A home from home
ISG delivers a new office space for its global furniture retail client that’s making colleagues and communities feel right at home.
ISG’s UK Retail team in Huntingdon team up with ISG’s joinery colleagues in Whitstable, to hand over a collaborative space for an industry-leading furniture retailer, in Wembley.
Welcoming a sense of ‘togetherness’ – or ‘tillsammans’ – the client’s Wembley office has been uniquely designed to bring people together in an open-plan concept.
Building a space that gives off the feeling of ‘homeliness’ for the people it houses, the team have created lots of space for sofas, coffee tables, arm chairs, etc. Alongside top of the range kitchen products, from coffee machines to microwave oven cookers, bringing that sense of home from the store into the office space.
The ‘Spanish stairs’ centrepiece design feature lends itself to being a good spot for colleagues to sit, pause, relax and talk to one another. Developing the stairs to have plug sockets for phones and laptops, as well as comfortable seating and cushions encourages the retailer’s staff to use the structure as an alternative workspace, as well as a spot to take breaks and downtime with colleagues.
Weaving the concept of ‘togetherness’ through to the meeting room spaces through an open-plan design, the inclusion of acoustic panels in the corners of the space helps to drown out any noise; encouraging open discussion, but without affecting anybody working outside the rooms.
ISG’s project manager on the development, Kellie Pack, comments: “You can really see where our designs have helped to ignite collaboration and inspiration for the client. I walked past one of the meeting rooms to see a rainbow of post-it notes from a marketing campaign meeting sprawled across the wall. It looked incredible and really brought to life our vision of creating an environment that supports and drives creativity.”
Not only has the space been designed to deliver on the client’s vision for its people, it’s also reflective of the retail giant’s contemporary and sustainable aesthetic. With ISG’s joinery team delivering beautiful concept pieces made from ash wood veneer, including floor to ceiling panelling, partition walls, planters, acoustic panels and armchairs – not to mention the ‘Spanish steps’ – giving it an on-brand earthy feel.
The joinery team also designed and delivered some of the key communal elements, including the reception desk, seated planted joinery units and a uniquely designed breakfast bar style table with a tree in the centre. Allowing oxygen to flow more freely and naturally throughout the building.
Richard Price, account manager at ISG, said: “The joinery team did a fantastic job in designing the various features in the space. Not only does it look great, but it really supports the client’s desire to make the space a collaborative one. Choosing partitions instead of doors and making the planters accessible for seating for example, invites the colleagues to spend more time sitting and working together in a space that feels open and non-restrictive.”
Outside of the office delivery, the ISG project team channelled their community spirit across various initiatives in support of Mikey’s Memory Kitchen; a charity, close to the heart of project manager Kellie, that helps homeless and vulnerable people in Southend, Essex.
With all of it’s donations and support coming from local volunteers and businesses, Mikey’s Memory Kitchen has struggled with the impact of the pandemic. Helping to support the charity during this challenging period, the team have volunteered in the soup kitchen, made hats for the homeless through lockdown-based knitting and even saved a fully-fledged stripped out kitchen from the skip, by rehoming it for a previously homeless family who’d not had access to a kitchen for years.
Kellie commented on the team’s efforts: “The work the team have done (both from Huntingdon and the joinery shop) has been exceptional. Helping the team at Mikey’s Memory Kitchen hasn’t cost us anything but time and transport, but it’s been life changing for the charity and the people it supports.”
“The joinery team did a fantastic job in designing the various features in the space. Not only does it look great, but it really supports the client’s desire to make the space a collaborative one."
Richard Price, Account Manager, ISG
ISG applauds the project team for their exemplar approach to customer experience in delivering a new home for the client that delivers on the furniture retailer’s vision for the future of its people and surrounding environments.
