New start-up companies in Shoreditch, London were provided with a fantastic asset for free by our client, a global technology giant. Iconic successfully delivered a project to refurbish this serviced office building, transforming the desk space, business facilities and working environment.
The project brief
The décor of this five-storey building was beginning to look a little tired. The client needed to freshen the space up and decided to undertake a full refurbishment of four floors to consolidate the works and minimise the overall disruption. The plan was enhance the appeal and functionality of the building to provide a mix of office space and facilities, and install the latest technology to boost staff productivity.
The office refurbishment project
Iconic’s Darren Hewitt was appointed as Project Manager and Employer’s Agent to oversee the whole construction project. He managed the contractor, the professional team, and internal suppliers for the client. This included AV engineering, IT, security, and catering facilities. The total budget of the project was £1.8m and it was to be delivered in just 11 weeks.
Innovative office design
From the street, the first visible improvement is the upgraded entrance with improved accessibility. This leads to new steps into the reception area which is significantly improved with a new reception desk, branding, and a spectacular interactive display wall. It even has bike storage within the reception, which makes it something of a feature.
High tech installations
Also on the ground floor there's an impressive multimedia events space. This is laid out as a formal presentation auditorium with fabric dressing, improved acoustics and lighting and a fabulous LED tiled wall. In total there's around £500k worth of new technology.
Stylish Offices
Each of the office floors has been refurbished to provide a mixture of work space and facilities. The space was previously quite enclosed but now feels very open. Every floor has a lounge space, office space and meeting rooms.The tired old kitchenette and telephone booths were removed and replaced with a stylish kitchenette/bar. All appliances have been built in and hidden away.
New Facilities
The office fit out included a second events space, which has been set up with softer furnishings. This makes it comfortable for workshop presentations. There is also a large classroom, a breakout space and a library.
Privacy and Security
When planning the office space, great consideration was given to providing residents with first class facilities. However, some of our client's own employees are housed in the building and they need their own privacy and security. We achieved this by partitioning the 2nd floor with a glass wall, beyond which is our client’s own space. The desks are laid out according to the client’s own specifications and the acoustics have been engineered to provide adequate privacy. This area also provides several global video conferencing rooms.
Managing residents
Before the project started, the building was unoccupied. This would have been the ideal time to carry out the works, but we had to wait until the design was finalised and agreed. By the time the design was completed, the building was occupied once again.
We had planned to relocate the residents to one of the floors not affected by the office fit out. However, even with this move, the noise would have been too disruptive for them so we decided to move them to a temporary office nearby. This extra work threatened to delay the refurbishment project, but we managed to accelerate the implementation by working around the clock and delivered the project on time.
Experience
A final thought from Darren: ‘Embracing new technology can sometimes risk delays. With flexibility and good teamwork there is usually a way of getting things back on track. Our experienced project managers have a proven track record of overcoming such obstacles and work with stakeholders to ensure their projects are delivered on time, on budget and on brief.’
Author
Lizzie Hewitt
Lizzie is CEO at Iconic Project Management. She loves dreaming up the creative strategies that set Iconic apart. She puts the team at the centre of everything we do, making sure that our people have all the tools and support they need to get on with the important job of delivering our clients’ projects on time, on budget, on brief.