Inside Costa Coffee’s New Basildon Office

Michal
Food
8 years ago

Costa Coffee, a British coffeehouse company that operates over 2300 coffee shops globally, recently moved into a new office in Basildon, Essex, which was designed by office design and fit out firm Morgan Lovell.

“We incorporated a number of modern technologies to enhance productivity and highlight the coffee experience. Special consideration was given to creating collaboration and collision zones, which allow for roasting and office staff from two sides of the business to interact. A number of breakout areas have been introduced alongside the open plan office to provide spaces for informal catch ups, meetings and breaks throughout the day away from the standard workstations. These spaces are intentionally placed between the two different working areas – the office and roasting plant – to encourage different teams to interact more. The workspace now facilitates a variety of working styles, providing different areas for staff to concentrate, collaborate or host a meeting away from traditional workstations. This way of working is supplemented by mobile technology and a new IT infrastructure to allow staff to work from anywhere, anytime. This shift from ‘my desk’ to ‘our space’ is set to improve productivity; while allowing staff to connect in different ways,and move away from a culture of presenteeism. Staff are already reporting an increased sense of belonging and connectedness in their new office – all helping improve team wellbeing and productivity. Costa wanted staff from opposite sides of the business to interact with each other, so we situated the common amenities around the roasting plant. The boardroom, reception and new product development area have been designed to overlook the roasters, placing a spotlight on the coffee-making process. We selected black counter tops for the new product development area to make the iconic white and burgundy coffee cups more distinguishable in person, and really pop when captured on film. This area has been centrally located in the layout to create a sense of excitement around any new products that are being developed, as staff pass by this central area on a daily basis. These areas were also fitted with colourful, yet durable floor coverings that make it extra easy to clean in case of any accidental spills,” says Morgan Lovell