Mix interiors 170

Mix Interiors 170

January 2017

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UPFRONT 10

Inside 54

10 Seven...

CASE STUDIES 48 48 UCL School of Management

12 People Moves

54 Avalara, Brighton

15 Plan Your Year 18 Forward Thinking

THE ROUND TABLE 60

21 Material Matters 22 Desert Island Desks

REVIEW 66 SPOTLIGHT 25

66 Mixology Projects

26 The Big Question

80 Mixology

29 Anniversaries

84 Mixology Winners

34 What the Future Holds

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PROFILE 42 42 David Drews, Allied London

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The cover

The logo Working with this issue’s cover image, our thoughts naturally gravitated towards materiality and the journey of design.

We test and question everything to deliver distinctive, relevant and effective solutions. Our logo represents this journey of analysis and problem solving.

We sought energy and vibrancy in our logo to reflect our overall approach to design. www.5plusarchitects.com The cover image Brisa® | Mokume –the newest addition to the Ultrafabrics® collection. Inspired by nature. Perfected by science. Customcrafted with beauty and functionality in mind. Blending distinctive performance attributes and unbeatable softness well-known to Brisa®, Mokume’s textural appeal is highlighted by an earthy palette of 14 hues, adding a natural touch to any environment. www.ultrafabricsllc.com Mix Interiors 170

January 2017

UCL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT w AVALARA w DAVID DREWS w WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS JANUARY 2017

Back issues 17/01/2017 16:36

Contact us to buy back issues: rebecca@mixinteriors.com Chip is a new 4A USB charging module set to revolutionise the way we use on desk power. With more and more devices using USB the demand for traditional sockets on the desk is falling. This stylish and fully in integrated module simply connects to your under desk power using a Wieland or plug to offer 2 USB power supplies capable of charging all leading phones and tablets.

MIX INTERIORS 169

p

MIX INTERIORS 170

USB charging module set to revolutionise the way we use on more and more devices using USB the demand for traditional k is falling. This stylish and fully in integrated module simply under desk power using a Wieland or plug to offer 2 USB pable of charging all leading phones and tablets.

Mix Interiors 169

November 2016

A Word

from Mick Like many of you, no doubt, I’m trying to be good throughout January. That means avoiding temptations such as alcohol, bread, cheese, chocolate etc. The odd thing is that, somewhat sadistically, I’ve developed a habit of switching my TV on and heading to the Food Network.

So, as I get on with a bit of writing or simply potter around home, digesting a carrot or a couple of lettuce leaves, I’ve got the likes of Adam Richman and Guy Fieri devouring enormous burgers, hot dogs and pizzas. I’ve no idea why I’m doing this to myself!

Another show on the channel is called Mystery Diners. For those who haven’t seen it, a guy called Charles Stiles helps desperate restaurants who suspect foul play among their staff by setting up a sting using hidden

cameras and microphones and also by having members of his team go undercover, acting as either servers or diners.

Whilst watching Charles get to the root of yet another problem, I started to wonder how much fun it would be if we could set up our own online TV station and produce a similar show – but one which would go into design studios, furniture dealers and showrooms. Just think about all those ‘private’ conversations about bosses, colleagues and clients that would be picked up by microphones and made extremely public. We all do it!

Don’t worry though – I don’t think we’d actually make such a show. But we just might.

Careless talk and all that…

Get in touch

NOVEMBER 2016

Editor Mick Jordan mick@mixinteriors.com

Contributors Mark Eltringham Steve Gale

Editorial support Rebecca Sabato rebecca@mixinteriors.com

Address Mix Media Limited 2 Abito 85 Greengate Manchester M3 7NA

Director David Smalley david@mixinteriors.com

TRENDS

Designer Georgina Nicklin georgina@mixinteriors.com Managing director Marcie Incarico marcie@mixinteriors.com Founding publisher Henry Pugh

Telephone 0161 946 6262 e-mail editorial@mixinteriors.com Website www.mixinteriors.com Twitter @mixinteriors

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Subscriptions To ensure that a regular copy of Mix Interiors reaches your desk, please call 0161 946 6262 or e-mail: sales@mixinteriors.com Annual subscription charges UK single £45.50, UK corporate (up to 5 individuals) £140, Europe £135 (airmail), Outside Europe £165 (airmail).

Printed by S&G Print ISSN 1757-2371

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF DESK… ALL ROUND 3

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ALFIE by Sean Dare

Mix Interiors 160

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Upfront

Decades of Colour Pantone has just announced its colour of the year for 2017 and it’s a vibrant green, which the forecasters say represents new beginnings.

Pantone 15-0343 – otherwise known simply as ‘Greenery’ – certainly makes a change from the muted pastels and colours that have been the concern of trends forecasters for the last few years. It’s also a dead giveaway that we all need cheering up after a generally troubling period, as Boss Design’s journey down the decades and over the rainbow shows.

1 1. 1950s – RED There’s a film you can find on YouTube called Festival in Britain, which encapsulates an era in which people have had enough of war, rationing and dourness. It is an optimistic reportage of 1951’s Festival of Britain. It’s filmed in Technicolor which adds a slightly unnatural hue to the primary colours that people embraced as they looked towards a brighter future. It was also the era in which modernism went mainstream at last and ushered in an aesthetic movement that resonates to this day.

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2. 1960s – YELLOW Counterculture and youth culture defined a decade in which bright colours maintained their prominence and it seemed the whole world was mad about saffron. By 1970, and just before the grand dream turned sour, psychedelia had given us Yellow Submarine, Mellow Yellow and Big Yellow Taxi and John Lennon had taken to driving around in a largely yellow painted paisley Rolls Royce.

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3. 1970s – ORANGE Often a difficult colour to love, orange in the 1970s at least had the virtue of splashing a bit of optimism to a generally monochrome world. Even though this was an era of industrial unrest, social breakdown and fuel shortages, people remained nostalgic for its space hoppers, choppers and John Lydon’s bright orange hair. People even chose to introduce vivid orange tones to their homes and nothing screams the 1970s more than orange trimphones, carpets and upholstery.

4. 1980s – VIOLET A decade of cultural, social and economic transformation. By the end of the 1980s, people had decided they had never had it so good, so the look they wanted would best be characterised as highly stylised, confident and even brash. This may have been the era of The Smiths and The Cure but the defining musical influence was MTV. The colour palette that came to define the era was one consisting of bright acid neons and sparkly pastels. It wasn’t to prove an enduring look.

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Upfront 5. 1990s – INDIGO An ultimately brash decade like the 1980s was bound to provoke a backlash and it came in the 1990s in the form of greater nuance. Modernism had given way to postmodernism across a wide range of intellectual disciplines and grunge sneered at the idea that all was well. This was the decade in which the world adopted the Internet and work became widely unmoored from the office for the first time. Perhaps a transitional era, colours became more muted as a result, indigo sitting almost indistinguishable between the violet that preceded it and the blue that was to follow.

6. 2000s – BLUE A period of unprecedented change in the world ushered in both the inaugural Pantone Color of the Year and a colour palette that remained subtle for the whole decade and beyond. As globalisation and the technological revolution took hold and our wealth increased, our love for restrained colours served to demonstrate the frequently inverse relationship between what is going on in the world and the colours we want around us.

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7. 2010s – GREEN Actually green is only really the colour of 2017. The colours of the year identified

by Pantone in the years running up to the tumultuous events of this year largely represented a continuation of what had gone before. This year, however, an uncertain world generates a very distinct colour in the form of Greenery. It is described as a 'lifeaffirming shade...emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality. It's the colour of spring, of new beginnings, of Granny Smith apples and of Matcha green tea'.

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yuno The smart alternative to the folding table.

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“Stacking without folding” – yuno retains all the benefits of a folding table and avoids its weaknesses. wiesner-hager.com 11

Upfront

Moving on up It seems like a lifetime away from Mixology

FARRELL CHANDLER

MICHAEL FORBES

PATRICIA BIOSCA

in London on the 23rd June last year, when

A&D Manager at Ultrafabrics, the pioneer in the polyurethane leather industry, having previously worked at Bolon

Was in good spirits at Mixology North, showing off his new business card as head of Bureau Workspace, based in Edinburgh, after nearly two years with Tsunami Axis

11 months into her new role as Interior designer at Cheshire-based Select Property Group

our wonderful event was pushed from BBC Breakfast by all things political. The result of the EU referendum was a surprise for most – in fact we’d say it was even a surprise for most who voted to leave! As a consequence of the result of the vote we

TIM BROWN After 16 years as CEO and President of global design consultancy IDEO, Tim has joined the Steelcase Board of Directors

ANDREW DANCASTER

at the good people of this sector who have

CHRIS HARDING

PAUL DAVIS

moved onto new challenges in the last 12

Chris has been elected the new Chair of BDP, having previously been Head of the Architecture Profession at the practice

Head of Fit-Out at Storm Building Limited, based in Windsor, having previously worked at Paragon and ISG

experienced the most amazing parade of politicians resigning, moving and generally not staying in the same place.

Our own industry annual round up of people

Managing Director, Sedus GB for the last eight months but, as we go to press, heading for pastures new

moves is an altogether more positive look

months. We wish them all the best.

DONALD TRUMPLETHINSKIN

LESLEY MCPHEE Moved from Overbury to Head of Interiors at global leader in health and beauty, fitness and lifestyle, The Hut Group

ENRICO CARUSO After nearly 20 years at Gensler, Enrico is now officially ‘Principal in Charge (Catching Up With Himself)’

SIMON MILLINGTON Left SpaceInvader last year to spend time with his family.

We saw the man himself with his lovely wife and toddler literally in tow, heading for New York as we jetted out to Orgatec. We are promised news in the coming months

Former billionaire of one, now running a gang of billionaires – His Cabinet!

ADAM MORRIS EMEA Marketing Manager at Colebrook Bosson Saunders after a successful spell at Herman Miller

NIGEL STANSFIELD President of EMEA at Interface having most recently held the position of Chief Supply Chain Officer.

Nigel will be based in the UK at Interface’s Shelf offices and will take over from former EMEA regional leader, Rob Boogaard

ROBIN BAYLISS LUCY DURKAN

Let us know your people moves; david@mixinteriors.com

Now Senior Interior Designer at Sheppard Robson, having moved from 5plus Architects

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After more than two years as Director of International Sales with IdeaPaint, Robin has moved on to become Sales and Marketing, Phusei

MELANIE ZARINS Senior Interior Designer, tp bennett – previously at Spacezero

DOMINIC POZZONI Director, Colliers International UK after being at Property Alliance Group for over 12 years

ANDREW TALBOT Client Executive at global design firm Unispace.

Previously had long spells at HLW and Gensler

STUART YOUNG Head of Platfform at Platfform Ltd after nearly seven years as UK Sales Manager with Forma 5

RACHEL WITHEY Associate Designer at 74 Architects following nearly five years with SpaceInvader

JONATHAN CRABTREE Former Country Manager at Wilkhahn UK, now heading for a new challenge

RENÉ NIEUWENDIJK Sales and Marketing Director at Leolux Living following nearly four years with German furniture business Thonet

LUCY JONES A&D Manager, Burmatex Limited after over two years at Johnson Tiles

Upfront

inspire collaborate AerCap European Headquarters, Dublin Specialist Joinery Group delivered this major interior fit-out project, including a stunning spiral staircase centrepiece, by utilising our Priority Collaboration Service with MAC Interiors and Powerhouse Company.

For more inspiration: www.sjg.co.uk.

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Upfront

egecarpets.com

New ege collection: Rawline Scala Beautiful patterns, woven materials, refined craftsmanship, interesting textures and outstanding durability. The Scala collection is a new, unique carpet solution combining the minimalistic, but artisan texture of a flat woven construction with different patterns of various scale. The collection offers a basic rawness while still bringing the acoustic and practical advantages of carpet to the interior design. Made of regenerated ECONYLÂŽ yarns from used fishing nets, Scala is a truly green choice.

Available as broadloom and tiles.

International launch: Stockholm Furniture Fair 6-11 February 2017 THE URGE TO EXPLORE SPACE

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Upfront

Planning your year

2017

Whilst some of our readers will already have 2017 planned out with military precision, we think most will benefit from a

8-10 Tiff – Thailand International Furniture Fair, Bangkok 21-22 Northern Restaurant and Bar Show, Manchester Central 28-29 BCFA Open, Truman Brewery, London

12-month overview. In our desire to weigh

APRIL

up the practical and comprehensive, we

4-6 Hotel Show Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

have chosen to include big sporting events that you may plan to attend or indeed could clash with one of your events. We have also included the industry standard sector events plus a couple of extra ones in case you feel a trip to the Far East is justifiable.

However, we hope that the first things to go in your Outlook calendar will be our Mixology awards and MixInspired series.

JANUARY 16-29 Tennis – Australian Open, Melbourne

7-9 EcoBuild, Excel, London

12-13 International Leisure Industry Week, NEC Birmingham

18-20 The Hotel Show, World Trade Centre, Dubai 21 MixInspired, London 21-24 DesignJunction, King’s Cross, London

OCTOBER

12-16 Cycling – World Track Championships, Hong Kong

1-23 Cycling – Tour de France

2-4 The Restaurant Çhow / Bar & Pub Show, Olympia, London

3-16 Tennis – Wimbledon Championships

4-5 BCFA Open Manchester, MOSI, Manchester

14-16 Formula One – British Grand Prix, Silverstone

17-18 Independent Hotel Show, Olympia, London

28 Formula One – Monaco Grand Prix 27 Football – FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London

7-9 Surface Design Show, Business Design Centre, London

3-9 Cricket - England tour of West Indies begins

8-12 Maison et Objet, ParisNord Villepinte, Paris, France

1-23 Cricket – Women's Cricket World Cup, England

6-12 Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair

2 MixInspired, London

1-10 Tennis – US Open, Flushing Meadows, New York, USA

16-24 London Design Festival

JULY

23-25 Clerkenwell Design Week, Clerkenwell, London

MARCH

26-30 Cricket – Women's Cricket World Cup, England

SEPTEMBER

8 Horse Racing – Grand National

9-11 May BCO Conference, London

5 American Football – Super Bowl 51

22 Mixology – Old Billingsgate, London

6-9 Golf – The Masters tournament, USA

MAY

1-5 Football – African Cup of Nations

20-22 The Facilities Show, ExCel, London

4-9 Salone International del Mobile / Euroluce / SaloneUfficio, Milan, Italy

26 MixInspired, Manchester

FEBRUARY

12-14 NeoCon, Merchanise Mart, Chicago, USA

JUNE 1-11 Tennis – French Open, Paris, France 1 Football – UEFA Women's Champions’ League Final, Cardiff City Stadium, Wales

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16-31 Football – UEFA Women's Euro Finals 2017, Netherlands 16-23 Golf – British Open, Royal Birkdale Golf Club 20-23 AIFF – Australian International Furniture Fair, Melbourne, Australia

NOVEMBER

AUGUST

12-13 Boutique Design BDNY, New York, USA

1-6 Football – UEFA Women's Euro Finals 2017, Netherlands

24-26 Tennis – Davis cup final

1-8 Cricket – South Africa tour of England begins

21-22 Sleep, Business Design Centre, London

2-5 The Hotel Show, Philippines, Manila, Philippines

DECEMBER

28-31 Tennis – US Open, Flushing Meadows, New York, USA

4 MixInspired, Manchester

6-16 Football – FIFA Club World Cup, UAE

7 Mixology North – Manchester Central, Manchester

Upfront

ART MATERIALS

SCHOOL OF ROCK

Material Lab – the London-based materials library located on Great Titchfield Street – has long been a hub of inspiration for the architecture and design community, hosting regular events to engage and spark material innovation.

Towards the end of last year, the team invited a selection of architecture practices to take part in a ‘Material Art’ workshop. Participants, including KSS, Sheppard Robson, Aedas, Woodalls Design, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Corstorphine + Wright, AECOM and Fusion, were tasked with transforming surfaces by Material Lab’s partners – Johnson Tiles, Karndean, Modulyss and Formica –into unique works of art. All attendees were then encouraged to share their designs on social media, for the chance to win a prize.

As a regular reader, you will be aware that we believe higher and further education has some important influences on the workplace designer. If you have any great schemes that will be complete in time for our April Spotlight (Education) feature, please let us know.

In the meantime, universities are investing in new campus-wide collaborative learning spaces that are architecturally strong and engage students academically like never before.

The Digital Classroom Roadshow (www.digitalclassroomroadshow.co.uk) is providing RIBA-certified CPD workshops specifically for architects and designers at each of its locations. Workshops take place in a fully configured wireless Digital Classroom, and the full range of new learning spaces are presented and discussed.

Many corporate clients are studying how the HE sector is designing for high performance collaboration right across its real estate, and are looking for expertise to help them better achieve their own collaborative ambitions.

Roadshows in the next couple of months include: February – Royal Agricultural University, March – University of South Wales, April – University of East London.

EMPLOYMENT FORM

HUDDLE UP The trend to gather people together in the workplace shows no sign of abating – and the latest impressive product to allow us to do so is Jennifer Newman’s Huddle Table. Huddle is built for groups to either stand or sit around using high stools. The robust nature addresses the need for tall work surfaces whilst the heavy-duty locking castors provide easy mobility. In our view, a great way to work and play.

Interface has launched its new Employ Loop and Employ Lines ranges, which work in unison to offer endless design possibilities and flexibility for commercial spaces at a competitive price.

Consisting of two coordinating designs and an extensive range of neutral and bright colours, the Employ collection delivers great value for money as well as numerous creative design options to fit any space.

To develop this new collection, the design team at Interface has analysed and

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extracted the interior design trends from now, through to 2018, which include a variation of colour, transitions, organic and graphic lines.

Available in 24 and eight different colours respectively, the Loop and Lines ranges are easy to mix and match to create a costeffective, aesthetically pleasing flooring solution. The collection is also available for quick delivery (up to 200 sq m), making it ideal for use in projects with short deadlines.

Upfront

WORD

SPACE SHUTTLE Our friends at Hotbox Storage never stop thinking about how to make your life easier. So, with the help of their friends from some of the world’s leading companies, they have created HBshuttle – just for you.

By observing workers on trains, in the office, on sales calls and even rushing for flights, Hotbox designer Jamie Rothwell has been tracking the activities of the ‘nomadic’ agile worker. All this research has led Jamie to use his Hotbox organisational magic to re-imagine the business backpack.

Two distinct, large compartments keep your personal items on one side and your work items on the other. Inside the work compartment is a soft-sided, organised and ready-to-go Hotbox – the new HB-3i. Like all Hotboxes, you simply lift it out, place it wherever you are working and you are ready to go.

It holds everything you need, organised and at hand.

In the first Word Up of 2017, we to take a less than serious look at how one of the current industry buzzwords can be interpreted in very different ways by different people.

Collaboration

End User Getting our people to actually talk to one another! It means we’ve got to spend a small fortune on sofas and coffee apparently, but at least people might actually leave their own desks/ departments once in a while. We might even get a glimpse of the IT dudes every now and again!

Dealer Collaboration? That’s what we’ve always done – and always will.

We’ve got to ‘collaborate’ with the demands of the end user and A&D and then go and ‘collaborate’ with the manufacturers to make sure they don’t screw it all up. Nice margins on sofas though!

Designer We get to spec cool soft seating, pods and high backs – and fewer desks!

Also, we can start talking about ‘journeys’ and ‘accidental collisions’ – there’s nothing like a bit of blinding with science.

Manufacturer Sod it. We’ve just come up with all this new systems furniture stuff and all these companies want fewer of them. Ok, let’s get working on some high-backed sofas. And pods. Hold on? Wasn’t that exactly the same answer as we gave last time?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE IMAGE The Manchester office of tp bennett has picked up the inaugural Boss Design photographic competition.

20 shortlisted photographs, focusing on Boss’ Trinetic chair, were exhibited in the Clerkenwell showroom last December.

The winning photo comprised three images that combine to make a single piece of work. The image serves to capture the fluid movement of the chair, which is designed to ‘follow’ rather than resist the user. Melanie Zarins, part of the tp bennett team, said: ‘Having seen the high calibre of photography on display, we are thrilled to have won. Visually and functionally unique, Trinetic is fast becoming a preferred task chair amongst many of our customers and we are proud to have captured this through photography.’

We grabbed a beer and a chat with Oliver Ronald, Sales and Marketing Director at Boss Design: ‘Trinetic is revolutionising the market for task chairs as we know it. Given its groundbreaking design we felt it was only fitting for architectural and design practices to share their enthusiasm and appreciation through the eye of a lens.’

Mix Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do – and we are truly democratic in that we collaborate with all levels of this fine sector.

In fact, we’ll happily get well and truly collaborated with anyone – especially on a Thursday evening!

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Upfront

The case for lycra buildings

M Moser's Steve Gale reasons that we don't have to be bad with numbers to get our sums all wrong.

Organisations grow, change shape and sometimes shrink – buildings don’t. So workplace designers always have to fit a living business into a very static and inert building.

Freed of this conundrum the design business would be a breeze.

A simple view says that as a business grows, the building should grow with it, which is why we need lycra buildings. A more nuanced view of accommodation encourages us to use flexible working practices so a change in headcount does not put unbearable pressure on the required floor area. But the starting line for calculating an organisation’s space demand is invariably headcount, so how reliable is this number which drives the spreadsheets?

You can usually get a headcount number as soon as you ask for it, but all I know about this number is that it is wrong. If this sounds a bit harsh, it is completely normal for a headcount to be wrong, because there are too many weak points in its construction. It is dodgy on day one, and gets even less reliable as it is projected into the future.

But we do need a best guess of how many people need a roof over their head, and when we get it, we can be sceptical, and tweak it some more, because experience shows it can be wildly inaccurate. There’s no need for an accurate figure, because you can see that would be impossible, we just need a working approximation and a way to design around it.

The fuzziness in a headcount estimate seems to come from three places.

First, the prediction itself, no matter how carefully calculated, will change before the finished project is delivered, as expectations and requirements evolve in the months it takes to

deliver a new workplace. You could call it scope creep.

Second, workplace occupation is a long game, and we need to design for a whole period of tenure, not just the beginning, and this is often too long for an intelligent guess. The need to look five or more years into the future is a big ask, and yields only approximate data. The rough range of possible headcounts needs to be acknowledged.

winkle out the real users.

What about non-permanent employees like temporary staff, part-timers, long term absentees (maternity, sick leave, secondments), agency or contract workers, job-shares or multiple roles? Are there interns, visitors, partners, customers or suppliers needing space?

The gap between payroll and user numbers can easily be as high as 100% - and it’s best to avoid errors that big.

How do you deal with uncertainty? You fudge it

Finally, the third area of inaccuracy comes from the often forgotten ingredients in a headcount estimate, but which make a big difference. The number of people that might actually need accommodation is not the same as the number of people on the payroll. We must

Steve Gale is Head of Business Intelligence at M Moser Associates. SteveG@mmoser.com

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So organisations never accurately know how many people will be on their premises, and over the period of tenure this will vary a lot anyway.

They know roughly, and that’s all – so even the current headcount is very approximate, and the future one is, let’s say, challenging.

How do you deal with uncertainty? You fudge it. You admit you know a bit, but not everything, and offer a number with an error bar that reflects your ignorance. The target changes from a point to something like a zone, and becomes more hittable.

Once a fuzzy estimate is out there, we can discuss behaviours, workstyles and management practice to allow the business to adapt within its home as it inevitably changes. It would be a lot easier if buildings were as elastic as the headcount number, or made of lycra.

Upfront

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Upfront

Upfront

Material Matters

In this month’s Material Matters, the team of experts at Material Lab explores more organic, natural materials for eco-conscious designs. www.material-lab.co.uk

modulyss Handcraft collection transforms waste into raw materials Inspired by nature and organic imperfection, carpet manufacturer modulyss has created a unique product from recycled fishing nets. Cleaned of foreign objects, the nylon 6 element is recovered and transformed into a virgin raw material. Together with other waste materials, this creates Econyl yarn, which is used to create the pile fibre. www.modulyss.com

ALUSID turns televisions into SilicaStone ALUSID is a UK based manufacturer specialising in architectural surfaces made from up to 100% recycled materials. Crafted from recycled television screens, vitrified porcelain and glaze waste from the tile industry – ‘SilicaStone’ is born.

Driven by a belief that architects, designers and manufacturers must become increasingly sustainable, ALUSID has developed a new material that reduces our environmental impact without compromising on design. www.alusid.co.uk

Adam Davies utilises recyclables for sustainability Product designer Adam Davies has created a unique surface finish from seaweed and recycled paper, which can be used for anything from lampshades to internal wall cladding.

With acoustic properties, the biomaterial is 100% sustainable – adding warmth and nature to our everyday lives. www.adamdaviesdesign.co.uk

Exploring the elements with Buxkin Comprising recycled leather, natural latex, pigment and adhesive, Buxkin is a 100% natural product. The inherently tactile surface and earthy hues embrace our need to connect with nature and move away from mass-produced perfection. www.buxkin.com

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Upfront

Simon Jesson is Associate Director at

Desert Island Desks

Glancy Nicholls Architects, based in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.

3 3. TWITTER I love the randomness and connectivity of Twitter – you never know what avenue the day is going to take you down. Whether that’s architectural inspiration, politics, commentary on the F1 or photos of cats/the moon…I think it’s a great way to connect to (and filter) the world, and you can always turn it off occasionally.

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4. EAMES CHAIR AND FOOTSTOOL One of the design classics. I think my island should come with a bit of style, in combination with item 6. I might have to wait until I’m on a desert island, or the kids have grown up and I’ve retired…but it’ll be worth it.

1. MY GUITAR For years, I’ve been meaning to learn, but only really reached the grade of air-guitar…and even then, was out of tune/time! I’d use the quiet calm of island life (survival aside) to learn to play.

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2. COFFEE WITH LOUIS KAHN They say never meet your heroes, but it would be good to meet and talk about some of his projects that have influenced architectural thinking even 40 years after his death. I love the attention to detail and use of materials, so perhaps while we’re at it, we should relocate the Yale Centre for Art to my remote island too, for a closer inspection.

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Tel 01925 850500 Email info@sixteen3.co.uk

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Web www.sixteen3.co.uk

5. A DAB RADIO Our studio has a plentiful supply of music, during the day… so sketching, and developing designs and office life comes with a soundtrack – though the sound of lapping waves on the shore might be a beautiful accompaniment, a bit of absolute 80’s and the occasional sound of Test Match Special would be a great friend indeed.

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6. AN ASTON MARTIN DB9 An Aston Martin DB9, quintessentially British, one of my favourite cars (not least because of my James Bond fandom). Not so good off road, so my desert island should have a winding road similar to that found in the Brecon Beacons on a crisp autumn morning.

7. WOOD STOVE Quite simply one of the best things we’ve put in the house recently – the smell of the wood, the crackle of the fire, the instant heat, the glow of embers in the still evening air…. perfect!

London Showroom The Gallery, 21-22 Great Sutton St. EC1V 0DY / Manufacture/Showroom Chesford Grange, Woolston, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 4RQ

Upfront

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Spotlight

Illustration By Georgina Nicklin

20 17 The Big Question

2017 Anniversaries

What the future holds

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Q

THE BIG UESTION

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In l i g ht o f t h e 'a gai n st t h e o d d s' e v e nts o f 2016 ( Bre x it, Tru m p a n d Le i c e st e r to n a m e t h re e), Wh a t i s yo u r o u tsid e b e t fo r 2017?

SIMON MILLINGTON, DESIGNER

RACHEL WITHEY, 74ARCHITECTS

JAMES SCOTT, CUBE 8 STUDIO

I remember waking up in a slightly hungover state after the summer Mixology in a state of disbelief at Brexit. The cold sweats were not just alcohol related, but a reaction to the realisation that the experts we look to for guidance actually know as little as we do. So, my ‘tongue-in-cheek’ outside bet for 2017 would be that we will do away with all politicians and the Government, and instead the masses will look to Facebook as our chosen global leader and voice of the masses – what could possibly go wrong!?!

I do not think anything in 2017 can actually beat what has been a crazy year of a shifting world stage. Shock Brexit, Trump trumping America and the Tobelerone shape alteration fiasco! In terms of design, fashions inevitably come and go...and then come back... and 2016 has been no different. As an extreme outside bet perhaps we will see workplace design take a massive swing back to single occupancy cellular offices with no more desk sharing or open plan, with space not being an issue. Or maybe we will all have lots of clients that have 'no glass ceiling' budgets and mega fees, which seems unlikely in a potentially nervous market.

Not sure this would be viable but as an outside bet for next year I would like to see Sheffield United beat Chesterfield 4–0 on the last match of the season and pip Scunthorpe United to the First Division title. I find it so much more exciting when it’s down to the last game! It would remind me of one of my happiest days ever, Leicester v Sheff Utd, May 5th 1990, last match of the season. We needed to win to go up and we won 2-5 and got promoted to the newly named Premiership – don’t you just love days like this!

DAVID GEORGE, FALCONER CHESTER HALL

PAUL EATOCK, SPATIAL

KAY BRIDGE, THE FAIRHURSTS DESIGN GROUP

Manufacturers are investing in VR technology.

It will explode into the mainstream mid-2017.

Like the Smartphone revolution of 2007, companies will start to redefine the working office based on the convenience of VR. People can work from home/anywhere with a headset and an internet connection and 'virtually' be in the office and interact with their co-workers from a distance. It will most likely be offered to people who have to work at distance or are skiving work, pretending to be ill!

I can see sustainability coming back into the forethoughts of developers and occupiers.

During the recession, sustainability certainly dropped down the list of priorities and now advancing technologies, coupled with a very active construction industry, against a backdrop of rising inflation, means employers will be looking to reduce outgoings wherever possible. Developers realise this, and a sustainable office development that potentially offers lower bills will be more appealing to a Umbrella editorial banner v2.1 October 2015 REVISED.pdf 1 12/10/2015 tenant.

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w: www.umbrellafurniture.com e: matt@umbrellafurniture.com t: 020 3119 3144

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Wow, what a year 2016 turned out to be with Brexit and the sad loss of David Bowie, Zaha Hadid and Prince, to name but a few events.

So in the words of Prof. Brian Cox, ‘Things can only get better’ in 2017. My outside bet is that Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds will form a Super Northern Alliance to become the centre for creativity, ingenuity and manufacturing.

Naturally, Manchester will become the new capital of England.

Spotlight - Trends

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Spotlight - Trends

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Spotlight - Anniversaries

REWIND, FAST FORWARD Here’s where we take our annual look at some of the many anniversaries in our sector, but first let’s pause and consider some of the other noteworthy anniversaries next year. 2017 sees the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, arguably one of the

EGAN REID

most significant events in modern history –

Egan Reid, the Greater Manchester based furniture supply and fit-out company, is celebrating 60 years in business this year and is going stronger than ever after a busy 2016 which saw a move to a brand new working showroom, the delivery of several flagship projects across corporate and public sectors and an acquisition on the Isle of Man. p

let’s see how Mr Putin decides to celebrate a ‘people’s revolt’. Also next year are the anniversaries of the fall of Saigon (75 years), Falkland’s invasion (30), Hong Kong handover (20), Mahatma Gandhi's assassination (70) and Protestant Refermation (500). But let’s

ALPHA SCOTLAND

get back to the industry…

Alpha Scotland will be celebrating its first birthday as an independent business since the successful purchase of Steelcase Solutions from Steelcase in March 2016. The affable and always positive Scot Nick Lyons tells us, ‘It’s been a quick year and I’ve been so pleased with the continuing support from our great team, partners and clients. Looks like we will have an excuse for another party in April!’ p

PSI SEATING

25 YEARS

2017 marks the 25th anniversary of Lancashire based office seating manufacturer PSI Seating Ltd. Company directors Siraj Mohamed and Hassan Patel started off assembling a small number chairs in their garage, travelling the country themselves in an attempt to sell their wares – a successful venture that saw the company build into a UK wide manufacturer and supplier of quality office seating – now incorporating the Pulse Design Soft Seating Collection. We are told to watch out as 2017 will see the growth trend continue.

NEWMOR

50 YRS

Newmor Group celebrates its 50th year of business in 2017. Started by John Morris in 1967 the company is owned and run to this day by his two grandsons. The company’s offices, design studio and factory is in Welshpool, a small picturesque town in Wales. Bringing together traditional manufacturing techniques and cutting-edge new technology means they can offer the best in design and quality.

Newmor have offices in the UK, Dubai, Poland, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong and are further supported by a distributor network in over 80 countries worldwide. q

ROCA

1 YR

60 YRS

100 YRS

Roca began life as a family business manufacturing cast iron radiators at a factory in Gavà, near Barcelona in 1917. Over the years, the company’s portfolio gradually expanded, and in 1929 Roca entered the bathroom environment for the first time. With an attentive focus to social changes, Roca has pioneered issues surrounding sustainability, design and technology and is still at the forefront of bathroom innovations today. After 100 years, Roca now reaches over 170 countries with more than 20,000 employees worldwide but is still proud to call itself a family business.

QUAD CONTRACTS

20 YRS

Quad Contracts will have been servicing the construction industry for 20 years this April.

From its offices just off Bermondsey Street, in the shadow of the Shard, the firm has undertaken over 2,000 projects and has a gross turnover for these projects of £100 million.

Quad has delivered these projects working alongside and in partnership with over 1,500 different businesses on behalf of over 1,000 different clients. We are told that ‘each project has been and will continue to be Director-led and delivered to the highest standards. That’s just what we do!’ p

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VANTAGE

OVERBURY

40 YRS

Initially an interior planting specialist, Vantage has grown to become a nationally renowned supplier of products and services that create productive, healthy and engaging environments.

Now, Vantage offers living and ‘Looks-LikeReal’ interior greenery, statement green walls for clients seeking a real ‘wow factor’, and hot and cold refreshments including luxury beanto-cup coffees. The key to Vantage’s 40-year success is an ongoing commitment to designled product innovation and the mission to create ‘stimulating spaces – lasting impressions’.

Headquartered in Leeds, Vantage opened a new showspace in Clerkenwell in 2016, to satisfy continued demand from architects, designers and clients in the capital. p

WILLMOTT DIXON

75 YRS

2017 marks the 75th anniversary for national fit-out and refurbishment specialist Overbury.

The firm was founded in 1942 by Stanley Overbury, who began his trade by repairing bomb-damaged buildings in London. In 1950 he was joined by his son, Michael, and in 1985 the pair sold their enterprise to John Morgan and John Hooper. Morgan and Hooper grew the business through multiple ventures and acquisitions, ultimately forming the Morgan Sindall Group plc, which Overbury is still part of today.

Overbury employs more than 600 people across six UK offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Bracknell, Manchester and London – and has specialist teams in office, higher education and retail banking fit-out. Clients include large commercial occupiers and household names such as AstraZeneca, PwC, BBC, King’s College and HSBC, to name a few. p

165 YRS

Willmott Dixon will be celebrating 165 years in business in 2017. Over those 165 years the firm has grown into an industry leading business.

As a privately-owned contracting, residential development and property support company, it has built a reputation by creating a positive and lasting impact in society. A recent project completed by Willmott Dixon Interiors (WDI), the specialist interior fit-out and refurbishment arm of the group, has been in the spotlight for just this reason – with WDI recently completing one of London’s most important cultural projects, creating a new home for the Design Museum in Kensington. u

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KINNARPS

75 YRS

Kinnarps celebrates 75 years of furniture making in 2017. It has grown from a humble Swedish company comprising just its two founders in 1942 to become Europe’s largest furniture manufacturer today, with turnover in excess of €400M. Alongside the Kinnarps brand, the group includes Swedish design icons Materia, Skandiform and NC. Recent success stories include the launch of the Capella task chair and the ‘third space’ range, Fields. The anniversary will be celebrated at this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair in February with the theme ‘Silhouettes of Kinnarps’, designed

by Johan Ronnestam (Creative Director) and architectural studio Förstberg & Ling. p

Spotlight - Anniversaries YARWOOD LEATHER

50 YRS

In 2017 Yarwood Leather celebrates its 50th year of successfully supplying high quality leather into diverse global markets including hospitality and commercial furniture, aviation and transport and bespoke designed products.

This milestone is being celebrated with new product launches, including additions to Yarwood’s faux leather ranges and an expansion of its embroidery and debossing services. t

ERA

20 YRS

Era will be celebrating 20 years of trading in 2017. Originally established in 1997 by Terry Coleman and two others, Era looked to fill a gap in the UK market for aluminum-framed screens manufactured simply with great adaptability.

Over the last two decades it has seen its business model evolve from a screen supplier into a bespoke manufacturer; best known for flexibility and service with its greatest success in agile working products, especially pods and booths. Era is still based in Hampshire, where it started life, out of its impressive 28,000 sq ft factory. q

MORGAN LOVELL

BUCKLEYGRAYYEOMAN

CLAREMONT

40 YRS

Although the nationwide commercial interior design and fit-out business is staying tight-lipped about its planned anniversary celebrations for now, there’s sure to be a real charitable focus as Claremont’s 108-strong team continues its fundraising legacy. There’s also talk of a new commemorative 40th year treatment to the Claremont logo. (Ed's note: We were given a small clue when they picked up the Fit-Out Company of the year at Mixology North, but we are obviously not saying anything!)

Claremont has completed thousands of interior design, fit-out and furniture projects over the last 40 years and has an impressive number of long-standing employees as well as new talent.

2017 will see the business capitalise on its hard-earned reputation delivering workspaces that motivate and inspire. p

40 YRS

Morgan Lovell, the office interior design, fitout and refurbishment firm that also offers workplace consultancy and furniture solutions, celebrates 40 years of business in 2017.

The brainchild of John Morgan and Jack Lovell, the company has grown and evolved and now employs around 110 people in London and Bracknell and has worked with the likes of Prudential, Lindt, Nuffield Health, Splunk and Livability.

The workplace has changed considerably in the four decades Morgan Lovell has been transforming offices. From cellular offices, fax machines and a clock-in/clock-out culture to open-plan floorplates, numerous schemes for 'generation perk' and destination workplaces.

Morgan Lovell has seen it all.

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20 YRS

Formed in 1997, BuckleyGrayYeoman is an award-winning architecture and design practice based in Shoreditch, London. Directed

by Matt Yeoman and Paul White, the firm provides pragmatic and deliverable solutions to complex design issues.

With an expanding portfolio of work across a range of sectors including offices, residential, retail, hotels, schools and masterplanning, BuckleyGrayYeoman prides itself on delivering projects on time and within budget, regardless of the size or complexity of the challenge.

Completed projects include: the Buckley Building, an award-winning project in Clerkenwell; Henry Wood House, a major coworking space for The Office Group in the West End of London; C-Space, a refurbishment of an old carpet factory in Old Street; The Passage, London’s largest voluntary sector resource centre for the homeless; Channing School in Highgate; the Fred Perry headquarters in Covent Garden and several boutique stores for the brand in London, Cologne, Munich and Bangkok; Citadines Apart’hotels in London, Paris and Hamburg and Pure Aldgate, a high quality student accommodation building in East London. q

Spotlight - Anniversaries GODFREY SYRETT

RAW BROTHERS

5 YRS

The RAW Brothers will be five years old in 2017.

Rich and Andy are a powerful brotherly duo, passionate about improving people’s lives with honest thinking and creative solutions. The RAW Brothers are experts in connecting brand personality to people and place. Their blend of skills across branding and architectural interiors enables them to bring unique overarching vision to clients’ challenges. They believe organisations are more effective when they are connected up and moving as one, and when people understand the magic behind their brand and begin to live their organisation’s values every day in a place that is motivating and inspiring. p

SPACELAB

70 YRS

In 2017, furniture manufacturer Godfrey Syrett will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Established in 1947 as a supplier to the newly-formed NHS, its market base has since widened to include universities, accommodation, defence and commercial projects, and it has worked on projects ranging from University of Leicester’s award-winning Centre for Medicine, through to a multinational engineering firm based in Stafford.

Fuelled by passionate people, a wealth of knowledge and a fair few years’ experience, Godfrey Syrett credits its success to its sustainable approach to growth and a continued investment in its factories, facilities and staff. q

NOMIQUE

15 YRS

Telford-based Nomique has come a long way in 15 years, with a complete rebrand last year, including two new websites and a set of new colourful NOM literature to match its new brand identity. The business has also launched a new London showroom, right in the heart of Clerkenwell, which will be brimming with new and exciting products to inspire all. Nomique recently told us that it has ‘always focused on manufacturing high quality, design led products at an affordable price and we are pleased to say that we will continue to do so for a long time to come’.

15 YRS

Andrew Budgen and Nathan Lonsdale founded Spacelab in 2002 in the belief that social science and architectural creativity complement and strengthen each other. This is reflected in Spacelab’s approach, which involves taking the time to fully understand how people use space before proposing a design solution. This has seen Spacelab grow from two people working in a live/work unit through to an award-winning team of 40, who still passionately believe people are the heart and soul of the spaces they create. u

FRITZ HANSEN

145 YRS

The Danish manufacturer of timeless design, Republic of Fritz Hansen, celebrates it’s 145 year anniversary in 2017. Fritz Hansen is behind some of the most iconic pieces of Danish furniture from Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjærholm, including the Egg, Swan and Series 7 chairs. Fritz Hansen also holds a contemporary collection with designs by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon, Piero Lissoni, Cecilie Manz, Kasper Salto and, recently, British designer Benjamin Hubert, who is behind the PAIR chair. q

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Spotlight - Trends

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HOPES FOR 2017 What was more shocking last year – Leicester City winning the Premiership or them winning the BBC Sport Personality Team of the year and it not going to the GB Olympic team?

What other shocks are we likely to see in 2017; we suspect the only certainty is uncertainty.

Sadly, we live in a world where the almost inevitable and regular human horror stories will be brought to our screens but our more positive view of 2017 will be that stories of technological innovation and great successes in sustainability will triumph.

We asked some of our readers what they thought is likely to happen in 2017. We gave a very broad brief, so expect some great insights as well as self-promotion, because different viewpoints and perspectives are what make the world more interesting.

Ann Clarke, Claremont

As companies evaluate the impact of Brexit it’s to be expected that we will see some slowdown in relation to the number of new business opportunities on the table for businesses like ours. Although the press is predicting a noticeable downturn in London, we have found the regional office market to still be very active.

Although lease breaks and M&A activity are typically the catalysts for interior design and fit-out projects, we’re also seeing technology and cultural changes prompting projects too, as companies respond to changing marketing conditions and increased competition. We’re hopeful that the project pipeline will remain stable, particularly as finding ways to use space more effectively is key for those businesses looking to reduce their overheads.

Peter Murray, New London Architecture

In broader terms, more needs be done to combat the increasing uncertainty facing UK businesses. Improving incentives for investment and addressing some of the longterm issues with the country’s infrastructure would certainly help to quash some of this anxiety and we hope that the Government responds accordingly.

Greg Marshall, Howe UK It’s safe to say that 2016 brought with it many surprises. I remember waking up in Italy to the news that we had voted out of the EU and I stayed up to watch the US election – both were monumental events that I won’t forget. From an industry perspective, Brexit could help British manufacturers to expand their business into Europe with the weakening of Sterling. In general though, I believe that the UK has a lot to be positive about. We are in a stable position economically, the pound will bounce back and we still have some of the best cities in Europe, not including London, the best city in the world for design and creativity. Roll on 2017!

On a slightly less positive note, there is the uncertainty that surrounds the events of 2016.

Confidence plays a massive part in decisionmaking throughout all types of business, and that is also true of our industry. From a workplace perspective, will projects continue to go ahead in certain sectors? Will there be an exodus of the major banks to Europe? On an educational perspective, UK universities are a global success story, highlighted by the large amount of foreign students on these shores – how will they be affected moving forward? All are important questions – which for the next few months we won’t be able to answer. All we can do is get our heads down, remain confident and work hard!

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At New London Architecture we pride ourselves on being a place where people can come to find out information that supports their businesses – in these tricky times we have an even greater role in keeping our members up to date. We are launching a major piece of work on London as a creative and construction skills hub in early 2017.

On a less positive note, nobody has a clue what is going on, so businesses cannot make informed decisions. The short-term benefits of the low pound will dissipate in 2017 and the pain will kick in, with higher prices, companies moving their operations out of the UK and construction workers returning to Poland.

Unless the Government embraces modern methods of building immediately they don’t have a hope in hell of meeting their housing targets.

Alistair Cory, Gensler The ‘Midlands Engine’ goes from strength to strength, driving UK economic growth and devolution design opportunities for the most innovative businesses – locally, regionally, nationally and globally. The design community embraces change and the ‘world of opposites’ like never before. Greater Birmingham and the city region of the West Midlands Combined Authority is the driving force for innovation investment for major infrastructure like HS2 and the connectivity hubs at Curzon Street and UK central/Birmingham Airport.

True to its City motto of ‘Forward’, Greater Birmingham excels in its new found confidence, harnessing the most creative, innovative and digitally advanced businesses the world has to

Spotlight - What the future holds

'CROWDBUILDING CITIES’ IS THE NEW ALTERNATIVE TO OBJECT ORIENTATED MASTER PLANNING.' offer – championing the continued list of ‘firsts’ for any city in the UK…first for investment, first for growth, first for passion, first for lifestyle.

All of this unlocks massive opportunities for the creative industries in the region. ‘Crowdbuilding cities’ is the new alternative to object orientated master planning. Health and wellbeing, and happiness are identified as crucial components of advanced cities and workplaces. Live, work, play and care.

From a less positive point of view, the smaller minded people become smaller minded.

The establishment mainstream thinks it ‘understands innovation’ and change…but it doesn’t. The ‘tech-maker-loft co-working aesthetic’ becomes the band wagon interior norm for sluggish corporates, without realising that it was inspired by the most agile, innovative, fast moving individuals and businesses looking to ‘emerge’. The United Kingdom of Britain becomes the world’s first ‘National Theme Park’, with major attractions based on historical and mythical pasts and futures. Our children’s children have a ‘job for life’ – but dressed in a Shakespeare or Harry Potter inspired ‘onesie’, selling tickets and candy floss to the world’s tourists – now flocking to London and the UK due to low value Sterling and an ‘authentic experience’ second to none.

Nicola Humphray, Heatons Office Solutions Like many, we hope that our business continues to grow in 2017, building on the success we enjoyed last year. Prospective clients are more aware nowadays of creating the right environment for their staff and this means that our interior and architectural practices are engaged, and we can see this type of delivery continuing its growth in 2017. We also hope that UK manufacturers continue their drive to produce quality designs

to rival our European counterparts. There has been a clear recognition in the last couple of years that they need to compete more effectively in the design-led market. More innovation, less interpretation.

However, we are concerned at the amount of manufacturers who are significantly raising their annual prices. Given the current market situation, raw material costs are rising at an unheard of rate and this has to be worrying.

Of course there will be some who will seek to take advantage of the uncertainty to increase pricing above acceptable levels, but the hope has to be that a sensible approach is taken.

Brian Murray, MD, Boss Design I think we are in a very difficult position as a country as nobody in Europe wants to give us a fair deal and whatever Brexit consists of – hard, soft, etc – the majority of the electorate will disagree with the final terms. So I don’t think they can unscramble the egg with any degree of success for the UK. Still we’ve always got Jeremy Corbyn to fall back on.Hold on to your hats.

Claire Wilson, KSS The creative industry is currently the fastest growing sector in the UK economy, so will play an influential role post Brexit. The UK has always been recognised for its expertise in this field, our design strength must help the UK thrive in this time of uncertainty. Niche start-up opportunities will create a new generation of creative entrepreneurs that will flourish, driven by constraints of import costs. British Designers should embrace a new platform to showcase their talent both on a domestic and global scale. On a more negative perspective the separation from Europe should be financial, not creative and with the virtual creative network, inspiration will always be global. It comes down to cost…we have over the last few years seen a trend from Clients to ‘buy British’, which we have embraced and are proud to support. If this ethos transfers like osmosis to other industries, collectively we can try and ensure a positive and creative legacy is remembered from this significant point in our political history.

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Getting support for your bright ideas In the first of a series of columns R&D experts Jumpstart provides an overview on how architects can benefit from generous support from a Government, keen to see innovation in design Key elements required to claim • Jumpstart technical team talk to you or your technical team • A claim is prepared and submitted to HMRC • A payment or tax relief is received What are potential areas that can create a claim ?

• Energy efficiency systems • Substitution of building material • Development of new or improved building materials and composites • Improving limits of what can be done using existing materials • Acoustic dampening/isolation/distribution within a structure or space • Development of new or improved modular construction techniques What issues you may face to fulfil your ideal design?

• Previously existing technical data and design rules (structural, acoustic, aerodynamic, thermal, etc) not applicable to proposed design • Proposed design not technically possible according to existing industry knowledge • Proposed design might be safe, but cannot achieve one or more required technical performance criteria using existing knowledge and techniques • Experimentation/prototyping of rooms, walls or structures required to measure performance Jumpstart are the experts in reducing what is often a complicated and time-consuming process into a painless means of supporting your innovation. If you would like to discuss further we would be delighted to explain more.

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Spotlight - What the future holds Kristoff DuBose, Woodalls Brexit had a positive impact on the real estate market, oddly enough. It got quite hot very quickly earlier in 2016 and was causing difficulty for our clients to model and forecast their office moves. Brexit cooled things down a bit. We hope 2017 will bring stability to the market along with certainty as the Brexit deal is forged and allows for a fresh outlook. Innovative use of new technology and a burgeoning of 'artisans' in London will be a major theme that we hope gains traction.

However, while 2016 saw fierce competition for office space, 2017 may be just as fierce around talent. We won't have unfettered access to the European labour market as we do now. The design of the workplace will need to seriously consider staff happiness and interest, given the stiff competition out there. We're concerned that employers are still concerned about the uncertainty and financial pressures of 2016 and may catch on too late to the talent wars of 2017 to bring about effectual implementation.

Dean Kuch, ThinkingWorks

negotiations to leave, so more uncertainty on the horizon for the GBP. Economists are predicting interest rate hikes in the US with Trump’s presidency. The market perception is that Trump will spend big on infrastructure, which would be inflationary, and in turn the Federal Bank would need to raise interest rates to keep inflation under control.

This will result in the US being considered a safe haven for short term investments (high interest rates providing higher returns for investors which will strengthen the USD). The problem with Trump is that no one really knows enough about what his policies are – even with his ‘Mexican Wall’ he’s backtracked and said some of it will be a fence!

Typically, in times of concern, the USD strengthens along with the JPY, CHF, and gold.

The market is currently pricing a 44% chance the EURO and USD$ will go to parity. 2017 has the potential to make this year look like a cakewalk, but it’s important to remember Foreign Exchange, like all markets, is speculative. If we sit back and play a waiting game, we may wait ourselves out of opportunities down the track.

These currency fluctuations mean we need to diligently watch our cost of manufacture and make sure we make any adjustments (up or down) to the products we sell. The tricky thing for ThinkingWorks –and I’m sure most furniture manufacturers – is that we purchase components in USD$, EURO, CNY and, for us, AUD$ and we may sell the product in a different currency – for example GBP – so each fluctuation has its own consequence.

Nick Lyons, Alpha I’m not sure there’s anything positive or negative, but I know there’s uncertainty.

One thing that’s clear in my mind about the 2007 GFC is that many put their business development plans on hold, which stalled their growth more than the businesses that didn’t put plans on hold. Regardless of Brexit and the US election, ThinkingWorks is committed to pushing ahead with product development and market expansion, as opportunities will arise from nervousness from less financially stable companies. We will keep an eye on what’s happening in our existing markets and the markets we look to enter, and be ‘carefully bullish’.

In saying that, there are some things to look out for – primarily currency fluctuations and infrastructure projects.

The GBP has fallen significantly after Brexit, and if Prime Minister May enacts Article 50 in March, it will be another two years of

Well, after the shock Brexit and US Presidential results, I don’t want to bet on the future!

There will always be ‘curve balls’ to deal with in business, most of which are out of our control, so not worth the worry. What is worth worrying about is the ever-changing business landscape and increasing complexity in doing business.

Technology has always overpromised and under-delivered in my book but there is no doubt that the ‘24-7 always on, need it yesterday’ culture will continue in 2017 and beyond. It’s ok though, as we will be able to belt out a proposal from our autonomous vehicle whilst grabbing a ‘power sandwich’.

Positively, our industry will continue to innovate and produce fantastic products that support an increasingly agile and fast moving world.

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'THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE ‘24-7 ALWAYS ON, NEED IT YESTERDAY’ CULTURE WILL CONTINUE IN 2017 AND BEYOND.' Martin Colenutt, Managing Director, CBS

Since the EU referendum result, there has of course been huge concern and uncertainty as to what happens next, and the UK’s journey to leaving the Union. But since the result in June the facts have been rather different. The only real negative of Brexit has been a much weaker pound, but even that has benefited some parts of the economy. From our own business perspective we have had a record breaking six months and have used this to reinvest in further research and development. As part of this we are launching four new products in 2017, putting CBS in a great position to face future challenges.

Pushed on the less positive, I have two concerns.

Firstly, the weakness of the pound. Most of our product costs are in US$ and we have significant sales in Sterling. So as we absorb these costs we could see prices increases. CBS will not be unique in this position, and we could begin to see rates of inflation increasing. The second is one of ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. If people lack confidence, they spend less and the economy dips. General lack of confidence is a greater concern than the actual economic drivers for me, but at CBS we will focus on innovative solutions to counter any adverse trends.

Spotlight - Anniversary

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cONtAct_&_FOLLOw

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Spotlight - Anniversary

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Spotlight - What the future holds Dave Russinger, Premier Workplace Services

Elena Panagiotidis, Perkins+Will ‘I don’t have any frustrations. If you want an easy life, don’t be an architect. Ask anybody in my office. You have to work all the time. If you want a nine-to-five job and to go home and relax, just don’t do it.’ Zaha Hadid. 2016 saw events that will affect our future, not only 2017 but many years ahead. This quote puts 2017 in perspective; it is going to be a tough year for the design industry, however we (mostly) love what we do and will be there through the uncertainty of it all.

We have seen some weakness in demand from our financial services clients here in the UK – however there has been a pick up from the creative industries (tech, media, start-ups), which require more innovative approaches to use of space and design. The outlook for work on the continent remains strong with the key cities of Frankfurt, Zurich and Paris showing promising growth.

I would like 2017 to be a year where I continue to work with some of the most talented people in our industry and carry on building strong relationships with our clients.

Alex Jones, Interstuhl After the initial shock of Brexit and subsequent fall in the pound against the Euro I think it will be a roller coaster year. Manufacturers will all be implementing price increases due to the pound – the trick will be to make them stick and not discount more.

From a personal perspective, I am quietly confident about 2017. We go into the year with our biggest ever backlog, with a record last quarter intake. We have several large projects on and we have the UK introduction of the new Vintage Task chair on January 19th, followed by further significant product launches later in the year. A record year in Germany and export will further drive our R&D programme up to 2020 and beyond.

PJ Statham, Momentum Contract Furniture In a post-Brexit Europe, things will change but I have no idea about Mr. Trump and his policies yet.

For the furniture industry in Britain, I think that life for manufacturers will improve if we continue to look at homegrown businesses. It might actually encourage smaller makers to invest in technology and new designs, so it is not just the same big manufacturers who dominate.

Post-Brexit Government assistance should be opening up for smaller designer makers, but I suspect that the politicians will only have eyes for the big speech, so the smaller ones will have to fight their own battles and miss out on any help. I think there could be a role for the Furniture Maker’s Company in this, liaising between Government and manufacturers to establish links and communication and perhaps increasing the use of the Manufacturing Guild Mark to enhance recognition of good quality UK manufacturing.

There is a downside in that it appears that many of the European manufacturers who work through agents in the UK have rapidly increased their product prices by around three times the prices of those who sell directly or even of UK manufacturers. This might cause them to lose market share and probably to look seriously at their marketing and distribution. It might see some major changes in the UK furniture distribution system. I still remain convinced though that the old-fashioned sales methods work, provided that architects and designers are willing to learn about new furniture and lighting, rather than just cutting and pasting from the Internet. This requires educated, knowledgeable dealers who visit regularly and who understand their manufacturer partners. I see that as an opportunity for Momentum.

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We are noticing that attitudes are changing – sustainability within the built environment is increasingly embedded in an organisation’s culture and practices. This is a trend we expect to continue, particularly with SKA Rating, BREEAM and other sustainability standards becoming increasingly part of a refurbishment specification.

Alongside this, we have been battling misperceptions around the quality of reuse and remanufactured products. This is a battle we are winning, with businesses realising that where done properly, remanufactured can be ‘as good as new’. We expect the demand for remanufactured furniture to continue to grow.

Not quite as positive, we believe that ongoing business uncertainty – as a result of Brexit, the US election results and forthcoming European elections – is likely to cause delays to projects.

This could affect organisations that are looking to potentially move or change their workplace.

Perhaps more organisations will look to refurbish their existing offices in the interim and try and maximise their workspace through initiatives such as agile working. That said, 2017 is already looking busy in our business calendar.

'WE ARE NOTICING THAT ATTITUDES ARE CHANGING – SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS INCREASINGLY EMBEDDED IN AN ORGANISATION’S CULTURE AND PRACTICES.'

Spotlight - What the future holds

Alistair Gough, Ocee International What will Brexit bring? My feeling is that the UK will become a more export focused country and we will have greater flexibility to develop a wider and more diverse range of trade agreements across the world, without the same level of bureaucracy that exists within the EU. I believe Britain has a very strong reputation and both EU and other countries will want a mutually beneficial trading relationship. There are of course challenges. My main concern is the negative impact on migration and any difficulties we find attracting the required talent. Controlled immigration is undoubtedly necessary but we need to ensure, as part of our Brexit negotiations, that the UK can still easily attract the required people and talent it needs to enable our economy to grow and prosper.

As a manufacturer of commercial furniture our biggest challenge is finding skilled labour for our upholstery department. There are no UK-based training courses or apprenticeships for such a skilled trade. We have, therefore, recruited a number of highly skilled and excellent workers from Eastern Europe. With the vote to leave the EU, there is a concern about how we will attract EU talent in the future. If it becomes impossible to attract the skills we need, due to migration restrictions, then there is a real possibility that more manufacturing will be driven out of the UK. Despite this outlook, the opportunities for us to grow and develop our business are still very significant, both within the UK and in the rest of the world. We have just acquired a business in Denmark that operates in Scandinavia, Europe, USA, China and Australia. This acquisition will allow Ocee to grow in existing and new global markets. The acquisition gives us a base and manufacturing facilities in the UK as well as in the EU; this should help us to minimise the impact of Brexit as we can choose our manufacturing site depending upon the political and economic circumstances that develop over the coming years.

'DONALD TRUMP WILL BE A MUCH BETTER PRESIDENT THAN PUNDITS PREDICT (ALTHOUGH WE ARE STARTING FROM A VERY LOW BASE HERE) AND CERTAINLY THE NEXT FOUR YEARS WILL NOT BE BORING.'

On the less positive side, the lengthy Brexit negotiations are going to encourage uncertainty and caution. Some companies might hold off making important decisions.

Nobody knows where this process is taking us and businesses must continue to invest for the future…whatever that might look like.

Economic growth in the UK is largely driven by the service sector and parts of the construction industry are not finding trading quite as upbeat.

Wouldn’t it be great if in 2017 Government could actually make some final decisions on big infrastructure projects? Whether be a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, let’s just make a decision!

Mark Simpson, Design Director, BDP

Christopher Newton, Director, Montgomery On the positive side, economic growth postBrexit has not slowed nearly as much as forecasters predicted. The mood within the industry remains generally upbeat and companies seem to be determined not to be blown off course. The extraordinarily weak pound will be helping exporters.

Opportunities abroad remain exciting for the A+D sector with a high regard for British design and a desire from practices to spread their wings ever further into the Middle East and Asia. Opportunities abound for those willing to expand their horizons.

Donald Trump will be a much better President than pundits predict (although we are starting from a very low base here) and certainly the next four years will not be boring.

On a personal note, Surface Design Show in February (Business Design Centre, Islington) will be the largest-ever with over 170 exhibiting companies and some 45 different presentations on three stages.

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Hopes and Aspirations – post-Brexit and Trumpet? At the moment it’s still quite hard to think about what there is to look forward to next year. 2016 was horrible in many ways – we lost some amazing, creative people and politics got very weird and worrying. As we approached Christmas it was all still really depressing, Aleppo is heartbreaking, Trump in the White House is terrifying.

Brexit is still so uncertain it’s hard to know what will happen. Those in power seem not to have a clue and that uncertainty is likely to delay investment and dampen growth for some time yet.

That said, 2016 was very good for BDP and I know we will be busy in 2017. We joined forces with Nippon Koei of Japan, which is already bringing in new opportunities and we recently had major wins such as the design delivery role on Google’s new HQ at Kings Cross and the refurbishment of the Northern Estate for the Houses of Parliament – both very large projects with very different challenges and opportunities. We have equally exciting UK and international projects on the boards in the retail, education and health sectors, so I’m hoping we can grow the team and continue to produce great work.

Newcastle United were top of the Championship over Christmas, a return to the Premiership is very much on the cards – and that’s one thing for me to look forward to at least.

CALL FOR ENTRIES 2017 AN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BRITISH FURNISHING DESIGN

ENTRIES NOW OPEN

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Mixology North17 7 December 2017 Manchester Central Manchester

Mixology17 22 June 2017 Old Billingsgate London

Contact David Smalley 0161 946 6262 david@mixinteriors.com www.mixology-awards.com 41

London Calling Over the past 17 years we’ve been fortunate enough to meet and interview brilliant people from all areas of the corporate design world.

World-renowned product designers, inspiring interior architects, forward thinking end user clients, brilliant CEO’s – we’ve done the lot.

David's CV Born in Scotland Graduated in 2008 Last year promoted to Associate Director of Design Lived in Spain for six years - working on projects for Nike Spain and Portugal

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Profile - David Drews

7th Floor Mezzanine XYZ, in collaboration with GA Studio

Well, when we say the lot, we suddenly realised, following our successful MixInspired events that there is one particular area we have (until now) completely missed out on. The UK’s leading developers have formed the heart of our MixInspired panels – and yet, with our journalistic hats on, we haven’t approached them, until now.

This is exactly why we’ve come to London’s West End to meet with David Drews, Associate Director of Design at Allied London.

Having worked with Allied London on our aforementioned events, we already know that despite the fact that we’re in the centre of the capital, much of our conversation will be about David and the team’s amazing work in Manchester.

Allied London is a multiple award-winning UK company focused on a simple single vision – to create inspiring places that dynamically change the ways in which people work and live.

Allied London believes that in order to deliver major positive change to a city environment, you first need to understand the fundamental values of a city. With energy and dedication, the firm devises, designs and delivers landmark mixed-use developments, buildings and concepts in London, Manchester and Leeds.

With an enviable reputation for successfully designing, delivering, managing and leasing city centre projects throughout the UK, Allied London’s aim is to create mixed use developments combining residential, office, retail and leisure spaces within carefully planned and managed environments. By working closely with talented architects and designers, the team is able to inspire the creation of design excellence.

And, as we previously mentioned, nowhere has been witness to this more than Manchester. This, we soon discover, has been much of the focus of David’s work of late.

The accent we’re picking up is neither London nor Manchester though. ‘I’m originally from Scotland,’ David tells us. ‘We have two offices – we have our main office in Manchester and this one here in London. The Manchester office is bigger and I’m up there at least once a week – so quite a lot of travelling up and down, which I don’t mind at all.

‘We’ve always been based in London – our Chief Executive, Michael Ingall, has always been London-based. The Manchester office has grown significantly over the past year or so with the St. John’s project.

‘I’m an architect by trade. I initially came in to Allied London to work alongside our

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external architects and interior designers and have become more and more heavily involved in that. In the last year I have been promoted to Associate Director of Design and through that we’ve started to increase the amount of in-house design work we’re doing. I was the first architect to be employed by the company – and we’ve now employed a second architect.

‘It was an interesting transition to move from being a project architect to working for a developer. I lived in Spain for six years and worked on projects for Nike in both Spain and Portugal, where I worked very closely with them. They have a very commercial way of looking at things and I’ve found that this has been really helpful in the work I’m doing here.

I guess that as an architect I’ve always had a really commercial mind – which I think is important. A lot of architects don’t have that commercial mind.

‘I’ve always done fit-out work. I graduated in 2008, and the recession hit maybe a year after, so there was only really refurb work around. Then I ended up in retail in Spain – so I guess I’m an architect with a strong interior focus. For a while I wondered where all of this was taking me. In truth it has got me where I am, here at Allied, and we’re now doing a lot more fit-out work in-house.’ w

Profile - David Drews Speaking of projects, we ask David about the major developments he’s currently working on. ‘St. John’s is the major development we’re currently working on in Manchester,’ he reveals. ‘It’s made up of a variety of different buildings, including the old Granada Studios HQ – there’s a major refurbishment of that building, an extension, a new build residential block and a ‘container park’, which will be for start-up businesses. Then Central Village will be the major business hub of the development, for larger businesses, and then we’ve got the Bonded Warehouse – which is being done entirely in-house and is for medium-sized businesses. So there is an overall strategy here; small start-ups of 2-3 people in old Granada Studios can move up to the Bonded Warehouse when they get a bit bigger – and then the big companies will be in Central Village. So there is a sideways strategy here to keep people on the site and allow them to grow with us.

'We're calling it Enterprise City. We are designing a programme of support for all businesses here, from start-ups to grown-ups, so the essence of place goes far beyond the physical building.

‘St. John’s Place – a 52-storey tower – is the real landmark development of the site, the most storeys for any building in Manchester, and then we have South Village, which is contemporary warehouse living, comprising 62 apartments based on classic industrial heritage. Then there are two bespoke w

South Village, St. John's Interior in collaboration with Geraghty Taylor Architects

So there is a sideways strategy here to keep people on the site and allow them to grow with us.

1st Floor XYZ Work, in collaboration with GA studio

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Profile - David Drews 305-unit residential towers, which will be developed for the rental market. Service will be king here, with everything from restaurant recommendations to changing a lightbulb included.

‘The new build residential elements will have some amazing duplex apartments. We’ll be leading on the fit-out of the residential towers in South Village once the shell and core is built.

'They are selling really well and we have a long waiting list of interested buyers for the remaining units.

'The inspiration behind Central Village is the Meat Packing District in New York, so we wanted it to be bold, simple architecture with a lot happening at street level.

'Even the treatment of the streets themselves will be different – we didn’t want typical paved streets so we’ve put a lot of thought into how we can put real character into that element.

'We are also developing Factory – a project

by Manchester City Council at St. John's. It's a Rem Koolhaas/OMA architects building and will be the biggest large-scale arts facility in Manchester. It's been designed to rival arts facilities like the Barbican in London and will occupy a unique place in the cultual landscape of the UK. For those who don’t know Manchester too well, this amazing development will connect with the revitalised Spinningfields development, which David feels has also

played a major part in the revitalisation of the city centre. ‘They’ve done an amazing job with it,’ he says. ‘From being all new buildings and a financial area, they’ve done a great job in creating a community. At the ground level it does feel very much as though there’s life throughout the area – and that’s very difficult to do with a new development. There’s a lot of

St. John’s Place – a 52-storey tower – is the real landmark development of the site, the most storeys for any building in Manchester

work that goes in behind the scenes to create that community.’

Of course, in order to create a vibrant community, you need to attract the right people and the right businesses.

Allied London, we’re told, will follow the path so successfully trodden by the neighbouring Spinningfields. ‘We pinpoint the tenants that we want and if we feel they are not right then we will walk away,' David admits.

'You have to have a vision of what you want and then follow that vision.’

Heading back down south, David shows us another of the developments he has been working on – and somewhat ironically, this is in another area we know pretty well. ‘Herbal House in Clerkenwell was the first project I worked on when I came to Allied London,’ he reveals. ‘This is on a smaller scale – it’s a warehouse building we’re revitalising. The reception design was done completely inhouse and is based on the industrial aesthetic of the building. This was formerly the Daily Mirror’s print works, built in 1929, and a lot of famous people were photographed for the Daily Mirror there.

‘So the inspiration comes from the ‘rough’ aesthetic of the building and a photographer from that time who I really like called Erwin Blumenfeld.

‘I really like to take inspiration from nonarchitecture and interior design sources – from photography, fashion, music – and then incorporate them into the scheme.

‘For Herbal House we’ve also taken existing machinery that’s been reclaimed from the building and we’ve played with blackened steel silhouettes and different types of glass. It’s a real industrial deco scheme – we’ve taken an art deco motif and cast it in concrete and even used reclaimed iron printing cogs as tables.

This is all being implemented at the moment.’

Well, with so much of our own time spent in both Clerkenwell and Manchester, we’ll certainly keep our eyes on how these amazing projects progress.

Herbal House reception

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In Short Located in Canary Wharf and Bloomsbury, London Comprises 25 research faculties and 50 teaching faculties University College London ranked 13th in the world (4th in Europe) in 2014 Global Employability Survey Launched August 2015

Managing Directors It’s been a number of years since we’ve visited the centerpiece of Canary Wharf that is One Canada Square. Our previous engagement was with global giant Bank of New York Mellon. Today we’re going to see a very different resident – UCL’s School of Management.

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Not only is it going to be fascinating to compare and contrast the worlds of finance and education, it’s also going to be incredibly interesting to see how far the world of corporate design has come in those past few years.

Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL was the first university in England to welcome students of any class, religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. Today, it is one of London’s leading multidisciplinary universities, with approximately 11,000 staff and 38,000 students from 150 different countries.

UCL’s School of Management offers undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes in management, technology entrepreneurship, information management for business, management science and business analytics. Its programmes incorporate learning activities and industrial experiences that will help develop commercial

Case Studyof Management Case Study - UCL School competencies, internal organisational management skills, and a high degree of creativity, preparing scientists, engineers, physicians, and other innovators for leadership roles in the next generation of technologyintensive organisations, as well as in finance and consulting firms.

When UCL’s School of Management decided to consolidate and relocate its facilities, it looked first to its home on the Bloomsbury campus. The university estates department allocated another building on its estate – 66-72 Gower Street – and as one of the university’s framework architects, Levitt Bernstein was briefed to work up some initial concepts for the space.

However, it quickly became apparent that this building would not meet the school’s aspirations in terms of creating a cutting edge learning environment and compete on the international market. The idea of moving the school to Canary Wharf was suggested – and considering the excellent business links within the area, a deal was quickly struck for the 38th floor of One Canada Square.

Tom Greaves, Associate Director at Levitt Bernstein, can tell us more. ‘Rather curiously, the School of Management was part of the Engineering Faculty, and as such found themselves in a traditional research building with workshops, labs and write-up spaces – meaning students and staff weren’t having any opportunities to interact or collaborate.

Instead, the blank canvas at Canary Wharf meant we could create something really bespoke for the School that would meet all of their requirements.

Levitt Bernstein’s brief swiftly changed from providing departmental facilities to w

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creating a whole university satellite, complete with academic, administrative and social spaces.

As per other management schools (including the University of Warwick, which has taken occupation in the Shard), the School of Management is incredibly ambitious and competitive. ‘The New York Stock Exchange was here previously,’ Tom explains. ‘The School’s Director wanted to try to bring the school into the financial district rather than keep it in the more academic world.’

With this new location came the opportunity to express a more distinct identity – an important step in establishing its global profile and attracting the best academic and business talent – and so Levitt Bernstein worked closely with brand consultants Studio Blackburn throughout the design process.

The school feels a particular synergy with the wider Canary Wharf community – its business focus providing an inspiration and opportunity for students to engage with the corporate world during their education.

Moreover, the floor above the new UCL School of

Case Study - UCL School of Management

Essentials Client School of Management, UCL Architect Levitt Bernstein Project Manager MACE QS Aecom Brand Consultant Studio Blackburn M&E Consultant Buro Happold Main Contractor Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd Furniture Vitra, Senator Flooring Interface, Christy, Forbo

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Management is a designated small business accelerator, set up by the Canary Wharf Group to support start-up enterprises. With this is mind, Tom and the team needed to create a space where business meets academia – breaking down corporate norms to provide a stimulating learning environment. The School’s Director, Bert De Reyck, drew up a bespoke brief and Levitt Bernstein worked closely with his team and UCL’s estates department to establish their priorities and expectations.

The design concept was inspired by an early conversation with the client group, where the idea of dividing the space into distinct zones serving the different aspects of the school’s work was discussed. These were nicknamed ‘villages’; offices and meeting spaces arranged around a central shared space that became known as the ‘village green’.

Each village is allocated to a particular teaching or research group, and those with commonalities are located next to each other with further shared breakout spaces. The circulation between the villages is key – it is as much a social space as a route connecting the villages. The team wanted to encourage interaction at every opportunity to create a truly convivial environment, which manifested itself through a deliberate breaking of the geometry to create a number of incidental and informal spaces.

The six villages are distributed around the edge of the floorplate, and rather than being delineated by walls, each is defined by a particular colour and texture through the lighting, flooring and graphics to create subidentities for each of the groups and assist with orientation. The entrances to the villages are also open, allowing glimpses into the spaces and spectacular views of the London skyline beyond. Smart shared workspaces are located in prime spots (with the best views) to encourage people out of their offices.

‘If you look at different floors here, there is a central core and then open plan space and cellularised offices next to the windows,’ Tom reveals. ‘We’ve tried to reverse that, just to change the feel from something quite corporate to something more exciting.

‘Here, we have the core and a number of spaces that hug the core – shared spaces such as teapoints and the boardroom. From there we’ve developed this idea where the groups – villages – can work together and, depending on the hierarchy, people get either an office or space out in the shared workspace. What we’ve tried to do here is make sure that the shared workspace is actually the instinctively more attractive space, with the best views.

We’ve looked to break that hierarchy without obviously spelling it out to everyone. w

Case Study - UCL Case School Studyof Management ‘There’s also informal circulation routes and the broken geometry allows people to stop and meet and share ideas without being in other people’s way.

‘These lead you into the village – and each one of these has a subtle branding difference, whether that is through the colour or the definition on the floor or the wall. The villages are also linked by small ‘lanes’ on the outside, which provide further opportunities for interaction and meeting. All of this is designed to get people to collaborate – for accidental

The School’s Director wanted to try to bring the school into the financial district rather than keep it in the more academic world.

interactions – and to break down those typical barriers. Rather than this being a case of cramming people in, this is more a case of finding ways of not making people feel like they are floating between spaces. So we’ve broken down the spaces and created a series of clusters.

‘I should say that the school’s management has been extremely proactive and very good in embracing all of this.’

A hub space welcomes students on arrival from the lifts and features an informal seating area to create a meeting place away from the villages. Two impressive ‘Harvard-style’ lecture theatres sit either side of this and their intimate horseshoe format and tiered seating encourages interaction and discussion.

Breakout niches are also integrated into the window bays at the rear of the seating to allow smaller group working. Throughout, materials, colour and texture have been used to clearly define space and to a level of sophistication that reflects the school’s aspirations.

‘UCL is establishing a presence in other parts of east London,’ Tom tells us as we look out over the capital from our lofty position here on the 38th floor. ‘So the School of Management being in Canary Wharf sits neatly within this narrative and places it at the heart of a wider academic community.’

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U646 ST9

Case Study

Tax Haven When we put this date in the diary we had (foolishly) expected a sunny August day out on the coast. The weather, however, has let us down. We arrive at Brighton railway station to find dark skies and drizzle.

Not that our spirits are dampened – after all, we’re not here for the candy floss and amusements.

In Short Founded in 2004 Market leading provider of sales tax and compliance automation services 15 offices around the world Headquartered in Seattle, WA

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Study CaseCase Study - Avalara Instead, we’re here to take a look at the new UK home of Avalara. Located just a couple of minutes from the railway station, this new facility sits within the impressive Trafalgar Place, where we are met by a couple of familiar faces – Aedas’ Simon Jackson and Technique Resolutions’ Roger Croft – who are happy to give us the guided tour.

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with VAT, sales tax, excise tax, and other transactional tax requirements by delivering comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate and easy to use.

Since 2004, Avalara has continually blazed new roads in what is an extremely old industry, working to help businesses of all sizes achieve tax compliance. The company’s end-to-end suite of solutions are designed to effectively manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities in the United States and internationally.

Furthermore, Avalara boasts a forwardthinking, fresh working culture and approach to business – and this, we are assured, is carried through to its space.

We head up to the third floor of Lanchester House and immediately walk out to a cool, open breakout space, with no reception in

sight. Simon explains that there was little need for a reception desk as all visitors (as we have already discovered) are asked to sign in with Lanchester House’s own reception back on ground level. This has also helped Simon and the Aedas team with one of the greatest challenges here - space, or lack of it. We’ll let Simon tell us more.

‘These guys are based in Seattle and they hit upon cloud software that is really revolutionary. They are continuously growing and expanding – and this is the second major office outside of the States.

‘They chose Brighton because they already had people here in a serviced office environment, testing the water as it were.

Brighton has a great catchment – lots of creative, tech people are down here – and of course also benefits from cheaper rates than London!

‘So they started in the UK with a fairly small concern but quite quickly became successful. We were brought on board through our office in Seattle – the client contacted them and then they came to me – so this is the first time we have worked together.

‘They were originally supposed to have moved into this space in November last year.

They are very strong on their brand – as you can see they wanted to implement what

55

is a very vivid corporate brand here. The colours throughout the finishes and fabrics was emphatically stipulated. This is a special orange, for example (Pantone 138-C), which we had real trouble trying to source. In the end we had to go back to the States to specify it!

‘We were gearing up for a move towards the end of last year and then I got a phone call from the client saying that they had just won a large contract with a customer and were going to need space for a further 40 people.

We had just signed off with the contractor and originally it was thought that we’d have to find a new, bigger space. We stopped everything and then looked at the original plans for this space.

‘One of the big parts of the scheme was a reception area / breakout space / Tiki bar – a large front-of-house space. It was quite a cool area. We realised that needs must and set about adapting this area to get a higher density throughout.

‘With all these adaptations, a new completion date of August was set.’

And here we are, in August, with Avalara’s first UK office now up and running. The colours and the large-scale graphics immediately catch the eye. While bright orange and blue and whole feature walls can be overpowering, they really work here, with the rest of the w

CaseCase Study Study - Avalara

Essentials Client Avalara Interior Design Aedas Fit-Out Contractor Parkeray Furniture Search, Procurement & Install Technique Resolutions Systems Furniture Staverton Task Seating Orangebox Tiki Bar Furniture Emeco / Tolix Meeting Room Furniture Actiu Outdoor Furniture Vondom

One of the really nice things they do is they have a ‘Kegorator’ – a barrel of beer, essentially. They even have a Beer Keg Policy! I think this says a lot about their culture

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scheme remaining monotone. The Tiki bar area is still cool, despite it having to be reduced in size. We ask Simon to tell us more about the global specifications he and the team were asked to implement here. ‘We didn’t really have guidelines in place because they are still a relatively new company,’ he explains. ‘They did have a particular look and feel and had architects in Seattle helping them out.

‘The furniture became quite a challenge because they really wanted to use the same products that they use in the States but we couldn’t source a lot of them so we had to come up with products that looked and felt very similar. We looked to take those ‘global standards’ and make them a bit more international.’

Aedas turned to Technique to help with the challenges of the furniture package. Whilst US products had been specified throughout previous Avalara offices, it is our own UK products that take pride of place here: sit stand desking from Staverton, with storage from Bisley, and task seating from Orangebox– but more about that a little later.

Simon reveals that, earlier in the process, there was plenty more work to be done. ‘When we first looked at the space they had split the floor, and when we got it, it was still their Cat A, which was basically mineral fibre ceiling, not great quality raised floors, the air con systems were not really at standards – this is quite an old building now, probably late 1970’s, so a lot of it wasn’t really up to scratch. We’ve put in a new plant room on the roof to get that extra fresh air. Essentially, we had to update a lot of the base build.’

With the new systems in place, the team set about working on the look and feel of the space. ‘They wanted to come across as cool and fresh,’ Simon smiles. ‘In their US office in Durham, North Carolina they also have a cool Tiki bar with bleachers, but that’s on a much bigger scale than this, of course. One of the really nice things they do is they have a ‘Kegorator’ – a barrel of beer, essentially. They even have a Beer Keg Policy! I think this says a lot about their culture – they come together after work, chill out and enjoy a beer or two.

They’re a pretty cool company.’

We move back to the subject of the workspace itself. ‘We felt that they really should be looking at benching systems,' Simon continues, 'which would massively help with the density issue and finding space for those 40 extra people.

‘We then suggested they consider looking at sit/stand systems – they looked into it and quickly decided that they should have sit/stand for everybody. There’s no desk sharing here – everyone has a fixed w

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Case Study

A LOT GOES INTO OUR STORAGE For a start, there’s over 25 years of experience. Then there’s the skilled engineering, design and manufacturing, using only the best quality fixtures and fittings. We’ve also put in a huge amount of time ensuring that the smallest of details are taken care of. Add to that a huge amount of pride and ownership and you’re some of the way to understanding that our product really is exceptional. So, whatever your customers decide to put into our storage, rest assured that we’ve already put a huge amount into them too.

WWW.JAMES-TOBIAS.COM 58

Study CaseCase Study - Avalara

They wanted to come across as cool and fresh

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desk – although I guess that might change as they continue to grow. We do have some touchdown desks for visitors and staff from other offices – these are the only non-sit/stand systems in here.’

Roger picks up the story, ‘We’d been researching the Sit/Stand market in the fall of 2015 as our A&D contacts were telling us that their clients were being extremely proactive in requesting a sit stand solution, at least in part, for their offices. There are a myriad of products out there, some that work really well and some, quite frankly, that don’t. When Aedas approached us we immediately suggested the ‘Sit Or Stand’ (SOS) desk, from Staverton. SOS is not only very good in terms of build quality but it is also extremely flexible, allowing for fixed, crank and electrical adjustable options all within the exact same frame and footprint. Fortunately, we won the day with SOS and then worked with Aedas and Avalara to complete the product mix.

'We supplied a number of tasks chairs for Avalara to test and Orangebox’s Do was chosen.

We also had a lot of fun with the Tiki area, together deciding on Emeco’s Navy 1006 chair to complement Tolix tables, and also on the balcony, which needed a product to not only withstand the elements but also look great; for this we chose Vondon’s Delta chairs and tables.'

At the front of the space there is a series of smart bookable meeting rooms, including a larger room that doubles as a boardroom. There is also a fantastic outdoor terrace, which overlooks the town, the Pavilion and the sea.

Without being forewarned, we’d never had known that the plans here were so radically altered. The team has managed to pack an awful lot in, and yet it still manages to feel spacious and generous. As we stand on the terrace and look out to the sea, we suddenly realise the rain has finally stopped. There might be time for candy floss yet.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE RO U N D TA B L E On

a

beautiful

chilly

afternoon

KAY BRIDGE, THE FAIRHURSTS DESIGN GROUP

in

Manchester we assembled a royal gathering of experienced designers. Our aim was to discuss biophilic design. Definitions include ‘An innovative way of designing the

DAVID GEORGE, FCH

places where we live, work, and learn’ and ‘The inherent human inclination to affiliate with nature’ – or putting lots of plants in your office! Crucially, do clients get it?

TA L K I N G

Our roundtable was sponsored by Gresham, 40 years young last year, while our guests

We started by asking what biophilic design (BD) means for designers and their clients.

have worked in a broad range of sectors and have significant depth of experience. They

SIMON – It is what we are already doing and have been for many years. BD is just a label but it’s what you should be doing as part of best practice. It’s not about putting in a load of plants, it’s about getting the standard things right.

also hold different views – about almost everything! Have a look at their profiles and where they would travel to if they had a 'golden ticket'.

JASPER – If you are providing the right design solutions for people you naturally undertake it without giving a label. If you are purposely trying to do BD then you might end up missing the point and not actually creating the right solution. There is a danger of making it visual and cosmetic, distracted from the need to create a place.

SIMON MILLINGTON

SIMON –You can take the whole idea too far, such as growing your own food. What is important is that you understand the human interaction and each individual person’s needs on an hour-by-hour basis.

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JAMES – I think for me BD is about a feeling and emotion. It creates connections and feelings leading to positive emotions. Bark and textured material doesn’t talk back. People create emotions – the environment doesn’t. To change people’s actions it is necessary to make their working environment more pleasant.

LEE – Many of my clients are focused on the cost, therefore being creative with the budget is often our approach. Regarding BD, we try to get that outdoors indoors feel all the time.

How much has the world of architecture moved away from the structure and towards being people centric?

JASPER SANDERS, JASPER SANDERS + PARTNERS

DAVID – It’s always been an inherent part of it.

It’s always been driven by the client.

KAY – There shouldn’t be a significant demarcation between architecture and interiors. At the end of the day they want to be in that space. An individual may want to be able to control lighting and heat levels, this is where both disciplines have to work together.

What you don’t want is the fluorescent lighting giving the staff migraines.

People create emotions – the environment doesn’t James Scott

B R O A D LY SIMON – I don’t think many designers understand the term BD, let alone clients.

It can be seen as just a bit of a buzz term to justify some consultancy fees. Along with SKA ratings and BREEAM it’s just down to good design. The debate after this is if you want to bring in the living elements such as a wall. I was fortunate to work on the Regatta project here in Manchester. As an outdoor brand they wanted that feel of lots of the ‘outdoors’, and at no point did they ask what was the payback.

LEE – One of our clients is YKK, the zip people, and structurally we knew they needed to plan a very good canteen place that really worked well in this type of environment. It has proved to be very popular and an integral part of the workplace.

Areas to recuperate are one of the key principles of BD. How important is shared space in the modern workplace?

LEE BIRCHALL, DV8 DESIGNS

JAMES – It is the main point. Shared ideas for staff to gather are arguably the most important area.

KAY– We work extensively with the R&D sector (academics and researchers) – who have a tendency to happily squirrel themselves in their own spaces. We actively put in soft spaces so they have a defined collaboration and accidental meeting space. We make them walk to get their brew, which happens to be in a linking area so everyone has ‘happy accidents’ which help create new ideas.

DAVID – Our approach is definitely the less formal and more creative the better – often it will become a talking point.

SIMON – The ‘common area’ is the easiest sell to the client. It’s the heart of the workspace and has the flexibility, meaning it will be busy from 8.30 in the morning and all through the

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JAMES SCOTT, CUBE 8 STUDIO

day. The sell is that this is a great meeting place therefore you can potentially have less building space. It gets expensive in buildings when you have cellular spaces with air conditioning, fire alarms etc. The trend is less of the formal spaces and meetings behind closed doors.

DAVID - A cultural shift has to happen.

We asked our panel to give us some examples of where these common areas have been created.

KAY – Every building we have done recently.

You force people together and suddenly the company creates something amazing.

DAVID - Using experience in the hotel sector to help create common areas, we had a client recently that had two very separate cultures, but cross-fertilisation of ideas was key. This is where the flexible canteen area works so well.

JASPER – If you are designing spaces, you are not just spending money – you are adding value. We believe that ‘if it’s good for people, it’s great for business’. There is an absolute correlation between the two. The danger with BD is that you can get caught up with the biological shapes and nature and trying to reflect nature in the design and you forget the purpose of making people feel better, delivering productivity or function.

LEE – Time has moved on. I’m not sure that if you provide a place to relax most would simply get away from their desks and get on their mobile phones.

KAY – I think it depends on the organisation as to what happens in the breakout areas.

The café areas we create usually double up as informal meeting and seminar areas.

I agree with Simon’s earlier point that the client is increasingly happy to have breakout areas designed into the plan as it becomes an efficient use of space and often negates having to plan another three meeting rooms that are hardly used.

If it’s good for people, it’s great for business Jasper Saunders

DAVID – I agree with Kate – ideally you have to design something that is multifunctional.

SIMON – The danger with any plan is assuming that one size fits all. For me it’s a case of; gathering the people in a forum that they can freely express their needs – then your job is to help them sell back up the food chain. Listening to every stakeholder, we would never begin designing a solution that isn’t used. Let the client ‘treat furniture as Velcro’ and rearrange to suit their needs.

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The Round Table

DAVID – I worked with Moneypenny, a brother and sister team where their staff were 9095% women. I have to say they had a brilliant reputation and very high levels of staff retention. This was partly to do with the fact that they obviously cared about their staff. It’s the happiest level of staff I have ever seen in any organisation. Their café was central to their culture.

SIMON – I think these days you almost start from that point and work out.

Treat furniture as Velcro

LEE – You have to design for everyone and that includes landscaping where you can, café, bar, gym, cycle storage and even heated areas for smokers!

Who are you talking with at your client meetings?

Simon Millington JAMES – At AO.com it was the People Director – she looked after the health and wellbeing.

We got on the best because she understood people and that was central to the design plan.

However, I like to give them a list of the ideal people that should be on the steering group.

KAY – We usually speak to project managers but they may be part of a bigger group. Consultants are often brought in or they are the estates people of universities.

DAVID – On my last job it was the Managing Partner.

SIMON – I would often be speaking to HR people; they are aware the battle is not about squeezing the assets but about the productivity of the staff.

LEE – Very often we will speak on the hospitality side of things to the marketing people. They are interested in the brand and everything in that scheme has to represent the brand.

KAY – You can see that it can vary from scheme to scheme and I think that is diversifying even more. You may be talking to a Workplace Director or Chief Product Officer! However, sometimes the person tasked with the job is someone that either doesn’t want to do it or is not really qualified. They can be terrified that they will get it wrong and everyone will blame them. Our job as designers is to reassure them that we do know what we are doing. Giving them a choice but a guiding hand.

SIMON – My view of that is that the entrepreneur and owner managed business is very close to their finances and realises that the biggest expense is people. If they can avoid staff churn it saves money.

Do you find that clients are referencing other companies and asking for similar? There was an overwhelmingly positive response from all participants.

JAMES – I usually get presented a Pinterest document.

SIMON – There is a danger to be the same.

What was right for them is not necessarily right for you.

KAY – I often wonder do they really want a ‘Google’. When pushed they actually liked the picture of the meeting room of Google – not the slide.

JASPER – Everyone is switched on to design and everyone has a view. This has its negative and positive connotations. It’s up to the designer to help the client and use their experience to find the ideal result.

LEE – I had a client who wanted a boardroom like an All Saints shop. It’s good that clients have ideas – we then have to work out if its practical, in budget and will last.

Are clients at the top of the pyramid, driving the market and therefore expecting good things in the coming years as the rest adopt this approach?

SIMON – They think they cannot afford it. We are there to make it affordable. I think there are a lot of people at the bottom spending £150 on a chair that lasts two years when they should spend £200 and it will last 10 years. Perception is something we as a sector need to address and show that small budgets can also work.

LEE – It’s definitely a top down situation and one that most business leaders are completely in the dark about – the link between a great working environment and productivity.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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The Round Table When you are presenting new ideas are you finding that virtual reality works?

KAY – We use Google glasses. We simply set up a scene – an office scene – then upload the image that the client can view through the glasses. It is a less costly method than VR, which still has the wow factor.

You can also send an QI code that can be viewed on their iPhone.

JAMES – I personally think that clients can get overwhelmed by it. You can spend too much time creating them and I think often the best method is sketching. Clients like a sketch because they feel they can make changes.

KAY – Sketching is great but it depends on the client.

SIMON – You cannot beat a watercolour render, but you cannot zoom in.

DAVID – We tend to work with designers who help us to project our ideas onto a wall. We used this as part of the journey after proper consultation rather than the first thing we deliver. Fundamentally you have to pick the right method for the client.

JAMES – In the past I have done a SketchUp model then sat down with one of the key project members before going to the MD. Getting them to sit beside me and make subtle changes provides a great experience.

LEE – We are working on something at the moment and its all CGI. DAVID – For some of our work it is a perquisite for high-end investors to present using CGI. Is biophilic design just smoke and mirrors?

KAY – We interpret the five principles. The clients I deal with never mention biophilic design and it would possibly confuse them. I talk about wellbeing, light, great spaces…

SIMON – It would scare them. 95% of that is done anyway.

JAMES – Part of my questioning is to ask about biophilic design but I don’t label it as such. If they don’t know, I explain about light, planting etc and then show how it can be brought into the designs.

LEE – BD is the last 5% in the box. The architects and developers have to create something integral to the build, like an atrium or what Ask Developments are doing at First Street in Manchester with the ‘greenhouses’.

The clients I deal with never mention biophilic design and it would possibly confuse them. I talk about wellbeing, light, great spaces…

Kay Bridge

programmers. The use of inclusive/communal spaces and outside terraces – where possible – have gone down a treat. We have had letters of thanks where the client has been overwhelmed with the response from the staff. Therefore, rather than a big planting tub, it was more about the broader environment.

JASPER – Again a lot depends on the workforce and individuals. Some people are more outdoors than others. Some people, even given the chance, would not walk out to get some fresh air at lunchtime. As we have said today, it’s all about understanding the client.

KEY POINTS OF THE DISCUSSION • The central collaborative space is now more commonly the first thing on the drawing board.

• Biophilic Design isn’t necessary the most effective start point.

• The key decision makers are changing their focus from the ‘structure’ to ‘people’.

• Productivity is the key driver for most company leaders.

KAY – We work with a lot of clients whose staff work alone: researchers, e-learning and online

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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JAMES C SCOTT, Founder, Cube 8 Studio Staring the business in January 2016, James has over 15 years’ experience designing workspace interiors and is dedicated to and specialises in creating positive emotions, through interior and communication design, by embracing future human needs, changes and caring for people’s feelings.

His previous work experience has been with OBI Property, where he merged his previous business – JCSDesigns – into OBI property. James’ latest design is for a 150-person canteen in the north of England for a high profile furniture manufacture.

Golden Ticket ‘If I was given tickets for a week’s travel I would like to go to my motherland – Burma – as I am a quarter Burmese, then onto to Vietnam and Singapore.’

LEE BIRCHALL, Managing Director, DV8 Designs. The firm was established in 2006,

by Lee, who has over 25 years experience designing and delivering just about every kind of building you can imagine, ranging in project value from £20k to £40m. An experienced architectural/ interior designer, Lee’s background embraces commercial and domestic developments. He has a long background in residential, office, leisure, restaurant, bar, hotel and nightclub design.

Clients have included YKK, The Restaurant Group, Mercedes AMG Petronas, Stonegate, New Moon Pub Company and Enterprise Inns.

Golden Ticket ‘Given tickets, I think I would go to Vegas! Never been, but it is one of the ultimate places to observe use of space, design and operations in one of the world’s leading commercial environments!’

KAY BRIDGE, Associate interior designer, Fairhursts Design Group. Kay has been with the firm for seven years, specialising in R&D, commercial and higher education sectors. Kay has worked with interesting and diverse clients such as Wellcome Trust, Universities of Manchester, Salford & Cambridge, Manchester United and The Peel Group on Media City studio blocks and Holiday Inn. She is currently successfully working with Liverpool University and key tenant Unilever to deliver a state-of-the-art Manufacturing Innovation Factory by early 2017.

Golden Ticket ‘If I was given a golden ticket to travel, I think I would enjoy the Maldives – maybe it’s all that blue sky and sunshine that appeals –

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especially at this time of the year when it’s dark at 4.30pm here.’

JASPER SANDERS, Design Director, Jasper Sanders + partners. Founder of the studio, in his prior role as Design Associate at BDP, Jasper headed up the practice’s interior architecture, design and graphics group in it’s Manchester office and took a lead role on a number of award winning schemes, including innovative residential developments and education projects. Passionate about design, Jasper describes himself as a ‘space specialist’ with an in-depth understanding of how places can be engineered to make them more effective, productive and enjoyable for the people that use them.

Golden Ticket ‘My favourite place to go is New York – not particularly different, but top of the list for its great architecture art and madness!’

SIMON MILLINGTON Simon has been an established figure of the UK commercial workplace interior design industry for the past 20 years.

Having worked for some of the country’s leading architecturalled interiors practices, he was one of the two founding director's of SpaceInvader.

His vision helped to drive the business to great heights, opening studios in both Manchester and London, delivering schemes for the likes of Regatta, AstraZeneca and Hellical Bar, and winning a fair crop of awards along the way. In May this year Simon decided to leave SpaceInvader so he could spend time with his young family and have time to research exciting new approaches and theories in workplace design.

Golden Ticket ‘Given the choice of an air ticket to anywhere in the world, I would go to the Gold Coast of Australia to explore where I believe the most inspiring approaches to workplace design are emerging.’

DAVID GEORGE, Associate Director, Falconer Chester Hall Architects. David joined Falconer Chester Hall in May 2016 to establish a Manchester studio for the practice.

David has nearly 20 years of experience working in the commercial sector in Manchester for practices such as AEW Architects, Austin-Smith:Lord and BDP. Golden Ticket ‘My ticket for anywhere in the world for a week would have to be Glastonbury!’

MIXOLOGY NORTH PROJECTS 2016 On pages 84/85 you will see all the winners, highly commended and shortlisted entries from December’s hugely successful Mixology North awards in Manchester.

However, we aim to be inclusive, therefore the following pages contain ALL those who took the time to enter our Project of the Year award categories – regardless of the results on the night.

The five categories are: Small Commercial Interior (below 15,000 sq ft), Medium Commercial Interior (15,00050,000 sq ft), Large Commercial Interior (over 50,000 sq ft), Public Sector Interior and Hospitality Interior.

These categories will be replicated at Mixology in London on the 22nd June, so be prepared to put some time aside in February when entries open for the summer bash. In the meantime, please feast your eyes on some of the great projects of the last 12 months.

SMALL COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR 1 John Pye Luxury Assets, Bond Street, London 2 YKK Europe Ltd, Runcorn 3 Project Stone for Cundall Newcastle 4 Equistone Partners (Europe), Manchester 5 Portswigger, Knutsford 6 urbanbubble, Manchester

7 SGS The Maltings, Hull 8 Ward Hadaway, Newcastle 9 e3creative, Manchester 10 Wheelabrator, Manchester 11 Russell's Construction Ltd HQ, Manchester

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1 CPMG ARCHITECTS - John Pye Luxury Assets

2 DV8 DESIGNS - YKK

The boutique showroom designed for John Pye

world renowned provider of fastening solutions,

Auctions’ ‘Luxury Assets’ offers clients a luxurious

to redesign their showroom area at their factory

environment for private viewings of high end

near Preston Brook. Using company colours, DV8

jewellery, artwork and antiques. Considered a

Designs created a bold, bright and flexible space

strategic foothold, the showroom will offer a

with moveable display cases, relaxing spaces and a

wide range of professional valuation, appraisal

private glazed meeting room.

and property services to clients in the South and internationally.

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DV8 Designs were appointed by YKK UK Ltd, a

Review - Mixology North16

11 5

3

3 HL - Project Stone for Cundall Newcastle Project Stone = intelligent solution + sustainability + well being Cundall Newcastle HQ was relocated and designed to create a workplace which encapsulates their working ethos, sustainable ethics and is attentive to staff well being. Design inspiration combines engineered geometry with natural landscapes to create a biophilic and transient interior.

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4 JASPER SANDERS + PARTNERS Equistone Partners (Europe) Failing to reflect the brand identity of investment management firm Equistone and requiring significant spatial reorganisation to provide an effective workplace, the design and fit-out of the Manchester office located at 55 King Street provided an opportunity to create a quality, highly efficient work environment fitting of the financial sector.

5 SPATIAL OFFICE ENVIRONMENTS - Portswigger Portswigger, a web application security software company, were expanding and required new designer offices which helped to promote staff wellbeing and collaborative working. They chose Spatial Office Environments as their fit out partner and entrusted them to deliver a world class office environment for their staff. The end result is a stunning office that anyone would love to work within.

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6 OBI PROPERTY - urbanbubble Residential property management company urbanbubble is a quickly growing business and required a large, new office space. OBI Property worked with the team at urbanbubble to design a space which reflects the vibrancy and fast pace of the dynamic business.

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7 RFD INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE - SGS The Maltings

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RFD have brought back to life the beautiful original features of Hull's Old Brewery, integrating them into a functional working environment.

Maintaining the industrial look and feel, they have created a warming, natural ambiance and aesthetic, preserving the original architecture and quirky features of this historic site.

8 RUCREATIVE - Ward Hadaway ruCREATIVE has successfully designed and implemented a first class office space within the new office development at Wellington Place, Leeds. Working with fit-out contractor Absolute Commercial Interiors, developer MEPC and property agent Savills, the team successfully delivered a premium office interior that exceeds client expectations.

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11 10 9 OBI PROPERTY - e3creative OBI Property provided the design, project management and fit-out for digital agency e3creative’s new office on the 4th floor of Queens House, Queens Street, Manchester. OBI Property took its inspiration from Manchester’s industrial heritage to create a working environment that has seen the team at e3 thrive.

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10 SPATIAL OFFICE ENVIRONMENTS - Wheelabrator Wheelebrator, part of the Norican group, required a new office which better reflected their business and promoted staff retention, well being and collaborative working. They chose Spatial Office Environments as their fit out partner and entrusted them to deliver a world class office environment for their staff. The end result is another stunning office that anyone would love to work within.

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11 stephenson STUDIO - Russells Construction HQ The new interior of Russells Construction, a leading North West building contractor, features an open plan layout with exposed ceilings, revealing the structure and building services.

Expansive sight lines, modern furniture and a palette of blackened steel, concrete and rough sawn oak all contribute to the industrial aesthetics.

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Review - Mixology North16 MEDIUM COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR 1 AstraZeneca Academy House, Cambridge 2 WEIR Group, Glasgow 3 In Touch Games, Halesowen

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1 5PLUS ARCHITECTS - AstraZeneca Academy House Academy House is a 30,000 sq ft fit-out of AstraZeneca’s new head office in Cambridge.

The concept, spun from atomic structure, reflects the business’ aspiration to enhance connectivity between its people and places globally. The design promotes AstraZeneca’s activity based working principles encouraging informal, chance meetings and offers a high level of workplace flexibility.

2 NORR CONSULTANTS WITH HAA DESIGN - WEIR Group A refined and carefully considered office fit-out appropriate for a blue chip company, modern design with classic undertones help to bring a long standing company with a rich history into the 21st century. Clever use of materials and space give the WEIR Group HQ the presence and flexibility the company desired.

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3 POWELL OFFICE STYLE - In touch games Leading on-line gambling company, In Touch Games chose Powell Office to create new office space. The end result, delivered on time and on budget, has seen a step change in their business with clear and measurable improvements in productivity, staff attraction and retention and impact on the bottom line. The business owners are delighted with the end result both environmentally, aesthetically and financially.

LARGE COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR 1 Moneypenny, Wrexham 2 SKY - Digital Centre of Excellence, Leeds 3 Verde Newcastle 4 Rentalcars.com, Manchester 5 AstraZeneca Middlewood Court, Macclesfield

1 AEW ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS - Moneypenny

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Rip up the rule book and create a space that inspires’ – this was the brief for the new 91,000 sq ft Moneypenny Headquarters in Wrexham.

Set within 10 acres of landscaped amenity, the building brings staff from five offices under one roof and features a village pub, stadium seating and a treehouse

2 BDG ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN - Sky 'Digital Centre of Excellence' BDG redesigned 3 adjacent buildings at Leeds Dock, to deliver a welcoming home for Sky’s “Digital Centre of Excellence”, whilst retaining a connection to the heritage of the area. New mezzanine floors were created with new stair, lift and WC cores added to each building. This is now home to 700+ people.

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3 KKA INTERIORS - Verde, Newcastle

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KKA Interiors worked alongside architects Simpson Haugh and Partners to deliver a scheme with the end user at its heart, creating an attractive product for all public areas and bedrooms, enabling Verde to set itself apart in a highly competitive market.

4 OBI PROPERTY - Rentalcars.com OBI Property provided the design, project management and fit-out for a £2.5 million project to comprehensively refurbish the international customer service centre for Rentalcars.com at Sunlight House, Manchester. The 60,000 sq ft

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project draws inspiration from Manchester’s rich heritage of science, industry and culture and the current vibrancy of the City.

5 SPACEINVADER - Middlewood Court, AstraZeneca Middlewood Court’s transformation has not only delivered a beautiful working environment, it has created AstraZeneca’s first fully agile workplace.

A space providing a variety of work settings alongside state-of-the-art technology, the flexible, collaborative facility is supported by the client’s commitment to inspire and is enjoyed by the entire Campus.

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PUBLIC SECTOR INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR 1 The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, South Shields 2 Student Service Centres, University of Nottingham 3 Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Oncology Outpatients Dept.

4 Holywell Learning Campus, Flintshire 5 Chetham’s School of Music Concert Hall, Manchester 6 HMRC Model Office & Events Space, Newcastle

1 FAULKNERBROWNS - The Word

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The Word, National Centre for the Written Word, represents a paradigm shift in public learning buildings. It puts individuals at the heart of the scheme and delivers environments which are relevant to todays social and cultural needs. The Word proves that buildings can be democratic, relevant and creative.

2 CPMG ARCHITECTS - Student Services Centres, U of N The Student Service Centres were developed in response to the University of Nottingham’s Project Transform strategy, which places students at the heart of the university’s activities. The centres are distributed across the University’s estate and provide students with access to information and advice they might need during their time there.

3 HEMISPHERE/JASPER SANDERS + PARTNERS - RMCH Oncology Outpatients This refurbishment of waiting and treatment areas at Europe’s biggest children’s hospital was

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designed to make a more comfortable and child friendly environment for young people undergoing chemotherapy treatment. No structural changes were permitted so impact had to come from space planning, graphic story-telling and a noninstitutional approach to furnishings.

4 SPACE ZERO - Holywell Learning Campus Holywell Learning Campus is a showcase of considered,

methodical

design

principles,

strategically delivered to result in enhanced learning experiences and outcomes for its learners and educators. Identified as one of the key projects in Wales demonstrating exemplary performance of BIM, the project has generated new jobs, created a sustainable community environment and, in the creation of this environment, Space Zero delivered savings of £1.32m.

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Review - Mixology North16 5 STEPHENSON STUDIO - Chethams School of Music

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A new concert hall for Chetham’s School of Music is the second phase of the music school completed in 2012. The world class orchestral concert hall is an acoustically isolated box within a box retrofitted into the voluminous form of the existing school of music. The new concert hall has a 484 seat capacity, which will include a choir, gallery and balcony.

6 WARD ROBINSON - HMRC Model Office and Events Space HMRC commissioned Ward Robinson to design a model office and events space to trial different ways of working, test the boundaries and thinking in use of workspace and technology. Innovative and modern ways of working were introduced, creating an environment that is simply a great place to work.

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HOSPITALITY INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR 1 The Chester Grosvenor Hotel 2 Corn Exchange, Manchester 3 Oldham Town Hall 4 Pullman Hotel, Liverpool 5 Castle St Townhouse, Liverpool 6 Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium

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1 33 INTERIORS - The Chester Grosvenor Hotel 33 created a bedroom which provides a unique guest experience and allows the hotel to offer it’s guests a modern, yet elegant bedroom environment as well as enhancing their position in the market. This was been achieved by combining high quality, traditional finishes and furnishings, with modern detailing, fittings and integrated technology.

2 5PLUS ARCHITECTS - Corn Exchange The Corn Exchange Manchester has been entirely re-invented, Phase I successfully converted the lower floors to 17 restaurant units. Street frontages are reactivated, and the original trading floor reinstated providing dining under the impressive glazed dome whilst correcting the proportions of the Exchange Hall. The building now trades internally and externally,

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reconnecting with the city on all sides.

3 BDP - Oldham Town Hall Oldham Town Hall is a landmark Grade II listed building. BDP’s design unlocks the potential for the adaptive re-use of the former Town Hall building.

BDP’s design retains all three fine sandstone and red brick elevations of the existing building and also restores the finest of the surviving decorated rooms within. A new glass and sandstone extension ingeniously resolves the circulation and levels issues.

4 DRAGONFLY CONTRACTS - Pullman Hotel The Pullman Hotel, a 4 star 216 bedroom hotel developed as part of the Exhibition Centre Liverpool, located on the historic waterfront.

Dragonfly helped develop the FF&E with the interior architects, from concept to reality, a design led yet cost effective scheme to a tight delivery program.

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7 Seaham Hall, County Durham 8 Head of Steam, Sheffield 9 Lews Castle, Isle of Lewis 10 The King Street TownHouse, Manchester 11 Dukes92, Manchester

Ollin from CBS The next chapter in ergonomic refinement.

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info@cbsproducts.co.uk +44 (0)207 940 4266 www.colebrookbossonsaunders.com 75

Review - Mixology North16 5 DV8 DESIGNS - Castle St Townhouse

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DV8 Designs worked on this Grade II listed building in Liverpool City Centre, to create an effortless look design; combining a series of modern classic British dĂŠcor with the existing decorative building elements. Using exaggerated pieces to for a classy and elegant venue that aims to mirror the brands day to night transformation.

6 KKA INTERIORS - Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium Redevelopment of Ashton Gate Stadium, home of Bristol

Sport,

established

Bristol's

premier

conference and events venue featuring stateof-the-art facilities and hub for local community.

Ashton Gate Stadium demonstrates just how important symbiotic image, design and brand have become to KKAI, and all have been delivered under incredibly tight commercial pressures.

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7 KONCEPT ID - Seaham Hall Nestled amongst landscaped gardens Seaham Hall is an exclusive five-star spa hotel that boasts cliff top views over Durham’s heritage coast line. Steeped in history the Georgian Country House has been lovingly restored to become a picturesque destination hotel in the North East.

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Review

Jig Cave

Jig Arbour

Jig Settee

Furniture for social spaces

frovi.co.uk Showroom_Broad Yard Turnmill Street Clerkenwell EC1M 5RR

Jig Chair

Jig Stool

Jig Family

w w w. g o f . c o . u k

Review - Mixology North16 8 DV8 DESIGNS - Head of Steam

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DV8 Designs transformed this Grade II listed building in Sheffield into one of the latest franchise for Cameron's Brewery. Using a mixture of hard surfaces, they designed a playful interior that balances between the modern urban and industrial feel and yet compliments the heritage of the building in which it is housed.

9 NOCHINTZ - Lews Castle Natural Retreats Manchester-based design studio NoChintz is undertaking the design of various hospitality spaces within Lews Castle – an 18th century

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building undergoing substantial refurbishment.

The studio has just completed Phase 1: designing interiors for the whisky bar, private living space, café and store, which are both beautiful and contemporary, whilst sympathetically address the castle’s heritage.

10 SALLY O’LOUGHLIN- The King Street TownHouse King Street Townhouse hotel is an 1872 Edward Solomon Italian renaissance building, located in such a prominent and historic area of Manchester city centre. Kings Street Townhouse now provides a quintessentially English ’baby grand’ hotel of 40 bedrooms and suites, the Tavern restaurant, afternoon tea lounges, meeting and event spaces and a 7th floor infinity spa pool and relaxation area with panoramic views across the city.

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11 SPACEINVADER - Dukes 92 Elle R Leisure announced they would be investing £1m in a major refurbishment of Dukes92. The 6,000 sq/ft project was completed in just three months and the focal point of the new space is a dramatic 50ft brass bar with a spectacular full height diamond form bottle display above it.

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MIXOLOGY NORTH AWARDS 2016

Review - Mixology North16

CENTRAL PERKS Although much of the Mixology North16 awards judging was extremely close, we’re delighted to say that there was a unanimous positive verdict when it came to our amazing new venue of Manchester Central.

With a winter wonderland theme, a full fairground inside and breathtaking acrobats performing from the vast space’s ceiling, our guests were thoroughly entertained throughout the evening.

Even superstar DJ Jeremy Healey couldn’t prise some guests out of the dodgems or Wurlitzer, although the dance floor remained heaving – especially once the special cocktails and winners’ champagne took hold!

Some of the big awards winners on the night included great British manufacturers Gresham and Knightsbridge, while Manchester’s finest young design firms – 5plus Architects, SpaceInvader and No Chintz also triumphed.

This was by far, in a way, the grandest Mixology North to date, with numbers up from 500 to 670 on last year, while we’re also delighted to report that we received record numbers of awards entries and, in our humbled opinion, the highest standard of entries we’ve ever placed in front of our expert judging panel.

Thank you to all our guests, our sponsors, to all those companies who entered the awards and to everyone who gave their support, time, efforts and no little talent to make MN16 the most talked about industry event in years.

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Review

Y ITY CATEGOR

STAINABIL MENTAL & SU

ENVIRON

Going beyond Mission Zero: Eliminating our negative impact on the environment and working towards becoming a truly restorative enterprise.

www.interface.com

98.5%

Water intake reduced by 98.5%

98%

Greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 98%

50%

50% of raw materials are recycled or biobased

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The latest results from Interface’s European manufacturing operations.

0%

Zero waste to landfill

95%

95% of the energy the business uses is from renewable sources

Review - Mixology North16

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Isomi in Concrete, with its clean lines and natural appearance, was a clear winner in the judge’s eyes. It’s availability in different sizes is also a key advantage.

Isomi - Isomi in Concrete Sponsored By Camira

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR- FURNITURE

Bolon By You was described by the judges as a real game changer in flooring. It features smart design, nine new patterns, is sustainable, hard wearing and flexible.

Bolon - Bolon By You Sponsored By Gresham

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR- FLOORING

The judges were unanimous on this scheme, with the creative concept carried through into the interiors in a very subtle, classic way using great materials. The attention to detail through every part of the project was not missed by our panel.

FaulknerBrowns LLP - The Word, National Centre for the Written Word Sponsored By Orangebox

PUBLIC SECTOR INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR

A new product our judges had not seen before. They were impressed with how bespoke and innovative the application was. The product demonstrated great versatility, and was both lightweight and durable.

Changing the Face of Composites - Kimorra

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR- SURFACES

SpaceInvader - AstraZeneca Middlewood Court, Macclesfield Sponsored By Milliken

LARGE COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR

This flexible, collaborative space boasted a real quality throughout.

First class design, which not only looked beautiful but provided an agile, positive work environment.

The judges felt the design promoted inclusivity and connectivity and the colour palette provided a calming, tranquil effect. The overall design was well balanced, flexible and subtle.

5plus Architects - AstraZeneca, Academy House, Cambridge Sponsored By Alea Office

Humanscale - QuickStand Lite Sponsored By Johnson Tiles The judges felt that QuickStand Lite was both innovative and meticulously designed. This slick, contemporary product provides a great retro-fit solution for companies looking to experiment with sit/stand.

MEDIUM COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR LIGHTING, TECHNOLOGY & INTERIOR ACCESSORIES

MIXOLOGY NORTH 2016 WINNERS

The judges were unanimous in agreeing that Interface’s continued commitment to Mission Zero was exemplary. The scale and growth of the Net Works programme was impressive, this year delivering substantial environmental and financial benefits to over 22 communities around the world.

Interface Sponsored By Colebrook Bosson Saunders

With impressive business wins and company growth over the past 12 months, the judges felt Spatial deserved to be recognised as winners.

Their strong relationships with a host of British and international manufacturers was evident ensuring their ability to offer honest, impartial advice.

ENVIRONMENTAL & SUSTAINABILITY

Spatial Office Environments Ltd Sponsored By Yarwood Leather

A clear winner for the judges – the conversion of this brewery into a functional yet aesthetically pleasing working environment was not missed on them. They praised the designers for their integration of original features alongside unique elements of furniture design

RFD Interior Architecture - SGS The Maltings

SMALL COMMERCIAL INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR

FURNITURE PROVIDER OF THE YEAR

Transforming this Grade II listed Town Hall into a multiplex cinema was no mean feat. The judges were really impressed with how the contemporary elements of the design were integrated into the project in such a sensitive way. A unique, meticulous and truly stunning renovation

BDP - Oldham Town Hall Sponsored By Hansgrohe

HOSPITALITY INTERIORS PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Claremont

FIT OUT COMPANY OF THE YEAR

Claremont has delivered another solid 12 months in terms of impressive business wins, client and staff retention and financial growth.

A truly professional yet agile and creative business.

A deserved winner – Gresham have exemplified how to successfully reinvent your brand and product range to stay ahead of the game.

Celebrating 40 years in the business, it is clear to the judges that they plan to continue their ambitious growth plans.

Gresham Office Furniture

MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR

NoChintz achieved another strong performance this year. The judges were impressed by the stunning design work whilst achieving fantastic growth. First class quality and consistency throughout.

NoChintz Sponsored By KI

DESIGN PRACTICE OF THE YEAR

The judges were impressed with the Knightsbridge story and the beautiful designs of their products.

Their clever use of key, contemporary product designers has allowed them to effortlessly move into the commercial workspace sector.

Knightsbridge Furniture Design Team Sponsored By Panaz

PRODUCT DESIGNER/DESIGN TEAM OF THE YEAR

Review

THE TH O O B O T O PH Sponsored by

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S

Magical thinking Flexible working is often seen as a magic bullet for a variety of workplace challenges, but the truth is that it can’t be fired without inflicting some collateral damage, Mark Eltringham tells us.

According to Oxford Dictionaries the word of the year for 2016 is ‘post-truth’. This is a slippery little adjective because while some things are pretty much objectively true, the use of post-truth in many contexts is merely a way of shutting down opinion.

It’s especially pernicious when it comes to ideas and philosophy because it assumes that the person using it knows what the truth is, yet the world’s sharpest minds can’t always agree on that as the great Ambrose Bierce defined truth in his caustic Devil’s Dictionary: ‘Discovery of truth is the sole purpose of philosophy, which is the most ancient occupation of the human mind and has a fair prospect of existing with increasing activity to the end of time’. And there’s a good reason why in the Bible Pilate’s question ‘What is truth?’ is met with silence.

What is ironic about this now is that the world is awash with data. We could easily assume that this would make the truth, or at least facts, less disputable. But the converse appears to be true. The more information we have, the more we fall back on narratives.

This is often the case in the field of workplace design and management. We’ve never had more data about what makes people productive, happy, well, engaged and motivated. We’ve never known more about what makes buildings function and how to optimise their systems and

performance. And yet narratives persist that do not match the data, or at least oversimplify them.

Perhaps the most prevalent of these is that flexible working offers some sort of magic bullet to most of the problems we encounter at work. When it comes to finding solutions to the workplace’s most complex and intractable challenges, the idea of a ‘magic bullet’ is

The more information we have, the more we fall back on narratives

obviously something we find compelling. The term is nearly as old as gunpowder itself, dating back to a piece of German folklore in which the Devil grants a sharpshooter six bullets which hit whatever target he chooses, while the Devil reserves a seventh bullet to do with as he pleases.

We still assume we can always find a single solution to even the most complex issues. This includes finding a simple, single solution to the twin facts that work, for most people, is a frequently troublesome necessity or even something they actively detest; while, for most firms, there are major and sometimes fatal problems associated with the whole palaver of employing people and finding somewhere for them to get things done. For 25 years or more the magic bullet for these facts of life has been the principle of flexible working.

What the data shows us is that flexible working in its various forms is able to help resolve certain issues at work, especially when it is well matched to a firm’s culture and an individual’s character and ability. But it is no magic bullet and often solves one problem while creating another.

We know this, yet still the narrative persists that flexible working is the go-to cure for the ills of work. This seems to rest on another narrative that medicalises our workplace dissatisfaction. We talk about commuting and lack of engagement and stress in pathogenic terms, so it’s no surprise that we should assume there is a cure when the fact is that work is merely a fact of life and sometimes comes with unavoidable annoyances and deprivations. We can always make work and workplaces better, but there’s no magic bullet.

Mark Eltringham is the publisher of workplace design and management website Office Insight. mark@officeinsight.org

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