An opportunity to uplift the facilities for leading appliance care specialist Domestic & General practically and aesthetically, as well as increasing collaboration space and integrating those who work remotely.
SpaceInvader – The UK’s leading appliance care specialist Domestic & General was happy with the location of its existing Wimbledon head offices – but, when the building’s lease renewal coincided with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, the opportunity arose for a full review of the way the office was being used, along with a consideration of potential future workplace needs. Domestic & General recognised this might be a moment for wholesale change – though only if their team were likely to share in and feel ownership of that vision.
Breakout space including inset wall booths, with the interior painted in one of several greens chosen for the scheme’s colour palette.
Workplace remodelling therefore began very much from the ground up, with in-depth conversations with the internal Domestic & General team. CBRE, who manage the space for Domestic & General, brought in award-winning designers SpaceInvader to interpret the wealth of employee data generated to envisage and space-plan a new workplace interior.
As the programming was tight, the creative process took place at unusual speed, with a highly-experienced core team at SpaceInvader working hard to design a new interior that signalled a complete change of culture, moving from a fairly rigid traditional office set-up to agile and flexible working with fewer desk spaces, as well as from a white interior towards a bold and colourful hospitality sensibility, featuring new tones, textures and materials.
Tech Bay, with interesting floor and wall surfaces off-setting the lower ceiling in this area.
“Both Domestic & General and CBRE were exceptionally brave and decisive on this project” John Williams, Founder of SpaceInvader commented. “They embraced the moment and the whole vision, just as proposed.”
The brief was to adapt and refurbish the workplace to support a new hybrid working approach, with team members spending 2-3 days per week in the office post-pandemic and the rest of the week either WFH or remote-working. There was a strong HR focus too, with the new scheme helping retain existing staff and attracting new, potential candidates.
Second floor breakout and collaboration lounge.
A major driver was to create reasons for people to want to return to the office. This meant uplifting the facilities both practically and aesthetically, as well as increasing collaboration space and integrating those who might be working remotely. Investment in good collaboration technologies became key.
To help develop the collaborative culture outlined in the brief, SpaceInvader created neighbourhood typologies inspired by three concept threads – Societal, Analog and Principle.
- Societal referred to ‘coming together’, whether for a meeting, event, training or even just lunch. Such spaces would be collaborative with a strong focus on wellbeing.
- Analog referred to the way the floor is designed, with interchangeable settings. These are agile spaces and can be configured in many different ways.
- Principle settings, meanwhile, whilst typical in terms of function, were not to be viewed as lesser, but as a solid base upon which to build. These would be designed using classic work settings with a more timeless feel.
Second floor tech bar.
Getting the colour scheme right was also a priority at the outset. SpaceInvader didn’t want to replicate the brand identity colours too aggressively in a non-retail environment, preferring to celebrate the company identity instead through its values and ethos. The final palette was new and bespoke, employing and blending a colour band of mint, emerald and sea foam green.
The specification of all products and materials was considered in terms of environmental credentials to ensure the scheme followed a sustainable development approach, with the most environmentally-friendly material or product choice selected. CBRE and Domestic & General also collaborated to repurpose the old office desks, chairs and furniture items, with items redistributed through the Waste to Wonder scheme to Mokwe Development Association in Cameroon and FAST Romania. In the wider context, the scheme took place against a full landlord refurbishment of the building and, together with the specification of new M&E, measures were taken to reduce the carbon footprint of the office going forward.
Second floor team bays and breakout zone.
The final scheme is a well-considered office for agile working with spaces to suit all team members’ differing needs, including separate set-ups for the digital teams’ alternative ways of working; fully flexible conference space to adapt to endless combinations of people and a dedicated meeting floor equipped with touchdown desks to allow areas for employees to use between meetings.
Project: Domestic & General
Location: Wimbledon, United Kingdom
Project Size: 36,000 sqft
Design Studio: SpaceInvader
Photo Credit: Gary Britton
Website: spaceinvaderdesign.co.uk
