s only through understanding these that a successful strategy can be devised.
Please tell us about your career to date I have been working in commercial real estate and facilities management for over 25 years. Before joining Unispace, I was Chief Executive, Global Occupier Services at Cushman & Wakefield, where I oversaw a portfolio of occupier clients including major corporations, institutions and government agencies. Prior to this, I was Executive Managing Director of Global Corporate Services at CBRE and held UK-based leadership roles at Johnson Controls Global Workplace Solutions, including leading the company’s $3 billion-plus EMEA business.
What attracted you to Unispace and this particular role?
“
The market is in transition. It’s an immense time of change and compressed workplace evolution
” 24 | Mix 206 October 2020
I was really impressed by the company’s organic growth and its disruptive ‘think, create, make’ methodology, which has enabled the company to position itself as a serious challenger to more established brands in the workplace sector. While many other Design and Build companies focus on construction or architecture, Unispace offers an excellent service in both these areas but also in workplace strategy – a component that has become even more relevant in the current COVID and
post-COVID world. I believe it’s a model that will take over the industry in the coming years, and Unispace is in a great position to lead the way. I am very excited to be leading Unispace into the second decade of growth, innovation and worldclass design.
How would you describe the market right now? Which sectors are thriving/struggling? The market is in transition. It’s an immense time of change and compressed workplace evolution. Everyone is taking a fresh look at their workplace strategy in order to get the best out of their staff. They are considering the long-term impact and making adjustments accordingly. In terms of returning to the office, certain regions are ahead in this regard. A higher percentage of staff have returned to the office in Asia, together with some European countries, while the US is taking a more cautious approach. There is variance across industry sectors too. Technology companies are taking more time to return to the office, while we’re seeing a speedier return amongst companies in, for example, the financial service sector. That is not to say that these sectors are struggling, just that they are taking different approaches to tackling the obstacles imposed by the pandemic and to adopting new workplace strategies.
What innovative design solutions can end users currently consider when looking to enhance a return on investment? Design solutions, such as Unispace’s ‘Propeller’ office model, offer companies a clear means of delivering an effective workplace strategy and solution in adapting to the new workplace needs. Propeller takes a ‘home and hub’ approach to combine the collaborative physical office space with the ease and familiarity of home working for focused work, creating a balance for both locations. It is designed both to assist businesses as they tackle the challenges of establishing a COVID-19-secure workplace, and to embrace the changes in working practices to propel businesses forward as they adopt the new normal. In terms of enhancing ROI, behind the Propeller concept, there is a simple formula. Companies may reduce office space by 30% but invest a certain amount per square foot on renovating or reshaping that space. The cost is offset by the capital. One key advantage of a model such as the Propeller office is that it allows clients to test scenarios early on, before making large investment decisions. w
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ROUNDTABLE Cruelty-Free Design
Friends reunited Sustainability is rightly permeating every aspect of our lives and this is no different in the world of commercial interior design. vegan interior design – or cruelty-free design – is already a reality at a couple of forward-thinking hotel sites, and logic (together with demand) suggests this will continue to spread throughout both the hospitality and workplace sectors.
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he rapid growth of sustainability and climate consciousness is driving this – from fabrics, through to furniture and even paint. Although vegan interior products are lagging a few years behind the vegan food scene, more and more ethical designs, production methods and products are emerging, focusing on creating interiors that are cruelty and toxin free: human-friendly, planetfriendly and animal-friendly. This month’s Roundtable (our first for quite a while) will look at this emerging trend and its connotations – from animal- and human-friendly products and production methods, to the wider context of creating a brand and design differential in an increasingly segmented market. We are gathered (socially distanced and COVID-safely, of course) at ege Carpets’ fabulous
Clerkenwell showroom. We’re always sure to thank our sponsors and our guests, but we are truly grateful to both ege and our selection of industry experts for going above and beyond to make this happen. We’ve missed this! We start our conversation by asking our guests about terminology. Chloe: This is actually really hard. Vegan is the correct word for what I do because I use products that aren’t animal tested and don’t have animal products within them. Cruelty-free means that they don’t test on animals – but they could still have animal products within them. I think it is a tricky word – but I want to be honest and I want to use the word ‘vegan’ although, sometimes, I
ROUNDTABLE
don’t think it does me any favours. I find that I then have to do a lot of explaining – but I don’t only want to appeal to vegans. I want to talk to everybody about this industry. This industry is responsible for a lot of things, including a lot of waste, but also how we treat animals and the things that we’ve been conditioned to believe. It’s one of those things that you don’t really think about until you look into it. I’ve never wanted to be an activist or wag fingers at people because I didn’t know a lot of this stuff myself. I thought that leather was a byproduct and I thought that wool was simply a natural product – I’d never thought about the animal point of view. I just want to try to convince people to use other, better products – there is so much innovation and so many exciting new products now. Sustainability is a much easier word to use – people are thinking about the planet and have had this connection with nature and animals throughout this period (of COVID) and I think there is a bit of an awakening. Also, there is the Healthy Building Movement – human-centric design is really attractive. Ana Rita: For me, it’s about planet-friendly and people-friendly – and that means quality design. So, this is about sustainability and wellbeing, but there are a lot of cross-topics between them. If you start to understand different stages of the process, then you become more aware of it. Once I started to learn more
about what sustainable means – that this is not simply about the finishes, but where you get your raw materials from, how you manufacture, how you transport, how people use it… I truly believe that, if the building itself is considered in terms of sustainability measures – all the costs and all the
measures – then that becomes a healthier environment for the users, and therefore more people-friendly. We get a lot of materials presented to us that are vegan or vegan leather or other materials that are ‘sustainable’ – at the moment everything is sustainable! Everyone has a certification – so therefore it is more important to understand what the certification means and what this sustainability means for you and your office. That certification could mean anything – it could be reused or recycled, no matter how harmful that original material is. It will still get a tick.
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I just want to try to convince people to use other, better products – there is so much innovation and so many exciting new products now
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ROUNDTABLE Cruelty-Free Design
Chloe: What applies to one client, doesn’t apply to another. Ana Rita: You have to be aware – and then you have to act.
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Chloe: In some ways, very little has changed in 25 years. I’m still asking manufacturers the basic questions about this – and people still have to go away to find the answers. Half of the time, I don’t even hear back from them. In general, furniture is still really poor – but building materials are really good. Neil: I agree. We’re trying to take things to that circular economy place, so everything should be demountable, so you don’t just put a recycled material on the floor that’s going to be there for, say, 20 years and then just thrown into the bin. It has to be used again and again. Ana Rita: But how do you control that cycle? Neil: That’s a good question. It’s very early days, but it’s about having the intention to do that. You could actually build an entire building out of a bolted steel frame and then rather than demolish it you could take it apart like a kit. It’s about selling the idea to the client.
28 | Mix 206 October 2020
You could actually build an entire building out of a bolted steel frame and then rather than demolish it you could take it apart like a kit
” Richard: It’s about the provision, the flexibility, the choice and the ability to be able to do that at some point in the future. As you say, once that project is signed off and it’s with the clients, then it’s in their hands really. It rests with them really – it might be their intention but… Neil: There might well be more regulations on this in the future. I believe that Sadiq Khan has an entire team dedicated to this. So, if regulations get stricter, it might well be a requirement to do this if a building gets knocked down.
Richard: There are two ways to do this – you can do this with legislation at a local level, but certainly for ege and I suppose other manufacturers in our sector, the way to drive change is to incentivise it – and usually that’s through financial reward. A great example of this is econyl yarns, which are predominantly regenerated fishing nets that would historically be cast off into the ocean and cause harm to marine life. By saying to fishermen that, by bringing these nets back to land, we will give you money for them, you’re actually incentivising change through reward. There needs to be a complete drill-down through the supply chain. It’s not just about who we deal directly with, but who in turn they’re dealing with. It’s about going all the way back along the chain. As a carpet manufacturer, we still use a huge amount of wool, and our goal is to have that complete visibility – to go back to the individual farm and to go to countries such as New Zealand, where you know that the animal welfare standards are of such a high level compared to other countries and that the farms are audited and do sign up to codes of practice when it comes to veterinary care etc. We’re really proud of the fact that, in terms of Cradle to Cradle as a standard across all products, no one has achieved this quicker than we have – and we’re not just talking about carpet manufacturers here.
ROUNDTABLE Cruelty-Free Design
Richard continues by talking about sustainable aspirations for the future (the business is looking to achieve Cradle to Cradle Platinum by 2030) and the challenges this brings to a manufacturer. As an example, he explains how 80:20 wool blend carpets are more durable than 100% wool products, but the blends cannot by separated when it comes to recycling. Una: We see a lot of the hotel operators insist on having 80:20 wool blend carpets as a brand standard. As Richard says, 100% wool is not as durable and, often, there’s a view that if a carpet is not 80:20 wool then it’s not as high a quality. This is a mix of economics and perception – rather than an ethical decision – because, if you think about hospitality, it has to be aspirational, it has to be luxurious. It does depend on the level though – hospitality is extremely broad ranging. At the budget level, there are more manmade materials specified – and arguably there should be more vegan focus. But – and this is a real contradiction in terms – boutique hotels will very rarely use manmade materials because they are all about opulence and luxury. For them, it’s all about wool, leather and silk. If you are charging £250 or £500 a night, you need to have that perception of luxury.
Chloe: Una’s absolutely right. There are still the luxury-associated materials – and it’s hard to break that. I don’t want to use animal products – but at the same time I really want to get away from plastics. This is why you have to look at the whole process – see who made the products and how. Una: 100%. If you look at some faux leathers, they might not be produced from animals, but they might be made using unethical processes, using child labour and then shipped halfway around the globe! Richard: We actually looked into a business that was producing plant-based fibres. When you started to look at the bigger picture, a lot of those fibres could well be coming from sources where the crops had been genetically modified, they were potentially diverting water away from other sources…we quickly thought, ‘Let’s not go there!’ In terms of commercial interiors, which sectors are leading the way? Chloe: In my experience, it is workplace that is leading the way, especially with things like the Healthy Building Movement. Neil: I was going to say the same thing. I think workplace is ahead of hospitality personally. We always talk about sustainability to our clients. I’ve never
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It’s not just about who we deal directly with, but who in turn they’re dealing with. It’s about going all the way back along the chain
” In association with
ROUNDTABLE Cruelty-Free Design
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If you look at some faux leathers, they might not be produced from animals, but they might be made using unethical processes, using child labour and then shipped halfway around the globe!
” spoken to our clients about vegan interiors – and it’s never come up. I definitely will now. Deborah: It always come up under the banner of sustainability. I have asked clients whether they’d like a ‘pineapple lounge’, using pineapple leather, but nobody’s taken us up on that. I do think that evaluation of products today is phenomenal. On one project we had 222 finishes and I can’t imagine how many you might have on a major hotel project. Each one of those finishes has to be independently evaluated by an external assessor to satisfy that company’s values and their approach to sustainability. They do take this extremely seriously and it is still high on the agenda. One idea discussed to simplify the evaluation process would be for manufacturers to create a ‘product passport’, which would give designers
30 | Mix 206 October 2020
and specifiers the provenance on how a product has evolved. Neil: On the hospitality side, I have come across a few brands where this is now being written into their brand standards – and the same is true with some residential developers. Workplace is more about performance and people’s wellness because they are spending eight hours a day in this space. With a hotel, you have to try to punch in as much impact and feeling as you can – so sometimes you end up with a bull’s horns on the wall. We don’t do that – but some people still do. Conclusion: The issue of sustainability is not going anywhere – and rightly so. The really positive thing here is
that there are manufacturers, such as ege, who are taking complete responsibility for not just the materials they use, but also the entire life cycle of its products, its production and its supply chain. There is clearly still a perception in certain sectors that natural products offer a sense of quality and luxury that manmade alternatives cannot attain. That is now starting to change though as innovative vegan and recycled products come to market, offering a durable, ethical and high quality solution. We believe that the ethics will begin to outweigh the economics and the perception of luxury and opulence for a whole new breed of clients – but this will require a level of education and plenty of conversation around the subject. It’s good to talk. It’s great to be back. It’s even better to be friendly. w
ROUNDTABLE Cruelty-Free Design
OUR GUESTS
Ana Rita Martins, Architect and BREEAM Associate, BDG
Chloe Bullock, Founder, Materialise Interiors
Deborah Allen, Co -Founder & Director, AAID
Ana Rita is an architect and BREEAM Associate at BDG architecture + design. Ana Rita has brought BREEAM processes and environmental focus to the design of workplaces, including several campuses of WPP around the world. Working with BREEAM, the architecture world’s leading sustainability assessment method for buildings, has allowed Ana Rita to develop expert knowledge on environmentally friendly strategies across all stages of design and construction.
Chloe is a BIID Registered Interior Designer. She creates animal-friendly, human-friendly and planet-friendly interiors. Chloe supports both entrepreneurs and homeowners, designing with a focus on sustainability, health and cruelty-free specifications. She is a FitWel Ambassador and keen follower of humancentric, healthy design. Prior to setting up her own company, she was part of The Body Shop team, delivering ethical global store concepts and specifications. Chloe was the first interior designer in the UK to be vegandesign.org certified.
With over 20+ years’ experience in the London market, Deb co-founded AAID in 2015 with offices in London and Dubai, plus a network of global affiliates. Deb`s portfolio is varied, with a healthy mix of workplace, culture, retail and hospitality projects. She has led projects including Michael Kors’ UK retail expansion, Morningstar’s EMEA network, including recent projects in Madrid and Cape Town, plus Google`s Middle East HQ.
Una Barac, Founder and Executive Director, Atellior Una is the Founder and Executive Director of Atellior, an international architecture and interior design studio. Una leads the creative design process within Atellior and is currently working on a large number of hospitality schemes across the UK and Europe, from boutique hotels to internationally branded schemes with Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotel Group, Park Plaza/Carlson Rezidor and Accor. Una also leads a number of high-end residential projects across London.
Richard Strong, Regional Account Manager, ege carpets Richard has been working with design-led commercial interior finishes for over 12 years. Today he is ege Carpets’ Southern Regional Manager, leading a team with a vision of creating beautifully designed carpets for a sustainable future. When he isn’t working, you’ll find him either trying to keep his waistline in check at the gym or reading by a pool somewhere hot.
Neil Andrew, Head of Hospitality, Perkins&Will Growing up, Neil was hugely influenced by his family’s work in music, art, and design. He has absorbed these influences into his own life, with three of his main passions in life being creative outlets: design, music and cooking. His collected experiences from a range of cultures and countries have continued to mould his work and design philosophy. For Neil, design is a medium for communicating a story, something that triggers emotions and memories in those that experience it. Specialising in hospitality design, Neil has been able to bring together his passions and his design ethos.
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WORK Hospitality Workplace
34 The Big Question 36 Property: Coworking 46 Coworking and Flex Space Spotlight 52 The Trade Desk from Peldon Rose 58 Reckitt Benckiser from Scott Brownrigg 64 A New World of Work by MCM Architecture 68 Designing for Neurodiversity Mix 206 October 2020 | 33
WORK The Big Question
THE BIG QUESTION
What does the future hold for coworking?
Maria Cheung, Director and Head of Interior Design, Squire & Partners The coworking landscape has seen many existing positive design features being cemented into occupier demand. A reduction in desk density has created more space for collaboration and social interaction. Tapping into the culture of organisations has become essential as workplaces evolve to be a crossover of work, home, leisure and hospitality. Wellness, sustainable commuting, outside space, fresh air, sustainable materials and biophilia have become crystallised on landlords’ must-have lists.
Rupert Dean, Co-founder and CEO, x+why The overall commercial real estate market will be smaller but the proportion of flexible workspace overall will be higher as corporates move away from long-term leases towards more flexible terms and use. With more remote working, companies now want to take less space but pay for more workspace as they need it, and landlords are adapting. It is impossible to plan one year out at the moment, let alone 5-10 years, so long term commitments are in short supply.
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Anthony Groombridge, London Business Director, LiquidLine The current situation has taken coworking spaces and serviced office providers to a whole new level. With large corporates implementing changing strategies and moving to smaller satellite locations rather than large headquarters, it brings a whole fresh set of parameters and expectations. We are working with hotels and clubs/ event space operators to rework their spaces to form coworking spaces, incorporating premium food micro-markets and coffee bars to entice a completely new audience.
Simon Millington, Director, incognito Beyond the pretty pictures of modern, open plan workspaces, coworking operators have packed their floorplates to the max. This makes it hard for tenants to return postpandemic, unless there is a re-think on the coworking offer. Businesses returning to the office are looking for more control over their workspaces – they want lower densities to keep staff safe and an opportunity to personalise the working environment. Coworking operators must re-purpose their real estate to allow for a more flexible approach to small office suites.
Caro Lundin, Co-founder and Creative Director, ARC Club As we enter a new period of uncertainty around COVID-19, demand continues to grow at ARC Club. Many offices remain shut – and with staff working well remotely, why return to business as usual? At the same time, the honeymoon period of working from home is over. People want to feel professional again without the commute. They need a third space, between home and the office. A neighbourhood workplace is it.
Richard Gann, Managing Director, Rawside We feel that there will be a greater emphasis on collaboration in the workplace, which will be a catalyst for re-thinking what is important in workplace design. We have a portfolio of products that are ideal for collaborative working – and we continue to evolve our products whilst keeping true to our commitment to the environment; products made with soul and designed and made in the UK.
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Education Property
External view of Purpose, Borough
The man who will remake coworking Dan Cohen is founder of Purpose Group, which operates affordable, flexible and productive workspace in London buildings that would otherwise remain vacant, unused and unloved. Unlike almost everybody else in the coworking world, he’s poised to expand. He talks to David Thame.
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eWork may have set a standard in coworking – but with its financial woes and its huge liabilities, it is not a happy example for developers and operators. Yet look a little deeper into the coworking sector and there are alternatives. Purpose Group is one of them. Purpose, founded by Dan Cohen, specialises in an occupier sector that WeWork and its peers largely bypass: genuine creatives. Purpose Group tenants throughout its 320,000 sq ft portfolio are more likely to be fashion designers than financial planners, sculptors than strategists and painters than planning consultants, although financial planners, strategists and planners are among the tenant mix. What they have in common is that
WORK Coworking
these are businesses with a budget, and a serious purpose (as the group name suggests), and the use of a complimentary beer tap and some super-expensive sofas comes low on their list of must-have priorities. Purpose started a couple of years ago with a 30,000 sq ft office building in London Bridge that was earmarked for redevelopment. The business has now expanded into three new venues in Clerkenwell, Bethnal Green and King’s Cross and will soon be making a splash in Hackney Wick and Tottenham. If predictions about the importance of neighbourhood are right, and more workspace will be needed outside traditional central business districts, Purpose provide a magnificent example of how this might work. And the key discovery made by Dan and his team is that money matters: in the coworking market of the future, transparency around pricing will matter more than justifying overpriced serviced offerings which, they believe,
was typical of the overcooked pre-coronavirus coworking market. The woes of WeWork simply make the point, Dan insists. ‘Yes it has obviously been difficult for the coworking sector, but the difficulty only emphasises the need for what my business does, which is truly affordable flexible floorspace, aimed not just at well-funded start-ups, but operators in all categories. ‘I think, because we cover a broader spectrum of tenants than many coworking operators, we’ve been more resilient during the pandemic. Our occupiers need the physical space we provide more than in some other coworking locations. For instance, a fashion designer needs their sewing machines around them.’ This resilience has encouraged them to press on with the 100,000 sq ft third location in Tottenham Hale. ‘We continued marketing during lockdown,’ Dan says. ‘And we found people are much more open-minded about locations that some of the big coworker
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Our occupiers need the physical space we provide more than in some other coworking locations. For instance, a fashion designer needs their sewing machines around them
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Purpose, Borough
Mix 206 October 2020 | 37
WORK Coworking
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Occupiers are beginning to realise they could spend £150 per sq ft fitting out an office with things they don’t really need, and never have needed, and that they will never get their money back
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Purpose, King’s Cross
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brands would suggest. So we’ve also opened in Bermondsey, and right now we’re steering clear of central London offices because it is no secret they are struggling.’ Dan says he is being offered sites ‘all over the city and in various different conditions’ and would like to expand to more than 500,000 sq ft in the next 12 months. But he is being cautious about site selection. ‘We’re taking our time to consider how to proceed,’ he says, hinting that landlords are asking (or being encouraged to ask) unreasonably high prices. ‘There’s still a lot of optimism in the agency market,’ he says, gently chiding brokers for the upbeat pricing. ‘There is still some time to go before we can secure the kind of deals we need if we are to grow, because ultimately this is all about pricing, for us and for occupiers. ‘Occupiers are beginning to realise they could spend £150 per sq ft fitting out an office with things they don’t really need, and never have
needed, and that they will never get their money back,’ Dan adds, in a final slap at the higher end of the office market. Yes, Dan would like to work in partnership with landlords in much the way hotel operators work through management agreements, and yes, he’d be happy to explore offering white label office space to occupiers who could brand it as if it were their own. But for now he senses landlords are wary, bruised and sceptical. They have had a tough (often scary) six months when rent payments have trickled in, and they are not in the mood for clever new business arrangements. Dan thinks that some kind of intelligent risk sharing is the future, with landlords and coworking operators taking a genuine partnership approach. But for now pricing remains the key to the success or failure of coworking. ‘Striving for affordability’ is the issue, he says. Until that striving is turned into market-wide consensus, the coworking sector will always be vulnerable.w
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40 | Mix 206 September 2020
WORK Coworking
Apocalypse now? Coworking operators and developers ponder the future – and it might not be as bad as you think. Is the coworking market in meltdown as it confronts covid-19 and renewed demand for home working? Or is this the ‘eureka moment’ operators (and landlords) have been waiting for when major corporates abandon long-term leases for flexibility and coworking? David Thame reports.
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United House, flexible workspace from The Office Group.
he coronavirus pandemic is pretty much the opposite of everything coworking stands for. Idea-generating social collisions are replaced by rigid social distancing, the beer pump is firmly out of bounds, kitchen table start-ups are yesterday’s story, and nobody, but nobody, wants to commute into the office. The effect on the (already doubtful) mathematics of coworking is dramatic. Buying wholesale on long-term leases, and selling shortterm on licenses, is never going to be a recipe for stability. Given that both WeWork (now pulling back from growth in the UK regions and some of its global expansion) and IWG have endured periods of profound uncertainty suggests this is not a sector that can cope with much turbulence. Coworking is kept alive, financially speaking, by patterns of high-density use and a rapid turnover of new tenants. Unplug both of these occupancy drips and the patient doesn’t stand a cat’s chance. Worse, the coworking sector’s habit of charging per workspace (rather than per sq ft) adds to the problem in the eyes of many occupiers, who wonder why they are being charged for a 10-person room that can now only accommodate three. The answer, of course, is that the per desk pricing was always a trick to disguise per sq ft pricing – but it’s no use explaining that to a tenant in an angry mood. The financial pressure is evident in the appeal for relief of business rates made by the 6,000 members of the Flexible Space Association. They also called for an end point to the recently
renewed call to work from home, with a demand for a regular review of WFH guidance and ‘a clear aim of encouraging people to return to offices at the earliest opportunity’. Yet flexible space operators claim to see in today’s chaos a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to benefit from the looming mighty rethink of working habits. This is not entirely self-delusional. The Office Group, one of the big names in London flexible working, has signed a string of large corporates since the lockdown. They say the list includes BP, who took 50,000 sq ft at Douglas House, west of Tottenham Court Road. The arrangement gives BP 700 desks for 1,000 staff, plus meeting rooms. It is very good news for The Office Group’s major owners, US investor Blackstone, and others who have gambled on the success of the coworking sector. Perhaps more surprisingly, some consider this the perfect moment to debut in London. Convene, who operate a mix of flexible workspace, event space and meeting rooms, are in the first stage in an expansion plan which, the firm has revealed, includes repurposing defunct or surplus retail floorspace. Convene have been reported to be in active discussions to take on London retail space and convert it into large and very visible new homes for big corporates who want to exchange their traditional leases for lighter-touch flexible workspace. Convene have even gone so far as to suggest they might make the ideal anchor
Mix 206 October 2020 | 41
Douglas House, coming soon from The Office Group
tenant in some retail schemes, replacing the department stores who once occupied that lofty position. The big advantage of being anchor tenant is that you generally do not pay much rent, the idea being that the anchor attracts other rent-paying businesses around it like barnacles, and no doubt Convene has this in mind when making the suggestion. Given the plight of Debenhams, House of Fraser and store closures by John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, Convene could be onto a winner. So how to make sense of this confusing picture? Is 2021 going to be coworking’s big moment, or Armageddon? Will new development begin or will the temporary freeze on coworking continue as developers (and operators) largely sit on their hands? Researchers at Cushman & Wakefield have been tackling this question, and have come up with a plausible answer. The background to their thinking is analysis, which suggests the office property market is probably in worse 42 | Mix 206 October 2020
shape than you think. Hopes of an early return to normal business are misplaced, they say. Early evidence from the US suggests the office market will spin off its usual axis until 2025 and that the hit to floorspace demand is more serious than either the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 or the dotcom bubble of 2001. Something similar can be confidently predicted on this side of the Atlantic, too. This is where it gets interesting, because it isn’t clear that a drop in demand for office floorspace means a drop in demand for flexible workspace. It may, in fact, mean exactly the opposite in the same way UK recessions almost invariably mean less employment but more selfemployment. Emma Swinnerton heads the flexible workspace team at Cushman & Wakefield in London. She says localised pain will contrast with sector-wide gain. ‘There are some pockets, particularly London submarkets, where we might
have short-term problems of oversupply of coworking floorspace,’ she says. ‘My guess is the oversupply problems will be like the tide – they will wash in, and out, in particular localities as new supply comes onto the market and then gets occupied.’ Emma says that, in the near-term, outcomes will vary from operator to operator, and building to building, depending on the profile of its customers: some coworking spaces are vulnerable because they depended on sectors like the arts, which are struggling to recover, others have shorter-term contracts, or smaller business tenants, and some have occupiers eager to capitalise on the flexible space they have – whilst others do not. These variations will determine who thrives and who merely survives in the next 6-12 months. As for new development and operator expansion, Emma suggests this will be patchy until the economy has stabilised. ‘A lot of growth has been put on hold, but to be honest that predates
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WORK Coworking
the COVID outbreak, as operators like WeWork, who were driving growth, changed their approach to seek profitable locations rather than simply volume of floorspace,’ she says. The likely outcome is a series of more flexible hotel-style operating agreements between landlords and coworking brands. And if this becomes the norm, and is widely seen as viable, it could kick-start a new round of coworking start-ups and expansions. ‘This is a challenging time for all operators, who mostly have fixed leases with landlords,’ Emma explains. ‘Some operators are trying to renegotiate those arrangements in the same way that retailers are now talking to landlords, but it is still early days and, unlike the retail sector, we are not seeing floorspace returned empty, although this is possible. We’ve certainly not seen the rash of CVAs (company voluntary arrangements) that has enabled the retail sector to reconfigure its property.’ More risk sharing with landlords is the likely outcome, even in London, where high competition for good locations means landlords haven’t (so far) felt the need to take on any risk with their tenants. ‘Landlords will begin to take a view on the level of risk they want, and will engage in more partnerships with coworking tenants, and the COVID-19 experience will accelerate that. We could be moving to an arrangement more like that in the hospitality sector, which for a long time has been about signing management agreements.’ Many landlords already acknowledged that every large multi-tenanted office building needed an element of coworking (to nurture new occupiers, provide overspill for big occupiers, and provide a sense of animation and freshness). The proportion of coworking may be rising from 10% of floorspace to 15% or more, as the pandemic works its effect on office occupancy strategies. Far from being the victim of coronavirus, coworking could come out a winner in the 44 | Mix 206 October 2020
Convene, 22 Bishopsgate
longer-term as office occupiers migrate towards a new form of workspace ecosystem that involves long-term leases along with a blend of flexible floorspace, working from home and working from the coffee shop or community hub. Such an ecosystem plays to the flex sector’s strengths. The way governments worldwide have handled the coronavirus pandemic will be examined for decades to come. There is no doubt it has been deeply damaging to, among other things, the office market. But for coworking the cloud could (fingers crossed) have a shiny silver lining. w
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A lot of growth has been put on hold, but to be honest that predates the COVID outbreak, as operators like WeWork, who were driving growth, changed their approach to seek profitable locations rather than simply volume of floorspace
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WORK Coworking
Coworking 2.0 W
hile many workers are reluctant to head into the centre of towns and cities (and discouraged from doing so right now, of course), others are craving interaction, collaboration, those ‘workplace standard’ facilities and a buzz around them. We’re even starting to see major corporates looking to move their entire operations to WFH. So where does this leave the coworking/flexible workspace operators? Does the current climate create major new opportunities for
them? Are these operators looking to expand their facilities out to the suburbs/regional areas? Are they changing the look, feel and layout of those facilities? If so, is this the long-term future of their operations – or is this more of a short-term fix? We ask two of the country’s leading operators how they are adapting their offer, what the short- and long-term futures will hold for them and whether this marks the second rise of coworking. The Instant Group, Plaza Building, Liverpool
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WORK Coworking
Are you seeing a desire for people to return to your spaces?
John Williams Director, The Instant Group Established in 1999, The Instant Group is a workspace innovation company that rethinks workspace on behalf of its clients, injecting f lexibility, reducing cost and driving enterprise performance. Instant places more than 11,000 companies a year in f lexible coworking, serviced or managed offices.
How’s business right now? It is a remarkable time to be in our sector right now – demand levels have reached new highs and the enquiries keep rolling in, particularly for space in the regions and the suburbs. The effects of the pandemic are accelerating great change in the industry. This was always bubbling away under the surface but COVID-19 has really bought it to the fore. We’re seeing an increased number of businesses considering a more agile commercial real estate strategy. What ‘agility’ means in real terms is offering employees more options – i.e. working from home, using the central main office and having a regional satellite office closer to home. For many, it’s a combination of all three. It is not as binary as the mainstream press are trying to make out in all its ‘death of the office’ articles. Market rates for flexible workspace have actually increased in the majority of cities in the UK during lockdown, which is pretty remarkable in itself – and if demand stays at the levels we are seeing now then we will see a positive outcome for the sector in the future and flex playing a more prominent role in corporate portfolios.
Occupancy levels across the UK have stayed pretty robust but the most recent lockdown protocols that have been introduced have been a real knock to the market’s confidence, in my view. Over the summer we saw a lot of clients returning to flex space but now I suspect that we are going to experience a ‘wait and see’ perspective from clients who want to see what the Government does next.
Do you see regional/ local hubs as a major new opportunity? The work-near-home model is really coming to the fore and firing up the demand for a hub and spoke model within corporate portfolios – regional hubs at the core and a central office in the city. We spent a lot of time speaking to senior commercial real estate leaders over the past six months and, of the enterprise businesses we spoke to, around 75% are starting to consider this real estate model and looking at more regional office spaces to cater for this. So, the pandemic is certainly not the death of the office, but the introduction of a more network focused set-up whereby employees might only visit the central office for wider corporate events, networking or other specific purposes. In many other instances, flexible workspaces will fill the gaps between hub and home, and make remote working more focused and fun.
Do you see the changes to your spaces/offering as short- or long-term solutions? Long-term systemic change is happening. This was always on the agenda, but the pandemic has pushed CRE portfolio transformation higher up the corporate to-do list. We have delivered more than 3 million sq ft of flex space to large corporates over the past decade and that demand was picking up pace pre-lockdown, driven by the need to become more agile, improve operational resilience and free up CAPEX. All of those benefits to a flex approach have only become more pertinent and more pressing now.
Are you seeing a change in the demographic/businesses now using your spaces?
It might have taken a global pandemic for companies to be able to realise the benefits of considering more flexible workspace as part of their commercial real estate strategy, but it seems inevitable now that we are going to see more and more businesses of all shapes and sizes looking for a flexible workplace approach with agility at its core. Businesses are realising that the new normal will mean not just offering more flexible working locations but also understanding their operational performance and the value they represent – something many have struggled with in the past. From a data perspective, the market in the UK has seen requirements for flex space grow in size to an average 5+ people last year (from 2+ in 2015), and this increase in size is being driven by corporate interest in flex.
What are the greatest challenges for coworking/ flexible workspace right now? It is a services business and one that is much more dependent on cash flow than that of the asset-managers/landlords, who have historically dominated the office market. The reality is that many clients are not paying their bills right now and that is eating into the cash flow of the sector. But there is the very real sense that, if the operators can get through the next six months, then there is a very healthy, profitable market there for them. We saw after the trials of 2008 that, as the contingent workforce of entrepreneurs grew following Lehman Brothers’ collapse and then the global financial crisis, it forged the future of coworking and flex space. All those new businesses that were created at that time chose to use flex space rather than work at home as they wanted to be privy to the networking and energy that type of workspace brings – it really made the market for flexible workspace and I see no reason why we will not see that happen again in 2021, and the sector take another quantum leap.
What are the greatest opportunities for coworking/ flexible workspace right now? Agility now takes on numerous meanings as a business quality: agility around workplace occupancy, design, location and tenure. For flexible workspace, this provides a significant opportunity. At the beginning of the year, we predicted that flexible workspace would make up 12.5% of total office supply in the UK by 2023 – we are now confident that we will more than exceed that.w
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SPOTLIGHT Coworking
Derren Jennings Group Sales Director, BE Offices How’s business right now?
BE Offices Group is the largest independent supplier of flexible workspace in the UK, with just shy of 1 million sq ft of f lexible workspace. Its core brands include BE Offices, BE.Spoke and Headspace Group.
After the initial hard lockdown period we have seen strong enquiries levels and sales are approaching preCOVID levels. As you’d expect, clients are looking for flexibility rather than long-term leases, which we can offer with licenses from just one month. Whilst the landscape remains challenging, we feel confident that we will weather the storm. With over 25 years’ experience in this sector, we are well positioned to anticipate and adapt to change.
Are you seeing a desire for people to return to your spaces? Yes – it appears that, whilst people have relished some of the benefits of working from home, they now understand, more than ever, the importance of collaboration and a shared working environment, which you can only really get from an office workspace. It’s very difficult to create a corporate culture or induct new employees with a full workfrom-home scenario. The organic interactions that employees have almost accidentally in an office generate new ideas and a through-flow of information that simply doesn’t happen over a digital platform.
In light of COVID-19, have you changed your planning strategy? If so, how has that strategy changed? We have reacted to the change in client needs, where many are looking for flexible space for their teams to work on split shifts, and rolling licenses that don’t tie anyone in for longer than they need. Working in partnership with clients has always been our strategy and delivering on our Service Excellence Guarantee.
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Do you see regional/local hubs as a major new opportunity? The initial view from corporates is that we will see a huband-spoke approach for some larger companies, with employees working closer to where they live or operate. We were already in the process of reviewing regional locations to add to our substantial portfolio.
Again, in light of COVID-19, how have you changed your facilities/ interior? We introduced a huge range of new measures to counter COVID-19 and ensure our workspace is clean and safe, including regular fogging in all areas with the same equipment used by the NHS and TfL, thermal imaging at receptions to highlight any symptomatic body temperatures, desk screens, social distancing protocols and a constant deep cleaning programme. Features like keyless entry and touchless coffee machines are also limiting potential touchpoints around our centres. We produced a comprehensive ‘Safe Return To Work’ document that was well received by our client base and outlines to prospective clients what we have done to enable a safe place to work for their teams.
Have you altered your offering in terms of membership/how people can use the space? We have rolled out a use ‘every other desk’ policy across our workspace and lounge areas to ensure that social distancing can be achieved at all times.
MONITOR MOUNTS ergonomic innovation Headspace Group Hatton Garden
Do you see the changes to your spaces/ offering as short- or long-term solutions? We will maintain our new cleaning and safety protocols for as long as is required and, whilst we hope things return to normal, we will still focus on delivering the very highest levels of cleanliness throughout.
Are you seeing a change in the demographic/businesses now using your spaces? We are seeing the largest section of clients returning to the office as under 30 years old. It’s easy to forget that, for younger people, the office is a crucial part of the their social wellbeing, where they meet new friends and build their lives. As the novelty of no commuting wears off, these people want to be back in a thriving environment where they can focus and be creative. Many don’t have access to a garden or a spare bedroom to work in and are very keen to return to their workspace.
What are the greatest challenges for coworking/flexible workspace? A continued message from the government to stay at home is not helping the return of strength to our sector in the short-term, but also penalising many other sectors of industry. Continued protection of workers is hugely important but the balance for mental wellbeing, requirement for social interactions and job creation is also crucial.
What are the greatest opportunities for coworking/flexible workspace? The flexible workspace industry has been one of the biggest growth areas across the world over the last decade, and will continue to thrive going forward. As companies look for more flexibility for their office accommodation, our sector will flourish. We are aware, more than ever, that delivering first class service and building a thriving community is going to be key going forward.w
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WORK Coworking
Purpose, Borough
Going Local We are sure you will have noticed in that last few months that coworking remains a hot, albeit morphing, sector. A survey commissioned by flexible workspace operator, Spacemade, provides new insight into the growing demand for local working post-COVID-19. David Thame reports.
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50 professionals living and working within Greater London were surveyed, in total nearly half (43%) wish to work in a local workspace some or all of the time going forward. This growing demand for localised workspaces and remote working is set to have a big impact on the traditional office market and models. The most popular option was found to be 2-3 days a week working from a local workspace (61%) and 2-3 days from a HQ , with only 15% wishing to work remotely full-time. The popularity of working from a local workspace was found to increase with the size of the business respondents were employed by. Local working was found to be most popular (nearly 50%) for participants who work in medium (50-249 employees) and large organisations (2501,000 employees). Spacemade expects that, over the next two years, the social and economic changes brought about by coronavirus will prompt organisations in London to change the purpose of their core
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office in central locations and supplement it with a network of remote spaces for employees to work from in order to provide a variety of options. ‘At the start of the year we expected a rise in the ‘work near home’ model to come through over the next five years, and instead it’s happened in a few months,’ Spacemade coFounder, Dan Silverman, says. Lockdown and months of working from home have proved that being in the head office full-time is no longer necessary. Likewise, economic uncertainty means organisations are now more sensitive to their real estate costs and will be looking at more flexible ways to manage their office requirements longerterm. ‘High-quality office space will be more important than ever before. The central London HQ will have an even bigger part to play as a collaborative, productive space for teams to come together and exchange information and ideas, but post-COVID there will need to be a stronger purpose for people to commute each day.’w
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At the start of the year we expected a rise in the ‘work near home’ model to come through over the next five years, and instead it’s happened in a few months
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CASE STUDY Trade Desk
Trade show Global software company, theTradeDesk, has taken more than 76,000 sq ft across four floors in the new Grade A building, One Bartholomew, in the regenerated area of St Bart’s. The building sits in the heart of London and bridges the juxtaposition of the financial history and heritage of the City with the tech and creative industries emerging from Farringdon and Clerkenwell.
above Communal spaces utilise natural light and biophilia to enhance employee wellbeing left The boardroom, featuring incredible views of the City
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The design had to demonstrate the scale of their global business and yet still provide a uniquely London and intimate, people-centric home
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T
he business wanted this space to be an inspirational environment. The bold, impressive design – courtesy of Peldon Rose – represents the company’s pioneering approach and plays an important role in their attraction of new staff. As a global business, there are certain values that theTradeDesk holds as integral to the success of the business and the development of its vibrant, people-centric culture. While the headcount sits at approximately 300 staff, a key concept of the design was to make it a space for the individual – a welcoming environment that balances the sensation of homeliness with an engaging, inspirational community atmosphere. The relocation was led by a requirement to create a more connected office. The company’s culture is very much focused on the idea of community and bringing people together. To achieve ambitions of growth while nurturing this passionate culture, the business needed to move to a location that would lift any limitations on staff and the ways they worked. We ask Senior Project Designer, Sonia Crozier, to tell us about the origins of the project. Sonia reveals that the former London home was a relatively small 8,000 sq ft space on Farringdon Road. theTradeDesk had already selected One Bartholomew and Peldon Rose assisted with early stage feasibility studies on the potential costs, and the occupational opportunities
that this particular property presented. ‘We also acted as the client’s monitor whilst the Cat A works were being undertaken by the developer’s contractor, ensuring the client were kept informed of any unexpected changes in specification or any potential delays, Sonia tells us. ‘We hadn’t worked with the client previously, however, from the very first meeting, it was apparent that we shared the same philosophies on what makes a successful project. Our passion, enthusiasm, creativity, and desire to build an amazing new home for theTradeDesk just shone through and stood us apart from the competition. ‘Before any designs were even considered, we initially started with establishing the key facts about theTradeDesk. A forensic and immersive process, consisting of utilisation studies, staff questionnaires and all-employee workshops provided us with the raw data to really establish what was needed from the new office. This ensured a strategic and fact-based design approach was applied to the scheme. ‘From that moment onwards, we started the iterative process of early concept ideas through to final design development. Every step of the design journey, from initial high-level moods and ideas through to detailed finishes and M&E and IT services was done in collaboration with our client’s in-house real estate
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CASE STUDY Trade Desk
and property team in California and their London stakeholders.’ So what were the hopes and aspirations of the client? ‘To build a new London base that would act as a major attractor for new talent and new clientele – a London office that was a home for their people and not your everyday ‘cut and paste’ office,’ Sonia considers. ‘The design had to demonstrate the scale of their global business and yet still provide a uniquely London and intimate, people-centric home; a space for their people to thrive in and build upon the great community culture that theTradeDesk has built across the world. ‘On a practical note, the space had to be able to facilitate large potential growth. As a solution, they sub-let two of the four floors they had taken at One Bartholomew to future proof their growth. This allowed us to design an environment that could easily adapt for increase in headcount without physically changing the design footprint.’ A key finding from the workplace consultancy was that there is no concept of presenteeism in the business. The people here are valued on their performance, energy, culture and passion for the business. Having this in-depth appreciation of its people and their day-today behaviours was an essential part of the space, as the office has been designed to maximise the space and allow people to connect in a hugely diverse landscape. To facilitate this, Peldon Rose has built this space around an
above Major structural modifications include a central atrium with stadium style seating. right Recreational spaces include the games room
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Being a global organisation, we had to understand how they interact from different locations around the world
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CASE STUDY Trade Desk
The deli-inspired catered kitchen space
activity based working philosophy, with a desk for each member of staff. This was because they wanted everyone to feel that they had their own individual space, even though they are not required to use it. As you would expect from a global media agency, we have equipped the space with dedicated areas for games tables, a catered kitchen with free snacks and a bar. But at the core of the business is a philosophy of being humble and nurturing their community. Creating an office that inspires their people does not end with tangible perks and benefits; it is about building a landscape that connects people and empowering them with trust and freedom. This approach helps to support a healthy way of working as well as mental wellbeing. ‘As a designer, it is important to understand (from a client) their requirements, their culture and how they operate,’ Sonia continues. ‘Being a global organisation, we had to understand how they interact from different locations around the world. It was critical to really get under the client’s skin.’ To achieve this, Sonia visited California, where she met with the client team at the head office in Ventura. Being with the client team and immersing herself into their
environment, she was able to experience, first-hand, the real culture and vibe of the business and how the company operates, meeting their people to truly understand their needs and how they really used their workspace. ‘It became very apparent that they spent more time in meeting rooms and in collaborative workshops than at their desks,’ Sonia recalls. ‘Long before the pandemic and the enforced working from home that we have seen of late, theTradeDesk were already big online communicators and they would be engaging with different members and teams around the world via the Zoom platform on a daily basis. They would use software like Slack to help aid internal communication. Having team members in different countries, it was important to design a work environment that had different size meeting rooms, with good acoustics, near to their desks. ‘theTradeDesk has grown rapidly in a short space of time; a new organisation, uncertain of how their office space should reflect them, not really having an established interior identity. Their current offices were very much trial and error. Every time a new office was complete, they would work out what worked and what didn’t.
Client theTradeDesk Architect & Interior Designer Peldon Rose, Sonia Crozier (BA Hons Interior Architect) Furniture Herman Miller, PRL Furniture, Arper, Vitra, Workstories, Icons of Denmark, OCEE design, Hay, Naughtone, Linge Roset, Andrew Martin, Tom Dixon, Allermuir, Dead Good, Orangebox, Forest of Home, Framery, Jennifer Newman, Interior Exterior Flooring Interface, Moduleo, Karndean, Mazegrass, Forbo, Gerflor, Grestec, Strata Tiles Surface H&E Smith, Strata Tiles, Domus, Feathr, Andrew Martin, Sign of the Times Storage JBL Joinery, Herman Miller Other Atriuvm, Kvadrat, Resonics, Arktura
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CASE STUDY Trade Desk
The rooftop gardens provides more communal space
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We quickly established there wasn’t a fixed interior design vision or playbook and one had to be born that would be contextual and relevant to them
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‘One Bartholomew was the largest design and fit out project they had encountered. This was to be the flagship to help identify who they are, their culture and help aid a playbook of design principles to roll out in their future offices around the world.’ The whole project was delivered on a Design & Build basis. The scope of works was far more detailed and complex than any average Cat B project. They involved major structural modifications to create a connected central atrium with stadium style seating. The slab had to be cut across three levels and significant penetrations were made to facilitate this ambitious design. ‘The design conception developed whilst visiting their office in California,’ Sonia explains. ‘We quickly established there wasn’t a fixed interior design vision or playbook and one had to be born that would be contextual and relevant to them. We had to clear on just who theTradeDesk were and what was in their DNA. ‘California, the surf, nature, people, community, and technology were just some of the inspirations we started to explore. Integrity in finish and an understated and timeless vibe were the cornerstones for our design. ‘We conceived an interior that could work as hard as their organisation, provide flexibility for growth, is not ostentatious, yet is respectful to
their roots and where it all began; timeless – a design made to last.’ Every single detail here is solely focused on the people and creating a real work/life balance. ‘We looked at how they interact, how they socialise and connect and why people choose to work here,’ Sonia continues. ‘We have created a home to promote and celebrate their culture and to make it easy for people to choose how they wish to use the space. The key architectural build elements help structure their activities but do not in any way restrain them from expressing themselves as individuals.’ Another integral part of the design was to connect people with nature, embracing and utilising as much natural daylight and introducing plants and biophilia to enhance employee wellbeing. ‘Underpinning this whole design is that community and people are right at the heart of it. The large stadia style atrium we have created not only connects them with their larger community around the world, but also sits at the heart of the space, seamlessly connecting the social spaces with the working areas and the more quiet and contemplative areas. ‘The space has been designed to create a landscape that works for everyone. Whether introvert or extrovert, no matter what demographic – this is a home for everyone.’w
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CASE STUDY Reckitt Benckiser
Health benefits As many of you will be aware, we’ve always attempted to find the right balance when it comes to bringing the best recently completed projects from right across the UK. Obviously, a large percentage of those leading schemes come from London – but we’re also extremely aware that some amazing work is being undertaken further afield.
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ith this in mind (especially in this current climate, where travel up and down the country is of course more difficult), we found ourselves looking through this year’s Mixology awards shortlist, only for our heads to be turned by this standout project on the east coast. Scott Browrigg was commissioned as the fit-out interior designer for the KWN Building, the Humber Suite, the restaurant, grab and go and café areas for the new £105 million Science and Innovation Centre in Hull. The Centre comprises state-of-the-art offices, R&D facilities, open plan working and collaborative areas, housing the talent and passion to drive forward the latest discoveries in consumer health. Reckitt Benckiser’s [RB] focus on cutting-edge science and its strong sense of social responsibility stretches back to 1819. Together they have enabled the business to help people lead healthier lives and have happier homes for over 200 years. It’s brands – many of which are household names – include Durex, Nurofen and Gaviscon, to name just three. The Hull site has been a home to RB since 1840. The previous R&S facilities were housed in a building no longer fit for purpose, with building fabric challenges and not enough space. Ryder Architecture successfully designed a world-class, sustainable R&D
campus, meeting the client’s aims to future-proof the business. From there, Scott Brownrigg successfully restored the historic elements, including the Humber Suite and KWN Building, celebrating the heritage of the site and the company. The Humber Suite is central to the space and has been restored as a new meeting suite; its position celebrates the history of the company. The conceptual interior design for the KWN office building relies on four key ideas: Reaching Out, exploring the connections between RB and Hull; Building Relationships, connecting people across the buildings; Uniquely RB, connecting with the brand; Movement and Flexibility, movable and flexible working spaces. KWN has four floors dedicated to office space, including areas for collaboration, meeting and breakout. Each of the office areas is colour-coded for easy navigation and wayfinding. ‘Scrum’ spaces focus on flexibility, with movable glazed partitions for informal meetings and semi-enclosed private meetings. A new staircase connects to the upper level meeting suite, which is now an area for presentation and collaboration, while the first floor meeting suite has been restored to its original grandeur, seamlessly integrating the latest technology.
photos: Alex Wroe Photography
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CASE STUDY Reckitt Benckiser
The existing historical buildings have now been connected to a high-spec R&D facility, resulting in a highly interactive environment for employees to use and visitors to explore. The materials used in the more public areas, such as the main entrance, atrium and restaurant areas, have been specified to be as hardwearing as possible. In these areas, floor finishes are ceramic tiles, with a large proportion of these tiles being large format so as to reduce the number of joints and number of potential failure points. Wall finishes selected in these areas are again a combination of hardwearing materials, such as external grade glass cladding, metal acoustic panelling and feature timber wall cladding. From early concept through to finalised designs, the comfort, wellbeing and physical environment for staff was at the front of the team’s concern. The open plan spaces within the office have been
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designed to reflect this and the end product is testimony to the listening and taking on board of the initial ideas put forward by the client. From a staff perspective, the new Science and Innovation Centre has provided a platform for staff to move from a very siloed, restricted work environment to a flexible non-territorial open plan workspace. Gone are the team boundaries and the rigid workplace seating constraints that once restricted and stifled innovation. The new space has created an environment where sharing of ideas and collaboration is made easier through the introduction of open plan spaces and a mix of private and open collaboration, while meeting spaces are equipped with latest conferencing tools to aid remote working. These advances in virtual presence technology have given RB’s teams the ability to collaborate seamlessly with colleagues around the globe
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From early concept through to finalised designs, the comfort, wellbeing and physical environment for staff was at the front of the team’s concern
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CASE STUDY Reckitt Benckiser
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CASE STUDY Reckitt Benckiser
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Employee engagement in the design process was a key element of gaining buy-in from staff. Employee teams were even given spaces they could design themselves
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– and to continue to work seamlessly despite the constraints of the pandemic and lockdown. Employee engagement in the design process was a key element of gaining buy-in from staff. Employee teams were even given spaces they could design themselves. A ‘Dragons Den’ competition enabled groups to pitch ideas to the project team, with the best three – the Garden Room, Games Room and a sensorium space – then selected for inclusion. The new Science and Innovation Centre is designed to be sustainable and energy efficient. Where new construction was required, the existing building was demolished with materials recycled to provide the sub-base and pile mat for the new R&D building. There is a rainwater recycling system for WC and urinal flushing, as well as optimised energy performance, with photovoltaics installed; 310 sq m of PV was allocated to the roof. Within the buildings, there is easy segregation and collection of recyclables. More than 70% of all wood products used are certified with the Forest Stewardship Council, with all adhesives and
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CASE STUDY Reckitt Benckiser
sealants compliant with Volatile Organic Compound limits. Environmental standards within the project that have been established and maintained include a site-wide smoking ban, the promotion of ‘active’ buildings and communities, active commuter promotion and access to local transit, access to nature, indoor air quality promotion, ventilation effectiveness, construction pollution management, while, as the site is located in a flood zone, measures were included to mitigate future flooding, including raising the new R&D facility 1,300mm above the local ordinance datum level. The Science and Innovation Centre at RB Hull is in its own way unique – not least because it brings together elements of rich heritage along with state-of-the-art new build in one seamless package, creating a brilliant fusion of old and new. The existing historical buildings are connected to a bespoke high-spec R&D facility via an ‘Innovation Pathway’, which links all three buildings.
The Pathway offers a highly interactive environment for employees to use and enjoy, with places to meet and collaborate, and a space for visitors to go on a journey of the inspirational world of RB Science through digital media walls, viewing portals and viewing galleries, which help bring science alive. What makes this facility so special is the overall blend of new cutting edge technology embedded within an old building shell that is now perfectly positioned and technologically advanced to propel RB towards its future aims and goals. Scott Brownrigg has developed future proofing measures within the design to meet the client’s desires to be prepared for future changes and developments. The office layout is arranged to allow for soft expansion in the future. The desk centres can be flexed and can utilise additional services to increase desk numbers with minimal disruption to the live environment. Furthermore, externally, further expansion to the north of the site is possible to suit changing business needs.w
Client Reckitt Benckiser Architect Ryder Architecture / Scott Brownrigg Fit-Out Designer Scott Brownrigg Project Manager Groma Consulting Quantity Surveyor AECOM, M&E Engineer: HDR I Hurley Palmer Flatt Contractor M+W Furniture Dealer The Furniture Practice Flooring Interface Furniture Gubi, Hay, Montana, Fritz Hansen, Icons of Denmark, Muuto, Vitra, HolmrisB8, Flokk, Naughtone, Mark, Workstories, Benchmark, Task Systems Others Planet Partitioning
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WORK MCM
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A new world of work MCM Architecture recently revealed findings from its recent Manifesto, predicting a bold shift in the world of work.
I above Havas office left Jon Race, MCM Managing Director right Ken Giannini, MCM, Board Director
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n Spring 2020, the world as we know it was altered in a way many had never seen before. It is estimated that 4.5 billion people went into lockdown, affecting everything about the way and where we live and work. We saw many of the world’s business leaders starting to question the need for their large HQ offices. Martin Sorrell – the former WPP Chairman and CEO of S4 Capital – was quoted as saying, ‘I spend around £35m on property in a year. I’d much rather invest that in people than expensive offices’. ‘The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past,’ said Jes Staley, the CEO of Barclays. Jonathan
Lewis of Capita – who employ over 40,000 people – reportedly envisioned ‘a smaller property footprint once the pandemic is over’. He also commented that property they kept would likely be used ‘less to house banks of standalone desks and much more to bring teams together to work collaboratively’. Early in the lockdown, MCM activated their in-house Think Tank - the MCM Skunkworks Programme – to research and develop ideas and predictions post-pandemic. The focus was on corporate organisations, their people and places of work. The findings were (maybe surprisingly) not about design, but about changes in company
WORK MCM
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Our findings showed that, for many organisations, performance and productivity didn’t fall off a cliff when employees were out of sight
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policies, behaviours, organisational structures, recruitment policies and location strategies. At a time when the pandemic had stunned economies and businesses, MCM has realised pathways for mediumand long-term socio-economic impact, which are set to open new opportunities for employment, invigorate local communities and reduce the environmental impact on the planet. ‘As creative thinkers, our team considered the implications of this extreme global social experiment,’ MCM Managing Director, Jon Race, comments. ‘We set out to define: what is the purpose of the office? After 10 weeks of research, virtual discussions with our clients, surveys with staff and the development of our own ideas, we determined three predictions that reach much further than just the purpose of offices. We think they are fundamental to society.’ Prediction 1: A Return to Human MCM’s findings identified that, during lockdown, many people practiced (for the first time) a true work/life balance. Connecting with family, communities, nature, friends – managing their own time and still working productively. People do not want to go back to an imbalance of work and very little of life. A Return to Human is a path and priority for organisations to create a culture that positively affects physical and mental wellbeing – to look after their people.
‘Employers that offer a tailored approach, placing people at the centre of employment policies, organisational and management structures that encourage freedom of work/life balance, will have a positive impact on their people,’ Jon continues. ‘This will, in turn, result in a more motivated workforce, leading ultimately to better business results.’ Prediction 2: The Radial Office The Radial Office is about giving staff a choice of how and where they work. It is an evolution of agile working, responding to both the positive and negative reactions enforced by remote working during lockdown. MCM’s research found that the experience of working from home was great for some and not ideal for others. However, almost everyone supported the desire to stop commuting every day. ‘Our findings showed that, for many organisations, performance and productivity didn’t fall off a cliff when employees were out of sight,’ MCM Director, Ken Giannini, says. ‘Significant cost savings were made, providing a compelling reason to carefully look at how businesses can re-imagine their structures and their real estate location strategies.’ MCM proposes that this concept will provide businesses with the opportunity to redefine their portfolio of work locations to three types of workspace – giving staff a choice of commuting to a central HQ type hub office, working locally in a
ITV Waterhouse Square office
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WORK MCM
Condé Nast office
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Once you take away commuting and promote remote working, the workforce catchment becomes global
” regional small drop-in office or working from home. The firm predicts that most organisations will have smaller city offices or ‘central hubs’, providing space for social interaction, collaboration, client engagement, mentoring or activities not practical for home or local hubs. In turn, this downsize will see an increase in the demand for regional or local hubs and home workspaces at the same time. Ken notes the benefits: ‘The Radial Office will re-ignite local communities when we see underutilised spaces such as retail spaces converted to local work hubs and more people at home supporting local economies – not to mention the benefits that less commuting has on the environment and energy consumption.’ Prediction 3: The Gig Company Finally, the Gig Company: placing trust at the forefront. MCM describes this as a business model built on the premise that its workforce does not have to be recruited and employed because they are within commuting distance to the office. Once you take away commuting and
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promote remote working, the workforce catchment becomes global. Embracing trust and autonomy, people are said to excel, wherever they are, according to the Manifesto findings. And the great benefits are equal to organisations and their people. In a Gig Company, staff can be free to work anywhere. MCM predicts that we will see younger workers moving to more affordable parts of the country, benefiting the individual as well as the economies of the regions. MCM also foresees a rise in the diversity and new employment opportunities for staff in a Gig Company. ‘By encouraging home or local working, it is much easier to employ people that find commuting difficult to cope with or working parents with school age children or those that cannot afford childcare, for example,’ Jon explains. Gig Companies will have the world as their catchment for employing talent. MCM sees great benefits to SME’s, who can access global talent and global coverage for their products or services. The team are confident that Gig Companies will not only have a dispersed workforce of individuals but will seek to collaborate with other organisations,
forming networks of like-mined businesses. This concept is predicted to accelerate in the months and years to come. Companies will seek to rebuild, re-imagine their route to market, innovate, motivate, and keep their people (regardless of location). Conclusion A New World of Work has three positive predictions that MCM believes will be a model for success with corporate organisations coming out of the pandemic period. The far-reaching benefits go beyond business, but will contribute to the economic growth in communities, employment opportunities, diversity and inclusion, as well as reducing the environmental impact on the planet.w
References The Financial Times, May 2020 www.ft.com Reuters, Lawrence White and Jason Neely, April 2020 www.uk.reuters.com MCM Manifesto, June 2020 www.mcm-uk.com
TM
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Designing for neurodiversity The workplace has become a more accessible environment than ever, but there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of designing for a neurodiverse workforce. We meet up with Franky Rousell, Founder of sensory design experts, Jolie Studio.
Workplace Property
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imply put, neurodiversity is the diversity of our brains: an immeasurable variation of the way our brains function and react across a massive spectrum. Most people are neurotypical, with an estimated 15% of the UK population considered neurodivergent. Neurodivergent people face multiple challenges within the workplace – from sensory stimulation and distractions to wayfinding within a large space. According to CIPD, one in ten organisations are now focusing on diversity at work, and by doing so can create better workplaces for all by understanding the nuances of our neurological differences. Alongside
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the collaborative and flexible successes of the fabulous open plan offices we have visited over the years, there are also downsides – from a colleague’s loud phone call to garish lights and even smells. For many of us this is a small annoyance but, to a large minority of the workforce, this is an impossible obstacle that directly affects their ability to work. Manchester-based Jolie Studio is no stranger to the role design can play in creating a diverse and inclusive environment that can benefit an organisation’s entire workforce. Founder Franky Rousell studied Architectural Technology in Bristol
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When we started Jolie Studio it was about the emotional output of the human being in that space, no matter what sector or space we’re designing in
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WORK Neurodiversity
opposite Both offices incorporate soft and soothing colour and material palettes below Different ‘zones’ include areas that focus on increased productivity, socialisation and relaxation
before making the move to Manchester; attracted by the thriving industry and growing prospects of the city, she took on the role of Head of Design at Bruntwood at just 23 years old. Franky realised that her aim was to change the face of the typical interior design offering and take a more thoughtful approach to interiors. In 2018, Jolie Studio was born from a desire to move away from a traditional, trend-driven aesthetic approach and towards a more fully embodied, human-centred and multi-sensory experience. ‘In previous roles I met a lot of different customers and business types – and they would all say the same thing – ‘We’ve spent thousands of pounds on fit-out work, directed by the designer on what to choose and how to do it. But, six months down the line, after the initial success of the launch, the honeymoon phase had worn off and people were starting to moan. The space doesn’t feel authentic to their business and hasn’t actually done anything to help it apart from please people in the short term.’ Jolie Studio’s Mixology-award-winning work for Matillion’s Altrincham office is a perfect example of using colour, texture and smell to create an inclusive space for today’s diverse workforce. Setting cliches
to the side of what would usually be expected of a tech company’s office space, the team instead put the unique story of the business and the human requirements of the workforce at the forefront, resulting in a completely bespoke and unique design. ‘When we started Jolie Studio it was about the emotional output of the human being in that space, no matter what sector or space we’re designing in,’ says Franky. ‘When you’re in an environment, there are so many inputs going on to determine how you feel in that particular moment – it’s a subliminal, multi-sensory experience. There are so many examples of terrible environments, like hospitals, which are supposed to be spaces for healing and yet so often do the polar opposite. ‘Thinking about things in a much more human way has allowed us to work on some amazing schemes, but it’s also allowed us to see the impact of that thought process,’ Franky continues. ‘We spent six months just meeting with neuroscientists. We’re never going to be the experts – we educated ourselves and then we reach out to them if we need them. It’s not a complicated science; it’s just thinking about things differently – when you’re picking a material, why? How does it make you feel? At the start of every
WORK Neurodiversity
project we sit down with the floorplans, and before we do any space planning or layout, we’ll circle areas that we call sensory zoning. We’ll establish the journey that we want people to go through.’ Having such computer heavy roles, Matillion needed a space that would allow the workforce to work more efficiently together, building their own culture, and feeling more at ease in times of high pressure. Each of the five human senses was considered in each area of the space; sensory zoning includes areas that focus on increased productivity, relaxation and everything in between. The tech sector continues to be one of the fastest growing job sectors in the UK and beyond – and with that comes the temptation for employees to shop the employer market. This constant need to attract, retain and inspire puts pressure on Matillion and, as a Britishbased company with Silicon Valley aspirations (and investors), they are no strangers to retention strategies. left Soft seating provides areas for collaboration and socialising, alongside enclosed spaces for quiet moments below Matillion office, Denver
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WORK Neurodiversity
Matillion’s expansion into the US market once again called upon Jolie, predicting similarminded employees as their UK base. Both spaces incorporate a soft and soothing palette of colours and materials, with a variety of enclosed spaces – small areas of refuge and sanctuary for quiet moments, and small soft seating areas for comfortable levels of collaboration and socialising. Use of colour is an important consideration throughout both projects – neutral shades calm and relax, avoiding clashing colours that may be overwhelming to those not neurotypical. In addition to a sustainable-focused supply chain, the team used interior fragrances that were as natural and sustainable as possible, as well as allergy resistant. It is these small thoughtful nuances within both Matillion spaces that support diversity
within the workforce – allowing for high retention and a competitive advantage. ‘We understand the way our clients want the space to make its users feel, and that they require longevity from their space design – so from tech companies like Matillion, who use colour and fragrance to create an atmosphere of calm focus to drive staff retention and wellbeing, through to hotels that need leisure spaces that encourage an experience of vitality, escape and energy…the way we plan and design a space is wholly directed by the emotional outcome that is required.’w See more of Jolie Studio’s sensory design on page 86.
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Thinking about things in a much more human way has allowed us to work on some amazing schemes
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Matillion office, Denver
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HOSPITALITY Hospitality Workplace
76 Case Study: Market Hall West End by FaulknerBrown Architects 82 Case Study: Silo by Nina+Co
HOSPITALITY Market Hall
Off to market Late last year, when the words COVID, social distancing and furlough weren’t part of our vocabulary, the UK’s growing penchant for indoor food markets was further satiated with the arrival of Market Hall West End – Market Hall’s flagship and most ambitious venue. Taking more than 35,000 sq ft over three floors of the former BHS department store on London’s busiest shopping street, Market Hall West End is now the UK’s largest food hall.
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above The Cocktail Bar left The Garden Bar
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They really liked the fact that everything was elegant, clean and calm – and nothing was too overwhelming
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uests are greeted by a stairway to food heaven on Holles Street (just off Oxford Street), rising over a boutique gym at ground floor and inviting visitors up to 11 kitchens, four bars, a coffee cart, TV studio, private dining/events space and a roof terrace. This is the third Market Hall to arrive in London in the past two years, following successful locations in Fulham and Victoria in 2018 – all designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects. The design process was extremely collaborative, fast, tense, revealing and focused, Steve Dickson, Senior Associate at FaulknerBrowns, tells us. ‘The concept was very much about bringing back unloved or underused spaces of architectural interest and celebrate their inherent qualities,’ says Steve. ‘In this case to pair the building right back to its mid-century concrete frame – the revealed structure gives a rich urban texture and neutral tone, providing a backdrop for the traders to display their brands.’ The key design ambition was to create high value spaces at a low cost, which drove creative and effiicient use of the existing building, together with
new interventions. The retailers sit centrally at the heart of the scheme and form the key character of the space, with punchy vibrant branding sitting well against the raw industrial backdrop of the existing building. ‘Market Hall West End is the largest food market hall in the UK and was delivered at half the cost of typical food retail,’ says Steve. ‘That’s pretty unique, but more importantly it provides a platform for innovative food businesses: offering an affordable route to central locations with low overheads and a turnover-based arrangement. ‘Short-term contracts mean established chefs can trial new concepts, start-ups can get a foot on the ladder, and trader line-ups may be modified in response to seasons, customer requests and food fashions – all of which provides an appealing environment both for caterers to operate from, and for returning customers looking for something new.’ The ambition for the space was to create a real ‘wow factor’ experience that would be unique and truly memorable. An eclectic mix of industrial and classic furniture pieces sit around the kitchen pods,
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HOSPITALITY Market Hall
Neon lights and original concrete walls feature throughout level one
Client Market Halls Architect & Interior Designer FaulknerBrowns Architects Furniture Ralph Capper, Tolix, Quatro, Poplar Products, Carlick Contract furniture Flooring Amtico, Nuway, Forbo, Sika Schonox , CTD tiles, Desso Surfaces Corten, Coo-Var coatings, Jonstones coatings, CTD tiles, Weber, Grestec. Formica Other Knauf, Ecophon, Rockfon, Bute fabrics, Plant Plan
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hinting back to the building’s 1950s heritage. Raw metals and bold colours harmonise with the graphic nature of the kitchen units, while existing architectural details such as waste pipes are celebrated in bright colours. ‘Working within an existing building very much brings a design DNA,’ Steve continues. ‘Our ethos was to explore and celebrate the existing fabric and structure whilst giving the food retailers and artisans a platform for their individuality and brand. Peeling away the layers of embedded history from an unloved BHS department store meant we had to make rapid and informed decisions to achieve our design goals.’ A selection of rich patinas and handcrafted tiles form the bars on level one, with galvanised steel stair lining sitting perfectly alongside patched plaster and the concrete of the existing wall surfaces. The dining area is
set up around short-stay lunch and evening visits, with longer dwelling areas to the outer edges of the space and a visual connection to Cavendish Square giving visitors the feeling of being in a bustling central London venue. Neon feature lighting creates much of the signage throughout, adding to the retro vibe and contrasting against the more rustic original features. ‘Lighting selection and design was key to the success of the space,’ says Steve. ‘We saw this as a theatrical intent, which aimed to downlight onto the furniture and feature space – allowing the exposed mechanical services to float through at high level without overpowering the space.’ Wellbeing forms a successful element of level two, bringing a relaxed vibe, ideal for events and social gatherings, with an abundance of planting, mood lighting and naturally-lit areas.
HOSPITALITY Market Hall
Placing a food market hall on the first floor demanded a grand statement, achieved through dramatic neon signage
The top floor has a lush palette of materials to create two distinctive themed spaces: The Garden Bar emits an airy, biophillic feel, featuring raw plaster, textured crittal glazing and the large-scale tiled floor, which also takes inspiration from the original adjacent architectural elevations. Next door, the Cocktail Bar takes on a deeper feeling of luxury, using velvet, rustic timber floor and textured plastered walls. The existing steel structure was uncovered and used to hang theatrical lighting through suspended planting, connecting the three levels through a central void. ‘The vibe is Festival of Britain meets European food market,’ adds Steve. ‘It’s honest, authentic and real.’ The Market Halls are a new generation of food destinations, with a vision to bring new life into existing buildings and deliver exciting spaces. This is what London has been missing – it’s certainly what we have been missing. And, once Government guidelines allow, we’ll invite our friends!w
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HOSPITALITY Market Hall
Theatrical lighting connects the three levels through a central void
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HOSPITALITY Silo
Mycelium cocktail chairs sit next to the bar area, created from recycled plastic and leather
Zero is hero Zero-waste pioneer and award-winning chef, Douglas McMaster, has packed up his bags and moved his restaurant from the bustling Laines of Brighton to a new Hackney Wick home.
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escribing itself as a restaurant designed from back to front, always with the bin in mind, Douglas’s approach is threaded throughout the whole restaurant and its supply chains – from trading directly with farmers to composting scraps to ‘close the loop’ in the food production process. Housed on the upper floor of The White Building, Silo’s interiors are designed by Nina+Co, an interior design studio renowned for its focus on sustainable design. Founded in 2014 by Nina Woodcroft, the studio believes it is a designer’s responsibility to reduce environmental impact and promote wellbeing.
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Working very closely with Douglas on the design and following Silo’s post-industrial ethos, Nina+Co opted to work with local crafts people using age-old techniques, as well as using innovative materials and technologies such as recycled plastics and mycelium. Entering the restaurant from a cast-iron staircase next to a graffiti covered bridge, guests are greeted by a contrasting minimalist interior. A host stand formed from timber offcuts, which have been laminated together and sculpted back into the likeness of a tree stump, sits below lights from Ty Smyl, moulded from seaweed and combined with paper waste to create sturdy and organic looking pendants.
photos by sam harris
Client Crate Brewery Interior Designer Nina+Co Furniture Provider Clippings Flooring The Colour Flooring Company Furniture Jan Hendzel, Grown, &Tradition, Menu, Mater, Innermost, Tala, Ty Syml Surfaces Smile Plastics, Buxkin
HOSPITALITY Silo
Mycelium table and cork flooring
‘A few pioneering and high-quality materials, a very crafted process, and a zero-waste mentality form the basis of the design,’ says Nina. ‘The aim is to close the loop, with an interior composed from waste or thoughtfully sourced, natural materials, that will either biodegrade or easily disassemble for repurposing in the future.’ 30 bespoke wall lights were designed especially for Silo by Nina+Co. Created by a local potter using crushed wine bottles from the restaurant, they feature an exposed bulb in the centre. Through a unique, reduced-energy glass recycling process developed in-house by Douglas, the crushed glass is moulded and fired in a kiln to create the lights, which can be crushed and recycled again and again. The flooring is created from natural cork – a carbon negative product harvested by hand, of course, from the bark of the cork oak without harming the tree. Cork oak forests capture five times more CO2 than is used in the manufacture of the flooring. An 18-seater dining bar overlooks the kitchen worktop. The bar wrapped in recycled leather and the dining counter is formed of polyester packaging waste by Smile Plastics. Distinctive, three-legged, round dining tables and a 5m long waiter station were designed by Nina+Co and crafted locally by craftsman Jan Hendzel in his Woolwich workshop from sustainably sourced English ash. Perhaps most interesting of all is the cocktail lounge furniture; round mushroom-like seats with simple cylindrical tables topped with glass – all grown to order for the project from mycelium, a renewable raw material that is fully compostable at the end of usefulness. Battered by the recent pandemic like the rest of the hospitality world, Silo has recently reopened cautiously, offering wine and small plates of sustainable food. Uncompromising in its mission, Silo sets a bar for the increasingly popular zero-waste concept within the food industry, providing diners with an immersive and unique experience through organic, thoughtful design.w
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Oran by Mark Gabbertas DGM 213
LIVING
LIVING Tea Room
Making sense In an age of real-world social disconnect, where screens demand our attention and fast-moving trends drive the physical world we inhabit, Manchester-based Jolie Studio focuses on the power of real, emotionally driven experiences that can be influenced by environment and interior space.
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caption The Tea Room
eansgate Square is the highest profile residentialled development Manchester has seen to date, extending the city centre and continuing the impressive property and population growth the city has seen over the past few years. With growth comes competition, and Jolie Studio’s design for the amenities at the development is like nothing else in the city centre. ‘The amenities on offer to the residents is a key USP for this development, and it was vital that the residents felt they were part of a high quality, luxury experience,’ says Franky Rousell, founder and CEO of Jolie Studio. ‘We aimed to create a premium, luxury experience but with a real sense of sanctuary and wellbeing – away from the hustle and bustle of the city; whilst celebrating the exciting nature of living in an urban metropolis.’ Tucked away on the top floor of the residential development, sitting alongside a vast rooftop garden, is a haven of comfort and relaxation: the residents’ lounge – or Tearoom – as Jolie has aptly named the space. Not only does the lounge play host to private dinner parties in the evening and
daytime home workers, it also takes residents and visitors on a multi-sensory experience, telling the story of the history of tea. ‘Our brief from the founder of Renaker was to create a ‘nice place for a brew’,’ says Franky. ‘We explored tea as a spectrum of colour, taste, sound and smell, from the dark depths of black assam, the mid-tones of Japanese green tea, right through to the comforting milky tones of English breakfast tea.’ Researching the cultural origins of tea, and its uses globally – not just as a source of refreshment, but for its spiritual and healing benefits – Jolie has created a calming and comforting place to relax and focus. The team regularly works with neuroscientists to understand the human experience and create spaces that support all types of neurodiversity. ‘As a touch experience, neuroscience research shows that the warmth and comfort we associate with tea encourages open, meaningful conversations,’ Franky adds. ‘We’ve had some incredible feedback from the residents – one parent who contacted us to say how her autistic son relaxed immediately in the residents’ lounge (Tearoom) despite experiencing anxiety in
photos by billy bolton
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LIVING Tea Room
above Resident’s private dining and meeting room
Client Renaker Interior Designer Jolie Studio Furniture Provider TFP – The Furniture Practice Flooring Casa Ceramica, Pulastic Sports Flooring, Interface, Johnson Tiles, Karndean Furniture Muuto, Gubi, Knoll, &Tradition. Minotti, Menu, B&B Italia, Saba Italia, Kettal, Tom Dixon, Cane Line Surfaces Armourcoat, Dulux Trade, Vescom, Casa Ceramica. Kvadrat
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open spaces normally. Hearing that firsthand experience of calming colours, lighting and textures, making a person feel at ease, is what this was about for us.’ Whilst there was a key target customer (young professionals, aged between 25-35, working in the city centre), it was important that Jolie’s scheme also has longevity and is socially sustainable. The team achieves this through a focus on meaning in the design – most notably colour psychology, touch and texture, acoustics and even fragrance. Lighting, colours and textures vary throughout to affect mood and behaviours: all of the spaces Jolie designed within Deansgate Square are geared up to emotionally support no matter what the activity – energised in the gym, calm and safe in the pool and spa, and relaxed in the Club’s Tea Room. ‘For us, the furniture and finishes are an essential part of the overall design – just as important as the colours and the spatial planning. Touch and texture can make us feel and behave differently – we understand the emotional connection with texture
and touch, and curate material choices to influence behaviours. ‘The skin is a very social organ; so whether a meaningful conversation in a soft textured armchair over a warm drink, or an innate emotional connection with the feeling of leather and its likeness to human skin, our skin sends signals to the brain that can make an environment feel like home.’ Elsewhere, Jolie designed the development’s gym, spa and sports hall. ‘The sports hall was a real challenge as we went for a very unconventional design,’ Franky tells us. ‘We had to use certain materials for the flooring/walls and chose colours and lighting to immerse people in a space that feels energising, competitive, but also fun and fresh.’ The studio picked a deep red–- a powerful and competitive colour, invoking energy and strength. Contrasting this with bright pink encourages playful behaviour, but also gives a sense of comfort, whilst keeping the space fresh. These two dominant colours are carefully balanced with natural hues so as not
Sports hall floor
LIVING Tea Room
encourage a fear reaction (associated with red), including a bold black ceiling and soft beige used in the acoustic panelling. ‘It was an exciting challenge to get Darren Whittaker (Founder/CEO of Renaker) and the team to buy into this at concept stage – a bit of ‘what the hell is going on here?!’’ adds Franky. Diversity is always at the forefront of Renaker’s developments, and the client was willing to push the boundaries of what was being done elsewhere in Manchester. The studio was able to deliver most of the design without many changes or amends, but some of the wilder ideas were challenging at first to sell, we’re told. ‘The black pool ceiling, the pink and red basketball court and all the pampas in the tearoom were all very brave design choices to get over the line!’ ‘This was the first mixed use residential development of this size and scope for Jolie, so to apply our sensory design ethos on such a large scale and see these concepts realised was amazing.’w opposite Calming colours and textues feature throughout the Tea Room left Sports Hall below The Club’s pool & spa
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THE FINAL WORD
Uncommon, Fulham
Call of the wild The ramifications of the pandemic continue to ripple through the entire world of work – from landlords to coffee shops and everything else that was touched by the regular presence of people in the workplace, Criteo’s Mike Walley considers.
Mike Walley is Senior Director of Global Real Estate & Workplace Strategy at Criteo 92 | Mix 206 October 2020
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any companies are now repositioning themselves to accept a much higher level of agile working and are looking to adjust portfolios accordingly. What could this mean for the coworking sites that grew like mushrooms across our cities over the last few years? As agile working increases, it could be logical to assume that the demand for coworking space will increase, but what if that demand is in all the wrong places? It is estimated that flexible workspace operators currently occupy around 13 million sq ft of space across central London. That’s enough for 140,000 people, at a reasonably conservative estimate, but how many of those customers are in London, and if not, how many are willing to come into London to use a coworking site? I foresee a new demand growing from those of us who didn’t previously use this kind of space, but now want somewhere we can occasionally drop in to for a few hours as a change of scenery. I was pondering this as I spent another day in my spare room/office juggling Zoom calls. I suddenly realised that a coworking site is just what I needed, only…not in London. If I could wander down to my local WeWork/Regus/Labs (delete as required) for a morning of honest toil in somewhere that isn’t my spare room, I’d be off down the road like a shot! Human company, café latte, that little buzz of background noise that is
so conducive to thought…it all sounds perfect. What I don’t want to do is a fullon commute in a crowded and expensive train or Tube just to get a morning’s respite from the dog whining about going for a walk. Having read in the business press of the trials and tribulations that the big players in this sector are going through, it’s hard to see how they will be able to pivot to a new suburban and rural model. Both WeWork and Regus are trying hard to re-engineer their portfolios to stop the huge outflow of cash that rents in the city demand. This could well be a niche that is open to a fast-moving company ready to take advantage of the current changes in business needs. The pricing will need to be right, of course. The current membership model will need to be augmented by a walk-in price that is within what I refer to as the ‘oh go on then!’ range. Just enough to make us concentrate when there, but not so high as to make us think twice before going. Ultimately, I believe the future of the office has changed beyond all recognition and will become somewhere we go only occasionally. So…we need some options in the suburbs and rural towns where all those ex-commuters live. This is partly a thought-provoking piece about the future of the coworking sector, and partly a plea for somewhere else to work occasionally as the dog is driving me mad! w
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