After 35 years in the same workspace, our Cardiff based client was keen to embrace flexible working styles to encourage movement, interaction and focus.
The old-style office has now been replaced with a hybrid office environment that includes hot desks, meeting rooms, collaboration space, and quiet areas for focused work.
Now complete and in use, Rio’s interior design team transformed the office space by utilising earthy colours to help create a calm and relaxing work environment. The team used natural materials to help connect to the external environment and nature across each workspace, designed to help staff dedicate time to focused work and collaborative projects.
Finding Focus in a Space Maximised for Hybrid Working
The Quiet Room is a space that was incorporated into the design to allow staff an area for focused work and includes a dedicated phone booth where mobile phone calls can be taken providing privacy for staff calls while keeping the room as intended – quiet. We also included acoustic screens to divide spaces to prevent further noise from hampering productivity.
Adjacent to the Quiet Room, we designed a space to inspire collaboration and offer multiple ways for staff to work. A casual lounge, a large collaborative table, desk space and café style seating have all been incorporated in the design of The Project Room to encourage staff to move around and support productivity with focussed work areas and space to communicate openly.
The Project Room, just next door, is a large and open collaborative space designed to provide a flexible work area. Some of this space is ‘closed off’ to allow for focused working and utilises individual booths, work desks and acoustic screens while some of the area has been populated with café style seating, large work desks, touch down stools and smell touch down tables for a more collaborative working space. Staff are able to book specific time slots to use booths, project tables and desking space.
In addition to this, the Meeting Room, set off from the larger spaces, is part of the design concept enabling large meetings and discussions and is appropriately situated next to the Quiet Room.
Shaking up the Routine
The furniture has been purposely selected for its ease to move which allows the space to be reconfigured as and when needed. Moveable acoustic screens allow staff to create larger or smaller conversation areas, even the smallest features and the slightest adjustments, such as re-positioning touch down stools can affect and improve the work setting.
The benefits for our client are an inspiring environment for staff and enhancing a culture that meets the flexible working needs of employees.
Photography by: Son of Jack Photography