A key part of the brief and something that was essential to Totally Money was to develop how the ‘squads’ (teams) worked and collaborated within open plan areas. Each team needed to be separated (without becoming cellular) with lots of brainstorming space, pin-able areas and TV screens. Most importantly was to not make the space feel separated, so getting the balance right in how to divide the space effectively whilst still keeping an open feel, and with light not being disrupted, was vital.
It was important for the team to also have plenty of agile space to support how their employees work by providing them with flexible options. The building’s architecture was unique in the sense it allowed lead designer, Tom Iles, to explore aspects vertically as well as horizontally. With ceiling heights of up to 4m, Tom was able to put in a unique mezzanine space, with 3 quiet soft booths underneath, to not only act as a hideaway, library space and signage wall – but also a memorable and unique totem for the office.
Within the meeting spaces, we looked to mix up the furniture to encourage different uses; as well as traditional meeting rooms we used soft seating, small quiet rooms and booths to create spaces individuals and small groups can work away from desks.
Totally Money needed the new office to act flexibly, which meant creating a social-hub space for employees too. The multi-functional breakout space covers all bases, acting as a tea point, presentation area, team meeting space, games area & even a party space! It’s a smart presentation area with a podium and built-in lectern-turn-DJ booth to allow the area to double up as a bar for entertaining guests and Friday drinks for the team.
The overall look and feel reflect a successful business which has grown up and enables the company to attract and retain talent by factoring some fun elements into the design and ensuring the companies enviable culture is reflected. We used a pallet of natural materials, encouraging lots of planting and biophilia within the design whilst keeping the scheme relatively industrial to complement the building, complete with a touch of brand integration here and there.
ThirdWay’s creative team also came up with a number of custom wall manifestation concepts which were a play on the fictional meeting room names which Totally Money had previously come up with.
