For this large scale project, situated northwest of London, the CBOF team took on one of their biggest challenges to date. Using a consultancy based approach, we ensured that we fully understood the role of the office in the GM Financial business and then worked to identify the complete requirements of the three storey building. A joint project team was created between staff members from CBOF and GM Financial to increase collaboration and communication during the concept and specification stages.
We offered multiple design concepts and prior to any specification we toured our London showroom with the client to give them detailed explanations on the changes in office furniture design and highlighted the different functions of each product.
Developing the required themes and with the client now having a broader understanding of office design, the specification stage was passed with a clear plan on how the new working environment would need to function and support the staff in order for the whole office to become more productive.
The key factors in the design were the creation of informal and formal meeting spaces and different types of working facilities to cater for the different generations of staff that work in the building as it was identified during the showroom tour just how many different generations of employees work were based in the office. We put forward our knowledge of how these different generations work in different ways, with furniture design reflecting the mixed working styles seen in today’s different age groups, a key point which is sometimes overlooked and something we stressed in our specification.
The building hadn’t seen any work for approximately twenty years, so massive amounts of complex changes were required to get it up to the required standard of a modern office. The whole fit out involved the total renovation of all three floors including the toilets on each and the reception area on the ground level. Phasing the whole project was also a huge part of the challenge as we had to keep sections of the office operational as the client was already based out of the building.
The end result was a modern, connected, flexible and dynamic office that reflected the needs of the teams operating out of the building.