Ensuring the workspace for one of the UK’s best-known fit-out companies embodied the spirit of collaboration and exemplified the client’s capabilities and commitment to quality.
SpaceInvader welcomed the commission to design Overbury’s new offices in Manchester, UK. The client, part of Morgan Sindall Group PLC, is renowned for excellent customer service and commitment to quality.
Overbury’s previous offices were not far away, having occupied 4,200 sq ft in the Zenith building on Manchester’s Spring Gardens. The company wanted to stay in the area, but to have more space following a recent period of growth, and chose to re-locate to a 6,867 sq ft space in Chancery Place on Brown Street, in the heart of the city’s old financial district.
View back towards reception seating and drinks station.
For SpaceInvader, also Manchester-based, it was clear this would be a client business truly open to conceptual design ideas, with a requirement for exceptionally high standards. The success of the final outcome is a testament to the collaborative design and delivery partnership between the two companies.
‘With the offices set to embody Overbury’s quality commitment and values, we knew that everyone who walked through the door needed to understand instantly what Overbury was all about’ SpaceInvader Founder John Williams explained. ‘Far from being a pressure, this meant the project was a real joy, because we were working not only with a client but with a wider team for whom everything was possible – and with everyone very much on their game.’
The curved-edge ceiling cut-out is reflected in the identical shaping of the rug beneath the board table.
The design concept for the new offices, responding to Overbury’s strong business values, was based on the idea of ‘connection’ and was made up of four strands:
- connecting to Manchester and reflecting the city’s culture and identity.
- connecting the Overbury team through a culture of collaboration, enabled by technology.
- connecting to nature, relating to sustainable design, a feeling of serenity and the promotion of staff wellbeing, as well as incorporating the inspiring shape of Overbury’s well-known nautilus shell brand identity.
- connecting using contrast through layers, textures and structures that would bind the scheme together, with dark and light tones adding drama and interest.
Main open plan office area featuring bespoke overhead acoustic baffles with inset lighting.
The strongest embodiment of the latter can be seen immediately on entry to the 13th floor offices, where the welcome area ceiling has been designed with a dark-sprayed, cut-out area in the shape of a nautilus shell, whose spiralling lines which mimic the shape of the beautiful shell are designed in solid metal, inset with lights and acoustic baffles. At its centre is a circle in a metallic finish – Hompal by Formica. The lighting feature provides instant drama and sets the scene for a space brimming with organic curves and rounded edges. The city of Manchester, meanwhile, is all around, with the offices offering an incredible view over the centre from full-height windows that border the space.
When it came to space-planning, the move allowed for a shift in terms of working culture, with a variety of settings possible thanks to the additional space available. This included a touchdown area, where team members, so often out on site, can drop into at a moment’s notice to catch up on admin and meetings, as well as lots of booth areas and nooks where people could take calls, as well as rooms for people to be part of online meetings.
Corner seating and adjacent walkways.
Additionally, the space plan needed to incorporate: a good social space for client and team events and entertainment; a prayer and First Aid room; a returning-parent room; a quiet and enclosed library space; a wellness-focused decompression area; two 6-person training rooms and lockers for staff use. The main board room was to have sliding doors that could open when needed into the creative design studio space, where materials and samples for current projects could be laid out and displayed.
As well as the interior design, SpaceInvader was commissioned to create the project’s wayfinding designs, designing signage and glazing manifestation concepts based on organic shapes that integrated perfectly with the interiors scheme.
Project: Overbury Offices
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Project Size: 4,200 sqft
Design Studio: SpaceInvader
Photo Credit: Andrew Smith at SG Photography
Website: spaceinvaderdesign.co.uk
