Design Week 1 August 2002

Lobbying for Space

Large offices can be draughty spaces to fill, and often alienating for employees. The reception area, which dictates all-important first impressions, is not usually a space to idle unless you’re a visitor waiting to be seen. And shared public spaces can be little more than a pokey kitchen with a dirty microwave.

But large corporations are waking up the benefits of enhancing their foyers and open areas. They are commissioning bespoke art and furniture, by turn showing their support for young artists and designers and chalking up brownie points. And they are encouraging employees to interact in shared eating spaces and ‘soft’, downtime areas.

Free food on tap, your artists’ showcases, television and Internet access for the general public, and temporary exhibitions are just some of the ways the British Council, financial news provider Bloomberg and ad agency J Walter Thompson are showing off their corporate assets to best effect.

Bloomberg by Powell Tuck Associates
Curated art spaces and 24-hour free food are just two ways Bloomberg has sought to enliven the reception and public areas of its European headquarters in the City of London.

The global information provider to the financial industry has just finished extensive rebuilding work to link its existing City Gate House headquarters with the building next door at 50 Finsbury Square.

The interiors by Powell Tuck Associates are designed to encourage interaction between employees and reflect the importance of communication within Bloomberg’s culture, says Powell Tuck director Julian Powell Tuck. A darkened lobby area highlights screens displaying foreign language Bloomberg broadcasts and affords views of its busy television studios on the ground floor.

Adjacent to the first floor reception, reachable from the lobby via escalator, is the ‘pantry’ – the ‘hub of the building’. Here Bloomberg’s 1800 staff meet throughout the day to eat and drink.

The pantry furniture has been arranged to encourage people-watching, movement and communication among staff, says Powell Tuck.

Curated art spaces have been introduced to each floor of the new office building, curated by exhibition specialist Scarlet Projects. They are designed to provide a constantly changing showcase of work by young artists and designers who may otherwise not get the chance of an exhibition.

Bloomberg’s shared spaces stimulate creativity, says Bloomberg director of real estate Paul Darrah. ‘We try to increase communication between employees who may not otherwise mingle; those from different departments or at different chains of command. It makes employees feel a part of things,’ he says.