The Legal Workplace London Studio Expertise 2020
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Contents
Thought Leadership ― 4 Selected Projects ― 22 About Us ― 62
← Bristows. London
Thought Leadership
Thought Leadership
The challenges facing law firms today
Climate Emergency
War for Talent
Businesses are ever more conscious of their
Many businesses used to traditionally prioritize
impact on the environment. Flexibility can
the client experience over that of their
reduce the carbon footprint of large office
employees. The tides are now shifting on that
space energy requirements, as well as reduced
front, and there is equal emphasis on both
commuting, and even less paper usage as
clients and employees to attract talent, retain
digital platforms take dominance. With less
staff, and improve effectiveness. Employees are
traditional workplaces and more collaborative
seeing a rise in better, more supportive spaces
interactive areas, workspaces will become more
and access to health and well-being facilities.
environmentally friendly.
Workplace Revolution
Business Resilience
Organizations face the challenge of responding
Communities and companies alike need to
to the demands of an ever-evolving and
prepare for natural and man-made system
diverse workforce of people from a multitude
shocks, social volatility, and economic stress.
of cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and physical
Places that are designed, planned, and
and cognitive needs. Placing the user at the
organized for resilience have a significantly
heart of the workplace will address fundamental
greater chance of weathering physical trauma
human needs of belonging, pride, and solitude,
and social provocations. They’re also much more
by offering staff choice, autonomy, and
likely to regenerate and prosper afterward. All
self-organization for every experience and
corporate endeavors – including those in the
interaction.
built environment – should endure, adapt, and aim to help us all thrive.
Trends already shaping the market
↑ Confidential Law Firm, London
As the legal practice evolves, our clients are experimenting with new workplace ideas, often mirroring what their own clients are doing. Law is inching its way closer to more progressive workplaces that reflect how work is shifting across all industries, due to the rise of teamwork and a greater importance placed on a shared company culture. No two law firms are the same, but there are some common trends across the board already impacting the industry.
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Thought Leadership
Smart Space and Strategic Shrinking
The modern legal workplace is driven by a need for greater efficiency, desire for equity and more inclusive culture, and a growing willingness to let go of past conventions. Though private offices aren’t likely to disappear completely, there are a few emerging and established shifts to consider. With ever increasing real estate costs and more competitive fees, lawyers are becoming more savvy with how they use their space. If a firm is occupying private offices, office sizes are getting smaller, not in the corner, flexible and sometimes shared, and are universal in size for partners and associates. If a firm is looking to go into open plan, they are sharing spaces as teams in open plan alongside a plethora of enclosed collaboration and meeting spaces to ensure a place for confidentiality and concentration. Some legal clients are fully embracing the ‘workplace of the future’ movement and are going agile, into a more activitybased approach, following in the footsteps of some professional services clients and other industries.
← Simmons & Simmons embracing open plan
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Thought Leadership
Technology, Support, and AI
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Technology is also driving a lot of the decisions around how lawyers occupy space. Clients are re-thinking support spaces to build in flexibility for areas that are most likely to change over time. With the digitization of records departments, law libraries and dedicated records storage are going by the wayside. Many clients are out-sourcing operational departments such as copy centers and printing, the IT help desk and infrastructure, and even food services. Some also choose to off-site some of their support functions as well, taking the backof-house departments such as HR, IT, finance and administration into reduced rental properties which are sometimes out of the city-centre completely. This trend to be popular with quite a few of our London clients due to long leases and property prices.
The way lawyers actually perform their work is changing as well. As departments are no longer siloed or isolated from other colleagues, there are more opportunities for teaming and collaboration so project room requirements are increasing. Sector lines are also blurring, so there is a need for collaboration spaces between departments and the ability to co-work both with internal coworkers and sometimes clients. The requirement for a large amounts of paralegals and legal secretaries is also reducing, largely due to the ease of gathering and reviewing information digitally or through AI. The use of artificial intelligence may be the future of legal. Some firms are already looking to adopt AI as a means to automate their services such as timesheets and information recall for cases.
↑ Nixon Peabody, New York ← Confidential Law Firm, London
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Thought Leadership
Transparency and Well-being The workplace should support our physical and mental wellbeing and design solutions should protect our planet resources. Design strategies that promote wellbeing such as connecting stairs, active design, tech-free zones to decompress and focus, and biophilic design in turn create a happier, healthier and more effective and engaged work force. Integrating sustainability and wellness features has become a marketing tool for recruiting and retention, and is becoming expected by employees and clients.
↑ Miller Titerle, Vancouver BC ← Nixon Peabody, Washington DC
Certifications such as BREEAM, LEED, WELL, and Fitwel have become an outward expression of our clients’ values. Physical transparency in the form of glass-fronted offices and conference rooms increase figurative transparency, allowing employees and clients to more easily connect
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Future Dialogues
The Legal Workplace We explored with a panel of industry experts how law firms can adapt and respond to existing trends and current challenges facing the industry. This is a write up of our Future Dialogues Webinar hosted on 13th May 2020.
SPEAKER PANEL
Tom Goldsmith Partner, Real Estate Eversheds Sutherland
Morette Jackson Director of Business Development University of Law
Kate Vine (Chair) Principal Perkins and Will 16
Brett Smith Digital Buildings, Partner Siemens
INTRODUCTION BY KATE VINE The workplace has been forced to change overnight. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated existing and emerging trends with many businesses, and law firms in particular, facing new challenges and opportunities. For our Spring 2020 Future Dialogues event, hosted as a webinar, we explored topics such as the Climate Emergency, Digitalisation and Smart Buildings, the War for Talent, and the Workplace Revolution with a focus on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Then... To give some context to the discussion we are having now, it is perhaps useful to understand where we have come from. Upon moving to the UK in 2004, I saw a very different legal landscape than the one I see today. There were large scale single or double occupancy offices for fee earners with up to 20 linear metres of filing per office or more, with large teams of support staff and paralegals trawling over documents all day and well into the night. It was a paper heavy working environment with stack filing being the favoured means of having your ‘matters’ to hand. Large legal libraries were required and lawyers still kept their ‘bibles’ in their offices or in their team areas for ease of access. And to respond to the sheer amount of documents that were required, large reprographics facilities were located on-site.
Exquisitely designed receptions and client meeting rooms were supplied with uniformed staff and catering facilities that were more akin to five-star hotel experiences than commercial offices. Meeting facilities were state of the art at the time with video ‘enabled meeting rooms’ with large auditorium and event spaces. A tremendous amount of travelling happened, zipping to and from client meetings, potentially with large teams working on major projects. With the determination to try to reduce travel, so began the advent of fully immersive video conference facilities, such as Halo or Telepresence rooms. Staff amenity spaces in some buildings were like living in a small city with the amount of facilities that were provided. These spaces included on-site gyms, studios and treatment rooms, restaurants, concierge services with dry cleaning, partners dining rooms or areas, wellness suites with doctor and dentists. All in an effort to support lawyers that were working incredibly long hours and in need of respite or the ability to have essential items at their fingers tips as they were severely time poor. 17
Future Dialogues
Now... Flash forward 16 years and the legal office landscape has dramatically evolved. Some lawyers have migrated out of offices into open plan or even into an agile working environment, and the ratio of support staff to lawyers has shifted and reduced. The dawn of artificial intelligence and data has meant that information is available to lawyers in real time. Many legal libraries have reduced dramatically or disappeared altogether. Offices are becoming paper light and some are going completely paperless. Office spaces have become lighter and more nimble. There is a drive for more collaborative settings as most users have shifted to laptops and can work anywhere at any time, balanced with the ever increasing need for concentration and focus spaces. Trainees and graduates are looking for not just the ability to work in a world class environment with all the best facilities but they want the opportunity to have more worklife balance, an environment that is mentally and emotionally supportive and the need for more flexibility. New talent is also focusing on what the firm is doing for society in terms of climate action and questioning what is ethically appropriate. Facilities and real estate teams are asking more of the buildings they manage and occupy, with a drive to streamline processes and monitor their power and energy usage. We want our buildings to be designed with a level of intelligence behind them and law firms are looking for premium stock.
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And now in the current circumstances, the entire global workforce has shifted to work from home overnight – it is the world’s largest agile working experiment. How will the legal workplace respond and adapt?
THE WORKPLACE REVOLUTION
“The legal workplace is around eight years behind other professional services” Tom Goldsmith, a Partner of Real Estate at Eversheds Sutherland, argued that the legal workplace is around eight years behind other professional services in adapting to modern office trends. However, with the advent of social distancing and working from home in recent months, the sector will fast-forward agile ways of working. “Where Eversheds were targeting 8 desks per every 10 employees for their future spaces in January of this year, a post-Covid world may well see law firms set a target of five desks per 10 employees”, he said. This period of homeworking has brought to light the limitations of relying on physical documents during a time when we all must communicate remotely. Both during and after the pandemic, lawyers and their teams will need to be far more portable and that will include going paperless, reducing the environmental impacts and financial costs of printing.
DIGITALISATION AND SMART BUILDING
“Buildings that were once considered passive are now active contributors and prosumers of energy” Technology is going to have to come into play, said Brett Smith, Digital Buildings Partner at Siemens, Smart Infrastructure. In the past, offices were traditionally not very adaptable nor connected from an electrical or mechanical point of view. Today, offices are focused on creating seamless user experiences, that are connected, agile and flexible. Buildings that were once considered passive are now active contributors and prosumers of energy opposed to traditional consumers. For end users, Smart technology in buildings can begin with our phones, with applications that allow seamless access to find and book desks /rooms, personalised settings (lighting
and temperature via machine learning), 3rd party integrations such as restaurants, public transportation, gym classes and more. The valuable insights collected can be analysed to understand which spaces are being utilised, communicate regular updates to their staff and understand the operational efficiency and performance of their building 247 365. This will not only be key for businesses in a quest to reach carbon neutral goals (Siemens is planning to be carbon neutral by 2030) but will provide essential systems that help monitor the health and safety of employees. We are in unprecedented times around social distancing and Covid 19 where data and information become an essential part of operating a building safely and efficiently. Technology and data insights will play a vital role to support a healthy return to work, ensuring companies remain adaptive and flexible.
Future Dialogues
THE WAR FOR TALENT
“There is still an expectation for ‘Californication’ when it comes to the look and feel of a company” Ultimately, all of these aspects are geared towards attracting and retaining highly valued employees. As Morette Jackson, Director of Business Development at the University of Law pointed out, the sector is an incredibly competitive market and firms have to adapt to changing employee needs. Goldsmith believes, and Jackson agrees, that there is still an expectation for ‘Californication’ when it comes to the look and feel of a company. The next generation of new talent
expects well-ness suites, gyms, restaurantquality catering, and pristine arrival areas. But they also are increasingly looking for firms with a reputation of excellence, working in an inclusive environment, a better work-life balance, and corporate social responsibility. However, the Covid-19 crisis does present a major challenge to that talent retention. Jackson argued that trainees and junior lawyers learn 70 per cent of their knowledge from first-hand experience and the current lack of in-person communication will limit their ability to benefit from the expertise of more senior staff members.
“Junior lawyers learn 70% of their knowledge from first-hand experience”
CONCLUSION Before the disruption caused by COVID-19, the legal sector was already seeing a shift in office design and ways of working. The private, paperheavy offices with libraries and large printers of old had started to be replaced by more flexible, open-plan spaces that promote collaboration and staff well-being. Now as businesses start to adapt to working from home, a rapid and potentially long-lasting revolution is taking place in the corporate world as companies re-evaluate their office requirements. While coronavirus will undoubtedly accelerate the legal sector’s modernisation with digitalisation and agile working, the value of the physical office space cannot be underestimated.
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― Legal Workplace
Selected Projects
Simmons & Simmons Bristol, United Kingdom Client: Simmons & Simmons Size: 26,000 square feet Completion Date: 2018
― WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE
A working environment that continues to foster the teams ‘friendly and collegiate’ culture
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The use of graphics and colour captures the essence of the spirit of the Bristol team and the cities rich history. We have created a central café space adjacent to the terrace that will allow the teams to come together, hold events and can also be used as an extension of their client suite and workspace.
Simmons & Simmons
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― THE SPACE
Simmons and Simmons have taken the top two floors of the building with fantastic views across the city
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Bristows London, united Kingdom Client: Bristows Size: 19,000 square feet Completion Date: 2018
― WHAT IT IS
A new model for lawyers in an activity based working environment.
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← A new model for lawyers in an activity based working
RESIZE IMAGE(S) TO FIT YOUR CONTENT, BUT MAKE SURE THERE’S ADEQUATE WHITE SPACE (AT LEAST 18PTS) BETWEEN ELEMENTS
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Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton London, United Kingdom Client: Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Size: 60,115 square feet Completion Date: 2018
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↑ The office floors are beautifully designed with stunning finishes and linked with the communication staircase that provides a backdrop to the space and encourages movement and collaboration. Sit-stand desks are provided for all staff.
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Additional Legal Experience
Linklaters London 430,000 square feet
Slaughter & May London 260,000 square feet
Venner Shipley London 17,000 square feet
Kirkland and Ellis London 150,000 square feet
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Trowers & Hamlins London 88,000 square feet
Pinsent Masons Birmingham 41,000 square feet
Akin Gump London 27,500 square feet
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft London 20,000 square feet
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Global Legal Clients
Akin Gump London, United Kingdom
Canterbury Law Dallas, Texas
Foley & Lardner Chicago, Illinoi
Hunton Andrews Kurth Dallas, Texas
Allen & Overy Dubai, UAE London, United Kingdom
Cantey & Hanger Dallas, Texas
Freeborn & Peters Chicago, Illinois
Husch Blackwell Dallas, Texas
Carrington Coleman Dallas, Texas
Frilot New Orleans, Lousiana
Jackson Walker Houston, Texas
Chapman and Cutler National Locations
Fulbright & Jaworski Dallas, Texas Washington, DC
Jacobson White Diamond & Brody Los Angeles, California
Gardner Haas Dallas, Texas
Kane Russell Coleman Logan Dallas, Texas
Anderson, Adler, Cohen and Harvey Boston, Massachusetts Armstrong Hirsch Jackoway Tyerman & Werttheimer Los Angeles, California Baker & Botts Austin, Texas Barbanel Truer & Dantzler Collette & Levy Los Angeles, California Baron & Budd Dallas, Texas Bell Nunnally & Martin Dallas, Texas Blum Law Firm Dallas, Texas Bollinger Ruberry & Garvey Chicago, Illinois Bowman & Brooke Detroit, Michigan Minneapolis, Minnesota Richmond, Virginia Bristows London, United Kingdom Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Washington, DC Bryan Cave Dallas, Texas Cadwalder, Wickersham & Taft London, United Kingdom
Clausen Miller National Locations Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Abu Dhabi, UAE London, United Kingdom CMS Cameron McKenna London, United Kingdom
Gartner & Young Los Angeles, California Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Dallas, Texas
Craig & Macauley Boston, Massachusetts
Goodwin Procter Los Angeles, California London, United Kingdom
DAC Beachcroft London, United Kingdom
Gowling Ottawa, Ontario
Dady Garner Minneapolis, Minnesota
Greenberg Traurig LLP Miami, Florida
Dentons Dallas, Texas
Greisinger, Tighe & Maffei Boston, Massachusetts
DLA Piper Austin, Texas Dallas, Texas
Hamilton Thies Lorch & Hagnell Chicago, Illinois
Donoghue Barrett & Singal, P.C. Boston, Massachusetts
Harris Finley & Bogle Fort Worth, Texas
Estes Okon Thorne & Carr Dallas, Texas Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Montreal & Quebec City, Canada Fletcher Farley Dallas, Texas
Haynes & Boone Austin, Texas Fort Worth, Texas San Antonio, Texas Hogan Lovells Abu Dhabi, UAE London, United Kingdom Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Los Angeles, California
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP Chicago, Illinois Kirkland & Ellis London, United Kingdom Leff Cohen & Winkler Chicago, Illinois Levene Neale Bender Rankin & Brill Los Angeles, California Leventon Los Angeles, California Linklaters Brussels, Belgium London, United Kingdom Washington, DC Locke Lord Dallas, Texas New York New York Lovells London, United Kingdom Marshall Gerstein & Borun Chicago, Illinois McDermott Will & Emery London, United Kingdom McDonald Sanders Dallas, Texas
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff Chicago, Illinois
Perkins Coie Boise, Idaho Dallas, Texas
Scott, Douglass & McConnico Austin, Texas
McGuire Craddock & Strother Dallas, Texas
Pircher, Nichols & Meeks Los Angeles, California
Simmons & Simmons Bristol, United Kingdom
Pinsent Masons Birmingham, United Kingdom
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Chicago, Illinois
Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy Atlanta, Georgia
Skiermont Derby Dallas, Texas
Merchant & Gould Minneapolis, Minnesota Montgomery Bartnett Dallas, Texas Moore & Van Allen Charleston, South Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Morgan Lewis & Bockius Chicago, Illinois Munsch Hardt Austin, Texas Nixon Peabody New York, New York Washington, DC North Carolina Bar Association Cary, North Carolina Norton Rose Abu Dhabi, UAE O’Keefe Lyons & Hynes Chicago, Illinois Pappas Jacoby & Marcus Chicago, Illinois Pepper Hamilton Washington, DC
Purcell & Wardrope Chicago, Illinois Querrey & Harrow Chicago, Illinois Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Washington, DC Rapp & Krock Houston, Texas Ray & Berndtson Los Angeles, California Robinson & Cole Hartford, Connecticut Sarasota, Florida Robinson Diamant Brill & Klausner Los Angeles, California Schiff Hardin Atlanta, Georgia Chicago, Illinois Lake Forest, Illinois New York, New York Washington, DC Schwebel Goetz & Sieben Minneapolis, Minnesota
Slaughter and May London, United Kingdom Smith, Gambrell & Russell Washington DC Slaughter and May London, United Kingdom Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal Chicago, Illinois New York, New York St. Louis, Missouri Squire Patton Boggs London, United Kingdom Sutherland Asbill & Brennan Multiple locations Tressler Soderstrom Maloney & Priess Chicago, Illinois
Vinson & Elkins Dallas, Texas Walker Wilcox Matousek Chicago, Illinois Walsh Gallegos Austin, Texas Weil Dallas, Texas Houston, Texas Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish Los Angeles, California White & Case London, United Kingdom Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Wilimington, Delaware Winstead Dallas, Texas Forth Worth, Texas Houston, Texas Winthrop & Weinstine Minneapolis, Minnesota Zelle Dallas, Texas Zorc, Rissetto, Weaver & Rosen Washington, DC
Trowers & Hamlins London, United Kingdom The Quisenberry Law Firm Los Angeles, California Venner Shipley London, United Kingdom 39
― Relevant Workplace
Selected Projects
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) London, United Kingdom Client: Financial Conduct Authority Size: 425,120 square feet Completion Date: 2018 Sustainability: BREEAM Excellent Awards: Finalist, Property Awards, Wellbeing Category, 2019 Finalist, BCO Awards, Fit out of Workplace Category, 2019 Shortlisted, Mixology19, Large Commercial Interiors Project of the Year, 2019 Shortlisted, INSIDE/Offices, 2019
― A THOUGHTFUL DESIGN
A shift in the hierarchy of space allows more space to be given to amenity and collaboration areas, giving more choices of how and where to work.
→
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The staff restaurant on level fifteen offers healthy food options, with access to a large roof terrace and sweeping views across London. This prime space was allocated for staff use, and has been designed with multifunctionality at the core. It supports working, meeting, dining and events.
→ The central teapoint is the heart of the working floor and a key feature in the staff journey
↑ The building design is encouraging informal conversations, this has improved connectivity and is contributing to wellbeing. The introduction of a connecting staircase was a major architectural intervention to the base build scheme. This feature activates the atrium and attracts staff to the front of the building.
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Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
― WHAT IT IS
Cutting edge, modern workspace pushing the boundaries of what an office should be for a world class financial organisation.
Confidential Financial Services Client London, United Kingdom Client: Confidential Size: 225,000 square feet Completion Date: 2019 Sustainability: LEED Gold, BREEAM Excellent
― WHAT WE DID
We brought staff together from four locations into one, a new office over 10 floors in the heart of London.
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Wellness and healthy spaces are at the heart of the design.
― WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE
Wellness was a key design driver, and the space acheived both LEED Gold and BREEAM Excellent sustainability accreditations.
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The success of the space is ultimately measured by the users who now have a canvas to work with, which has creativity at its heart and promotes the business in a truly dynamic and energetic way.
→ The interior blends in harmony with the base building design and palette, with interventions in the building reception and a plan that enhances the curves and flow of the building form.
↑ All offices are located in internal space and standardised in area to allow simple conversion into meeting rooms or vice versa to support future flexibility.
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Professional Services Firm Manchester, United Kingdom Client: Confidential Size: 41,301 square feet Completion Date: 2017 Sustainability: BREEAM Excellent Awards: Finalist, BCO Regional Awards (North), Fit Out of Workplace, 2018 Finalist. Design Week Awards, Hospitality and Workplace, 2018
― WHAT OUR CLIENT SAID
“The office space give us new flexible ways of working with varied workspaces and connective technology, allowing us to work more collaborative.”
→
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Detail of double height space showing a variety of work settings.
→ As a people-centric workplace, the space features a myriad of work settings that support mobility and the workflow of individuals. This digital hub is an exciting and highly effective workplace fit to attract top talent and continue to engage existing staff. Featuring an inspiring design narrative that overlayers stories of success and innovation, the space celebrates our client’s core values, Manchester’s powerful history and affirms a sense of belonging and pride.
↑ Central hubs on each floor are linked by a feature stair. A storytelling device, the “Digital Banner”, spans across the two floors showcasing brand messages and references to the local context. Through visual storytelling and architectural moments, the design celebrates the visionary spirit of our client and its brand, and responds to the company’s emerging digital platforms. 51
― WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE
Invention and discovery is embedded into the user experience instilling a sense of pride and purpose.
Confidential Fintech Client Budapest, Hungary Client: Confidential Size: 61,000 square feet Completion Date: 2018 Sustainability: LEED Platinum® Awards: Winner, Hungarian Office of the Year Awards, 2019
― WHAT IT IS
A space that celebrates people coming together, connecting, cocreating and interacting into an innovative and healthy environment.
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→ Custom made triangular booths are incorporated to support teamwork, and were originally inspired by the Logiface Puzzle. The structures can be adapted in a number of configurations and provide comfortable settings for collaboration.
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― WHAT IT IS
A Tech Hub for Co-Creation
The Economist London, United Kingdom Client: The Economist Size: 26,000 square feet Completion Date: 2017 Sustainability: BREEAM Very Good for Fit Out Awards: Winner, Mixology Awards South, 2018 Finalist, BCO Regional Awards (London), 2018
“The move has changed the vessel, but it has preserved the wine.” ― TOM STANDAGE, DEPUTY EDITOR
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A now collaborative and creative lobby.
― WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE
“The design is friendly, supremely efficient and has forged deeper connections between journalists and staff members.”
↑ Alternative work settings have been strategically located across the floor to encourage activity and movement. All tea points have direct access to an external terrace with views of Victoria Embankment Gardens and the River Thames.
← A central street-like space runs right through the building and is home to the teams responsible for the physical output of the newspaper. At its heart, the Reading Room plays a critical function where the newspaper would, traditionally, undergo its final edits before being sent to print. The street is flanked by a multi-functional space, a communal reading area and a radio studio. A flexible dining room with direct access to the terrace supports the traditional Wednesday staff lunch, celebrating the collegiate nature of the newspaper.
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About Us
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Our firm at a glance #2 Architecture Firm Architectural Record and Interior Design Magazine
100+ Design Awards In the last 5 years
Fast Company Most Innovative Companies in Architecture
IDeA Network
With studio cultures unique to their place and people, we’re the smallest “big firm” out there.
― KEY FACTS
Founded in
1935 Continents
6
Studios
26
London staff
130
Total staff
2000+ 65
About Us
Our London Studio
London has long been considered the design capital of the world, and our studio is perfectly placed in the heart of the action. Sitting at the boundary between the fast-paced City of London and the eclectic melting pot of the East, our studio is a microcosm of the city itself. We bring the energy and flair of London through our doors—it’s a place where diversity thrives, collaboration is key, and design excellence leads the way.
In 2019, award winning architecture firm Penoyre & Prasad joined Perkns&Will as a studio of the London office. We also collaborate with our sister company, branding and experience design studio Portland.
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About Us
“We are curious, experimental and we place research and knowledge sharing at the heart of our design practice. We believe true, meaningful innovation is achieved when the power of imagination is combined with robust technical expertise, in depth knowledge and the support of the latest technologies.” ― MIJAIL GUTIERREZ, PRINCIPAL
← You see work everywhere and our people love having spaces to collaborate, think and create.
→ The model shop is located in the visitor area behind a fully glazed wall, exposing and showcasing our design processes through the use of physical modelmaking.
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Interiors Team
Steven Charlton, Managing Director
Linzi Cassels, Principal, Design Director
Mijail Gutierrez, Principal
“I have never seen a necessary distinction between design and business. My heroes are people who are able to combine creative design achievements with great business acumen. Creative, innovative design is our product, it propels our business.” ― STEVEN CHARLTON, MANAGING DIRECTOR
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Richard Jordan, Principal
Simon Bone, Associate Principal
“Design is experiential and people and the human experience are at the core of my design process. Curiosity drives my constant pursuit for innovation and the exploration of ideas that lead to the design of purposeful and inclusive environments. I bring storytelling and narratives to my design thinking to create experiences that express the vision and aspirations of our clients, foster emotional connections and create transformative places.” ― MIJAIL GUTIERREZ, PRINCIPAL
Adam Strudwick, Principal
Kate Vine, Principal
Siobhan O’Leary, Associate Principal
Natalie Smith, Associate Principal, Workplace Consultancy
Jason Turner, Associate Principal
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Interiors Team
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Dave Halpenny, Senior Associate
Mehmet Ermiya, Senior Associate
Caterina Onorati, Senior Associate
Elena Panagiotidis, Senior Associate
Joelle Laney, Senior Associate
Since 1935, we’ve believed that design has the power to make the world a better, more beautiful place.
That’s why clients and communities on nearly every continent partner with us to design healthy, happy places in which to live, learn, work, play, and heal. We’re passionate about human-centered design, and committed to creating a positive impact in people’s lives through sustainability, resilience, well-being, diversity, inclusion, and research. In fact, Fast Company named us one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture. Our global team of 2,700 creatives and critical thinkers provides worldwide interdisciplinary services in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and more. Our partners are Schmidt Hammer Lassen, Portland, Nelson\Nygaard, Genesis Planning, and Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR).
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