HYPE TRIBE

BD’S NEW REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS

FEATURES

DRAMATIC IMAGERY TO ACCOMPANY THE DIFFERENT EXPERIENTIAL JOURNEYS.

BD is a global medical technology company that is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. BD leads in patient and healthcare worker safety and the technologies that enable medical research and clinical laboratories.

Defining The Needs Before Taking Action

BD was looking to move their existing offices from Tuas and Harbourfront Centre, thus consolidating their office and training centre at The Strategy. With this being BD’s regional headquarters, a consolidation exercise of this size spurred BD to embark on a workplace study to fully understand and explore suitable work settings for their operations. Following an extensive utilisation study, it was strongly suggested for BD to opt for an efficient desk sharing approach.

When DB&B was roped in to deliver the full design and build package for BD, the design team adopted this recommendation and proceeded with further development of the overall space planning and design development for BD. Serving as a regional headquarters for multiple business units, DB&B’s design team conducted numerous exploratory workshops with key stakeholders to fully understand the employee requirements such as meeting, training, storage and filing amongst others.

Once data collection is completed, the space planning began. With BD occupying levels 7 and 8 at The Strategy, it was imperative to render full vision of the proposed stacking plan and zoning to BD to clearly show department adjacencies and ultimately, mapping The Experiential Journey.

The overarching design concept revolves around the creation of a blended community space. Entitled “Tribe Hype”, this was poised to be a workplace for the BD tribe to come together, and strike cohesions with one common language. The design team was fully focused on enabling a platform that fully supports work, collaboration and drive innovation.

Being on a large floorplate, it was essential to grasp strongly a unified theme to tie in the different spaces whilst creating a myriad of journey experiences. Noting the unique courtyard space at the core of the building, the designers made sure they capitalised on this to allow natural light to gently permeate indoors. To allow this, built rooms were placed away from the perimeter window as much as possible.

FROM THE FRONT OF HOUSE, IT IS DESIGNED TO EMULATE AN ALFRESCO CAFÉ TO CREATE A MORE AMBIENT AND COSIER ENVIRONMENT WITH THE AROMA OF FRESHLY-BREWED COFFEE LINGERING FROM THE CAFÉ LOCATED JUST BEHIND THE RECEPTION COUNTER.

TO FURTHER ENHANCE ACOUSTICS ELEMENTS, PHONE BOOTHS WERE PLACE IN CLOSE PROXIMITIES TO WORK CLUSTERS WHERE EMPLOYEES EASILY POP IN FOR PHONE CALLS WITHOUT DISTURBING THEIR TEAM MATES. FOR THE OPEN DISCUSSION AREAS, SOUND ABSORPTION MATERIALS WERE INCORPORATED TO ISOLATE AND PREVENT SOUND TRAVEL.

The layout was executed in a weave pattern to allow easier placement of the built rooms and offer a different facing direction for each workstation clusters. This also created slightly smaller open office clusters which works for BD to address sound and noise concerns that come with a totally open office. To further enhance acoustics elements, phone booths were place in close proximities to work clusters where employees could easily pop in for phone calls without disturbing their team mates. For the open discussion areas, sound absorption materials were incorporated to isolate and prevent sound travel. To contain sound in enclosed meeting rooms, all rooms were built with full height partitions to slab with double glazing partitions. These glazing systems will still offer transparency and allow natural light to enter.

With The User Needs In Mind

A hybrid of bench and 120 degree workstations were applied, giving users a variety of settings and also creating a more interesting landscape. Lockers are provided for users and a unique addition to the lockers is the ‘carrier’. This accessory allows each user to lug their daily essentials to their respective desk and easily bring it back to the lockers at the end of the day.

IMPACTFUL VISUAL DISPLAYS IN THESE THEMED SPACES ENDORSE DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT A WORKSPACE AND AT TIMES, BOOSTING CREATIVITY.

The Dramatic Imagery With Different Experiences

DB&B’s design team aimed at creating impactful visual displays that fuel different experiences throughout the workspace. From the front of house, it is designed to emulate an Alfresco Café to create a more ambient and cosier environment with the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee lingering from the café located just behind the reception counter. One key design element, drawing instant attentions will be the suspended acoustic panels which emulates a dynamic flow or current. This dramatic effect was inspired by BD’s goal in advancing the world of health. The interplay of wood and greenery elements enforces biophilia inspirations.

Adjacent to the main reception area is the ‘The Gallery’ where BD can showcase videos of their latest innovative product offerings on a large screen.

Other themed areas such as ‘The Activity Centre’, ‘The Playground’, ‘The Garden’, ‘The Gazebo’, ‘The Terrace’ etc intersperse the workspace. The Playground, ‘The Garden’ and ‘The Gazebo’ are the themed main collaboration areas that create interest points within the office.

The big meeting rooms are built with double glazed operable wall in the front and solid operable wall with fabric panels in between rooms which allows the space to open up to a large townhall space. With technology, townhall meetings can be ‘live streamed’ to employees seated at both levels.