Office Twelve Headquarters – Leicester
Design firm Office Twelve has designed their new headquarters, located in Leicester, England.
Multi-award winning design agency, Office Twelve, have moved in to their purpose-designed UK HQ. As a creative community, the whole team was involved in the conceptual process to pin down every detail of what everyone really wanted from an ideal working environment. The early development phase was thrown open to ideas with everyone contributing and encouraged to pin up images of objects, inspirations and environments that described their dream workplace.
An open-space culture of collaboration and inclusion raises certain challenges. Issues such as privacy and acoustic disruption had to be addressed while respecting the nature of different role tasks and the working style of individuals.
Associate creative director, Julian Collinge, masterminded the entire project. “This is a place for people to be proud of and to enjoy working in. I wanted to accommodate and facilitate the diverse aspects of how we work, both together and individually. The environment fosters better communication and collaboration, and just as importantly allows for decompression and the social aspects of work. I think it successfully maintains people’s sense of personal space and privacy while bringing the benefits of open plan and embracing our culture of transparency.”
Every element of the interior has been considered down to the finest detail. The result is calm, inspiring and socially-focussed. Even the position of the building was studied, taking into account the ever-changing light and designing in full-length coloured glass panels to stunning effect.
“Moving to a city-based location meant us sacrificing the rural landscape we previously enjoyed. I wanted to bring a little of this with us into the internal office space. Good working environments can feel rather dry, so it’s important to maintain an element of humour and surprise.”
A year in the making, the space is the very essence of what everyone here said they wanted, and it’s amazing.
Design: Office Twelve
Photography: Mark Astle @ Proper Agency Ltd
