Workplace Design

Our workplace design service helps organisations create environments that are functional, thoughtful and aligned with the needs of the business and its people. Whether you are moving into a new office, refurbishing existing space or reshaping your workplace for hybrid working, we develop design solutions that respond to real organisational needs.

Workplace design is most effective when it responds to a clear set of needs, rather than starting with aesthetics alone.

Clients often engage us when they need to:

• Design a new office following relocation
• Refurbish an existing workplace
• Create a better balance between collaboration and focus work
• Improve employee experience
• Better reflect company culture through the workplace
• Adapt the office for hybrid working
• Make more effective use of available space
• Create a workplace that supports change, growth and future flexibility

Our role is to translate those needs into a workplace design that is practical, engaging and fit for purpose.

A successful workplace design should help organisations create a space that is not only attractive, but genuinely useful.

Clients often want workplace design to deliver:

• A more effective environment for day-to-day work
• Better support for hybrid working
• Stronger alignment between workplace and culture
• Improved employee experience
• Better use of available space
• A workplace that supports collaboration, focus and flexibility
• A more confident and coherent response to business change

For some organisations, this means creating a stronger destination office. For others, it means making the most of an existing space. In both cases, the goal is the same: a workplace that works harder for the organisation.

Workplace design can support:

• Facilities and Estates teams
• HR and People leaders
• Office Managers and Operations teams
• Managing Directors and leadership teams
• Client-side project leads
• Building owners seeking to improve the appeal of office space for occupiers

Different stakeholders bring different priorities. Some focus on utilisation and flow. Others care more about culture, staff experience or brand expression. Good workplace design brings these priorities together in a coherent solution.

The detail will vary by project, but workplace design may include:

• Review of business, workplace and user requirements
• Concept development
• Workplace planning and layouts
• Design proposals aligned to ways of working and culture
• Consideration of collaboration, focus, social and support spaces
• Look and feel development
• Integration of wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability considerations
• Refinement of proposals as the project develops
• Coordination with the wider professional team

Where appropriate, workplace design builds on earlier workplace strategy and space analysis work to ensure the design is rooted in evidence and organisational need.

Good workplace design creates an environment that supports both people and organisational goals.

Clients typically use it to achieve:

• A workplace that better reflects how their teams work
• A more considered response to hybrid working
• Stronger alignment between workplace and culture
• Improved employee experience
• Better use of space
• A more coherent design direction for delivery teams
• A workplace that feels distinctive, functional and fit for purpose

The aim is not simply to create a better-looking office. It is to create a workplace that supports performance, experience and long-term value.

We take a human-centred approach to workplace design.

That means we focus on how people use space, how teams interact, and what the workplace needs to support. We consider practical use, experience, culture and future change alongside the physical qualities of the environment itself.

We are interested in creating workplaces that feel right for the organisation, not in applying a generic office design formula.

Workplace design often sits within a wider project team and delivery process.

We regularly work alongside:

• Project managers
• Building surveyors
• Property agents
• Client-side facilities and operations teams
• Fit-out contractors
• Other specialist advisers

Our role is to develop the workplace design and help shape the brief and direction of the project. We do not deliver the fit out itself, but we can work alongside delivery teams to help ensure the design intent is clearly understood.

The strongest workplace design outcomes are usually informed by a clear understanding of what the organisation needs from its space.

Workplace Strategy helps define what the workplace should achieve in terms of business goals, culture and ways of working.

Space Analysis helps establish how much space is needed, how the current workplace is performing, and what kind of environment may be most suitable.

This joined-up approach helps clients move from uncertainty to a workplace that is both purposeful and practical.

What is included in workplace design?

Workplace design can include concept development, space planning, workplace layouts, design proposals, look and feel development, and coordination with the wider project team.

Can you help us design a new office after relocation?

Yes. This is one of the most common reasons clients engage us.

Can workplace design help with hybrid working?

Yes. Workplace design can play a key role in making the office more effective for the way teams now work.

Do you only work on large office projects?

No. We work with organisations of different sizes and tailor the scope to the needs of the project.

Can you redesign our existing office?

Yes. Workplace design is just as relevant for refurbishment and reconfiguration projects as it is for new offices.

Do you do the fit out as well?

No. We do not deliver the fit out, but we can help shape the design and work alongside the wider project team.

If you are planning a relocation, refurbishment or workplace redesign and want to create an environment that supports both people and performance, we would be happy to talk.