Lead the way

Once in reception a white back-lit glass reception desk gives a contemporary edge and provides some contrast to the wood veneer.

Opening directly on to the reception area is an informal coffee bar, developed with the help of City Palace, that seats about a dozen people. Corrigan cites this as one of the forward thinking aspects of the design.

It's the kind of concept that has been hugely successful in mature markets and is now spreading, as people get used to the idea that it's a space not just for coffee, but where informal meetings can happily take place.

"Part of it is getting used to the office and being confident it will work," said Corrigan. "In an environment like that you have to step outside of corporate interior design and ask what makes a successful café or bar.

The space has to have background noise and include a visual element, such as the use of TV screens. It's important that people need to walk in and feel like they can't hear a pin drop, they need to know that people nearby won't be able to overhear their conversation."

Once inside the office itself, the way the company is structured and works is reflected in the layout of the works pace. An open-plan space arrangement puts an emphasis on a flat hierarchy and also reflects the mobility of the company's work force.

"David Langdon shifts resources around world all the time," said Corrigan. "So, there's lots of hot-benching in the office. It's such a mobile company and I think that's part of the reason they made the decision to go all open plan. It's not uncommon for someone to work from someone else's desk."

Corrigan sees the hot-benching area, built against a wall laminated in bright Canary yellow as one of the most successful spaces in the design. Bold colours also feature in a custom-designed recycling zone. A bright orange box with a grey Corian top directs people to separate their recycling appropriately, with paper waste being shredded on the spot.

The recycling zone sits within the office's print hub. As well as the natural partnership between printing and paper recycling, the hub also performs a social function.

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