“See What You Can Do” is the mantra of Virgin Media O2, a London-based mass media and telecommunications company that found itself with a jumble of offices following a July 2021 merger.
The merger between Virgin Media and O2 meant the combined company had offices spread around the U.K. Many of the offices were outdated. Similar work was being done in multiple locations around the country — a typical problem after two companies come together.

Virgin Media O2 tapped Gensler’s design team to break down the silos and bring the company together in a space in the heart of London that represents the culture of the new brand — connected and diverse. It is perhaps the first and best example of what an office designed to foster innovation, collaboration, and flexibility in a post-COVID world looks like.
“There was a great opportunity to design a fit-for-purpose workplace to support hybrid and flexible working, not just with furniture and look and feel, but also with technology,” said Barbara Johnston, who leads project management and workplace strategy at Virgin Media O2. “I was super passionate about creating a workplace that truly represented our culture and values and our overall mantra of ‘See What You Can Do.’ How do our products and services enable our customers to see what they can do; enable our people to see what they can do? However, I didn’t want it to be red, blue, purple and pink (the two companies’ colors) all the way through. I wanted to have a very much more subliminal look and feel.”

It was a real challenge to take that design brief and turn it into a cohesive office, said Megan Dobstaff, design director and senior associate at Gensler London. It was also a challenge to create the mood and feel for a company whose products — media and connectivity — are mostly unseen, what she calls “black magic products.”
“You can’t see it, right? It’s invisible, it’s fiber, but it’s connection,” said Dobstaff. “And so how do you represent connection three dimensionally, architecturally and ultimately in a way that makes people feel it when they come into this space. So we knew that it needed to be a really dynamic workplace where people aren’t just at desks and tables, but they are able to work anywhere in the space. And so that led us to create destinations on the floor that really felt different.”
Gensler worked with user groups in the company during the early stages of design. The team interviewed a large cross section of all the business units to understand what people wanted in the workspace. Dobstaff said the design team came up with the plan to design each floor with a different theme representing “cultural threads of influence.”

“As you move through the floors, you see we have sports, we have streaming, we have gaming, music, dance, and the arena space. And this was obviously very intentional so that we could have a very amped up branded (Virgin Media O2) space, but we rooted that in bring all these people together to feel that energy,” she said.
The offices include six floors of the building, which sits a short walk from the Paddington rail station, and spans 81,750 sq. ft, plus additional ground floor space. It is the first major office investment for the company since the merger.

It wasn’t enough for the design to be beautiful and functional, which it is. Inclusivity was a key component of the project. Gensler partnered with an accessibility and DEI consultant throughout the process and worked closely with the client’s DEI employee representative group to ensure the space caters to all.
Conference rooms are designed with enough space to allow for wheelchair users to move around the tables and chairs with ease. Johnston said: “If I had a pound for everyone that said, ‘Oh, we can get 10 more chairs in this meeting room.’ I have to explain, ‘Well, actually, these meeting rooms have been designed (to accommodate) wheelchair use, they can easily circulate around the whole meeting room. Similarly, in a lot of the meeting rooms and libraries, we have localized lighting control and temperature control.”

Like any workplace, Virgin Media O2 has employees that are both short and tall. In talking with them, Dobstaff said the design team found that a typical counter height was too tall for some and too short for others. So at refreshment stations, they created tiered-height counters that work for all, regardless of their stature. Alternative spaces have also been integrated, including spectacular libraries with muted lighting and booths where staff can work undisturbed and away from the louder open areas of the office.
The space is tailored to its users. There are pockets of desks — some height adjustable, some not — but much of the space is comprised of small areas that provide the opportunity to work differently, perhaps on a couch with a pull-up table or at a treadmill desk. Floor to ceiling windows provide plenty of light throughout the office and views of the surrounding city. The company represents human connection through digital media, so the workspaces are joined by large multimedia screens within integrated shelving, all displaying the brand’s latest campaigns. As well as these varied work zones, the floorplan encourages ‘spontaneous encounters’ between team members. Finally, a café and a spacious events area occupy the top floor, tailored to everything from corporate events to quiet lunch breaks.

Color is also important. The brand palette is used consistently yet purposefully throughout, with deep swathes of red in central working zones that transition to lighter, brighter shades in more informal, hospitality-led arrival spaces such as the employee and visitor lounges. Finishes range from natural woods to sparkling metallic screens and shimmering fabrics.
Sustainability was also designed into the office with the space targeting WELL Platinum and BREEAM Outstanding certifications and implementing carbon tracking (which recorded an overall saving of 630 tons of carbon, thanks to reuse initiatives).
Since Virgin Media O2 is a technology company, acoustics was a major consideration as well. Johnston said it was a challenge, particularly with hybrid work and technology teams. “We invested significantly in enhanced acoustic interventions across the whole building,” she said.

The 850 or so workers that call the new office home began moving in just before the holidays, but the office only reached full capacity beginning a few weeks ago, said Johnston. People could not wait to move into the new office and the initial feedback has been very positive. The company has an extensive internal engagement program and communications program to help workers adjust to the new space.
“We have and we’ll continue to have some challenges from a behavioral perspective and that’s absolutely fine,” she said. “That’s normal. You create an amazing workplace and that should act as a catalyst to drive behavioral change. So for example, some people have an expectation they’re going to come into the office, come in at 9 a.m., going to grab coffee, connect a laptop, put the coat over the back of the chair and then go to meetings for the next six hours and sterilize that workplace. We are encouraging our people to break that behavior.”




