Inside The Children’s Society ’s New London Headquarters

Michal
Nonprofit
5 years ago

UK children charity The Children’s Society recently hired workplace design firm AIS Workplace to design their new headquarters in London, England.

“Their new HQ is a place that allows people to work in a smarter more efficient way while remaining both inspired and engaged.

The HQ is an environment that balances scale with effective work practices and incorporates the key principles of an agile work environment, providing fewer desks but replaced with more work points in the form of concentration booths, touchdown benches, informal seating areas and project spaces, creating a community-optimised space, with a strong sense of unity and purpose.

With a vision to create a warm and calm aesthetic this is a fully accessible space in which young people feel comfortable, with allows The Children’s Society to improve upon the execution of their charitable mission. By incorporating biophilic design elements and soft furnishings, pockets of softer space is utilised as a retreat for staff to relax, hang out and conduct more casual meetings away from the main work space.

As a community led business it was important that their workspace created opportunities for communities to come together, in addition to the workcafé area, staff can get together in the adjacent court yard space where teams, visitors and young people can come together in a comfortable space reflective of the brand’s open company culture. We kitted out this space with fun outdoor furniture and seating as well as a few ping pong tables which are another great tool to facilitate interactions.   Satellite collaboration zones have been scattered throughout the floor plate – each with a unique design element, such as a feature ceiling element or ceiling hung acoustic panels that make each space feel more intimate and allow staff to feel at ease using these spaces while at the same time enhancing the overall aesthetics of the space.

Detailed surveys were carried-out during the design process and due consideration was given to reduce the amount of services modifications. Thus feature items such as the timber-slatted ceiling and feature acoustic screen were modified to suit the environment. Colours and graphic wallpaper coupled with a mix of different floor finishes provided a vibrant but warm finish that has a very homely feel. Our vision for the space has created a highly functional workspace that still retains a warm and welcoming atmosphere allowing The Children’s Society to improve on the great work they deliver to our community,” says AIS Workplace.