Access to amenities in the workplace is a big draw for people of all industries. But within an existing workspace that already has many amenities in place, how can design firms rethink those amenities to do more for their client?
For the design of its new London flagship offices, the global advisory, broking and solutions company, Willis Towers Watson, selected architecture, interiors and planning firm HLW. At the insurance company’s location in The Willis Building in London, the client needed a fresh workspace that would encourage new movement, accommodate a recent merger, and reimagine its tired amenity spaces.
Over a total of 24,154 square meters [259,991 square feet], the newly redesigned offices now feature world-class amenities in an iconic building in London.
The project’s three key goals:
>With the merging of two companies into one, draw out a fresh workspace that would align both entities for future progress.
>Creating an agilework environment.
>Making existing amenities work harder.
“The main challenge of this project was figuring out how to bring people out of their offices,” said HLW project designer Shizuka Nagaya, in an officeinsight interview. “We focused on creating these spaces to encourage new movement between people and teams and departments.”
“There were a small number of meeting rooms and a big open office, but there was nothing in the middle. We wanted to make spaces that would support how each department functioned, and how they were really working.”
Each floor now includes a diverse collection of settings outside of a primary workstation to choose from. Open breakout areas, lounge spaces, and small meeting rooms now mix with desking systems to give employees options.
“They already had some great amenities onsite, but we thought a lot about how we could upgrade those amenities to work harder,” noted Ms. Nagaya.
The new offices feature a renovated training academy aimed at employee knowledge and growth, completed with size-and group-flexible training rooms, new technology, and a new collaboration space.
HLW reimagined the existing staff canteen, shifting its vibe from “onsite restaurant” to something that would serve as a more inclusive gathering point for everyone. Within the canteen, HLW created lounge pockets and provided screening devices to enable people to easily divide the space if needed, encouraging people to hang out, work and socialize there.
“The canteen was a really great space, and from 11a.m. to 2p.m., it was always packed,” said Ms. Nagaya. “But outside of those hours, it was empty. We wanted to allocate certain areas within the space for functions outside a traditional restaurant scene.”
The project scope also included the refurbishment of the building’s onsite 460-seat auditorium, the largest of its kind in a London-based office. While the basic shape of the auditorium remained the same, HLW created a secondary catch-all space located off the auditorium, put in a new integrated AV system, and brought in newly reupholstered seating.
Aesthetic focus also shifted in the new offices.
“The office used to be heavily branded and had tons of bright company colors,” said Ms. Nagaya. “We wanted to tone down that side of things, and subtly bring out other elements. It’s an iconic building in London, and because we were working with the existing envelope of the building, we took inspiration from what surrounds them in the city – patters from the architecture, textures and colors and materials from the nearby markets, historical names of the spaces close to them, and the London art scene.”
HLW implemented the newly designed workspace alongside a substantial change management effort, working with people from each department on how to use their new spaces. Every staff department had an opportunity to go through a pilot scheme, providing feedback.
Amenities at Willis Tower Watson fit the company’s new identity and offer its staff new ways of working, playing and learning in the workplace.
