Great Portland Estates Spec Suite – London
Edge completed the Great Portland Estates Spec Suite with elements of creativity in the floors, walls, and carefully chosen furniture in London, England.
A new flexible workplace proposition by Great Portland Estates plc, the first fully refurbished building offering workspace on a fully fitted and fully managed basis.
The brief from Great Portland Estates (GPE) was to create a new concept in office workspace, a step up from more standard co-working and serviced office environments. It was to provide a new experience and service led approach for GPE’s occupiers who are growing and looking for private space they can customise and brand, giving them a sense of ownership without being tied down to long-term leases. This building is fully fitted out, with occupiers able to move in immediately and able to benefit from additional services on top of their usual building management.
The existing site was stripped back to shell and core before being fitted out with new throughout including extensive amenity areas. Occupiers have their own private floor with their own front door containing executive suites, meeting rooms, kitchen, and breakout spaces.
Each office is supplied with furniture, super-fast Wi-Fi and AV facilities, all being operational from the first day of occupation. In addition to individual offices, occupiers can enjoy additional shared space within the building, using a spacious Wi-Fi enabled ground floor coffee bar and lounge with bookable meeting space and AV facilities leading out onto a mega courtyard at the rear of the building. A new 4th floor terrace with informal seating throughout and co-working areas is available to upper floor occupiers.
The design maximises flexibility with the spaces easily adapted between a ‘Day 1’ scenario and ‘Day 2 growth’ scenario to allow businesses to grow within the space. The aesthetic ensures longevity of the base scheme while creating contemporary inserts of materials, furniture, and finishes. The building uses GPE’s smart workplace app, sesame™ (featuring contactless access control, smart interface with local building environmental controls and lifestyle service), has cycle racks, lockers and showers and provides natural ventilation.
Design: Edge
Photography: courtesy of Great Portland Estates, Max Brook
