A research and development workplace built around collaboration

The design brief placed collaboration at the centre of the workplace. Workstations occupied 30 per cent of the floor, while the remaining 70 per cent supported meetings, team discussions and informal exchanges.

This distribution gave research and development teams access to individual work areas without making fixed desks the dominant feature of the office.

The larger collaborative allocation created different settings for people to work together across the day. These areas were planned as part of the main workplace rather than treated as separate rooms around its edges.

The result is an office in which movement between desk based work and group activity can happen within one continuous environment.

The floor received substantial natural light, so the interior palette used warmer and darker tones to create visual balance. The colour direction helped prevent the office from feeling overly bright while maintaining an open atmosphere.

The same tonal approach was carried across work and collaboration areas to maintain a consistent identity throughout the workplace.

The office was designed as a single spatial experience. Solid partitions were avoided wherever possible so that the floor remained visually open and connected.

Glass partitions introduced the separation needed for enclosed spaces without blocking views across the office or breaking the continuity of the plan.

The workplace was located on the 14th floor, and all project materials had to be carried up through the staircase. Material movement therefore had to be coordinated carefully throughout the construction programme.

The floors immediately above and below remained occupied. To limit disturbance, noisy activities and the movement of heavy materials were scheduled at night in coordination with the building authority.