Financial Data Analysis Company Offices – Manchester
In the heart of Manchester, SpaceInvader designed the Financial Data Analysis Company Offices to embody a vibrant, technology-driven environment that inspires collaboration and innovation, drawing on local heritage and the pioneering spirit of Alan Turing to create a flexible workspace reflecting the dynamic nature of data science.
SpaceInvader has completed the office design for a leading financial data analysis company with over 70 offices worldwide. The company’s dedicated Manchester team had previously been in a co-working office when it came to SpaceInvader to design its brand-new working environment, including bespoke artworks, wayfinding and graphics, to be housed in the No.1 St Michaels development in central Manchester. Developed by Relentless Developments, this high-profile office building by architects Hodder and Partners has proved a draw for many companies in the region looking for central, state-of-the-art premises.
SpaceInvader was appointed to the project in December 2023 and briefed to create a permanent, location-specific working environment with plenty of built-in flexibility and space for future growth. The new offices were to be collaborative and connected and not too corporate in feel, with a focus on delivering an energetic, technology-centred space where people would really want to spend time. In practical terms, the 1,837 sq m office needed to provide 127 traditional desks with added collaborative settings, both formal and more relaxed, along with meeting rooms, a town hall space, generous break-out areas, a multi-faith room and a returning mothers room.
The client encouraged out-of-the-box thinking from the design team and the development of a concept that would line up with the organisation’s spirit of discovery, reflecting a culture driven by curiosity and collaboration.
The SpaceInvader process began by dialling into the core nature of the client’s data analysis business, researching the earliest computers and particularly focusing on Alan Turing, the great mathematical and computer pioneer with a strong link to the city from his time working at Manchester University. Turing’s Bombe machine, famously used to crack the Enigma code during World War Two, inspired the colour palette and some of 3D shaping throughout the space, as well as being one of the elements that inspired SpaceInvader Branding and Graphics Associate Jenny Crossland in her development of the scheme’s graphics and artwork. Jenny devised bespoke manifestations relevant to each of the client’s localised meeting names, all based on Manchester’s history, identity and culture (Pankhurst / Turing / Bee / Lowry / Graphene / Dalton), as well as creating bespoke artworks for the project.
Key elements from Turing’s work that influenced the interiors concept included looking at the input and output of data and the idea of cogs moving at different speeds, whilst working together for the same ends. The team was inspired by the speed of data travel and also by the ways data can be visualised, including surges and falls of momentum. This concept was translated into dialled-up (high energy collaboration), dialled down (focus and concentration) and surge (social) spaces. The goal was to create an overall immersive and energising design that resonated with the pulse of data fluctuation.
Design: SpaceInvader
Contractor: CBRE, Turner & Townsend
Photography: Andrew Smith, SG Photography
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