Office Fit Out for British Board of Agrément

British Board of Agrément

Watford WD1 / Construction / 8,000 sq ft / 10 weeks

Upgraded flexible facilities

The British Board of Agrément (BBA) were looking to relocate to a new office where they could provide their staff with a flexible, modernised workspace. The business was transforming and they needed a new environment that inspired their teams, and would be a place where they felt proud to host their clients. Their previous office in Watford had served its purposes, and it was time to embrace a new space, so they relocated to a new site within a nearby business park that offered more amenities. The new office allowed the certification body to make better use of the space they occupied and implement a hybrid working culture that promoted teamwork, open communication and innovation, ultimately changing the way they work, with facilities that are designed to enable better productivity under a transforming working model.

Variation in workspace

The BBA wanted to incorporate flexible workspaces and maximise collaboration, opting for an open plan agile workspace in favour of private, isolated, offices. They transitioned away from a fixed-desk policy to offer a greater variation of workstations and mixed desk types. The workspace needed to support different teams and how they like to work, catering for different noise levels with quiet working spaces such as a library area in the back of house to offset the collaboration spaces in the centre of the floorplate.

Agile meeting spaces

Various sized meeting rooms were included within the office to support different working needs, such as the larger meeting spaces suitable for hosting clients and holding training sessions, or singular meeting rooms which are all tech-enabled to support hybrid working with colleagues and clients all over the world. Meanwhile, the curtain-front meeting rooms remove the formality of built rooms and help with acoustics in the open plan, with the inclusion of flexible furniture such as a ping pong table allowing the space to be transformed from a meeting room to a social space.

Adaptable social space

In order to move away from a traditional welcome area with reception desk, the teapoint was placed front-of- house in order to function as both a staff social space and client area. An entrance point destined for clients acts as an experiential portal into the open plan space and features a customisable exhibition space to showcase new materials to guests. Within the teapoint area is soft bench seating, agile seating areas and a shared kitchen, acting as a hub for staff to socialise and relax, with the flexibility to convert the space into a demonstration area for monthly team get-togethers and industry events such as roundtables and focus groups.

Showcasing sustainable materials

It was priority for the BBA that the design incorporated four critical aspects: the visualisation of their clients and market, throughout, which meant that a number of features in the build were built using client products; a sustainable approach to design and layout; a celebration of British build and features; and the involvement and participation of all BBA staff to create an environment that they felt part of, and proud of.

Through development workshops with the client, we selected a diverse mix of materials that are reflective of the projects and testing the BBA have carried out, to be incorporated in the interior design. For example, the statement lampshades located above the teapoint are made from Orb, an organic refuse biocompound.

The material was developed by Biohm, leaders in the development of sustainable materials and a client of the BBA. They also made use of other BBA client products as insulation wall-mounts, resin-bound backdrops, drainage pipes as feature walls, modular seating and shelving, wood stain and paints and many other products produced by BBA clients.

Innovation in construction

Other sustainable finishes are used throughout the space, such as the recycled splashback in the teapoint or reclaimed scaffold board used to form meeting tables and worktops. Reclaimed timber is also used for wall cladding, adding warmth and texture to a modern meeting room, whilst construction parts and circular piping are featured in the library area and used to form a feature wall, all contributing to communicate BBA’s brand. The design features alongside a branded timeline wall act as a reminder to staff and clients of the company’s history, helping to tell the story of innovation in construction and the rich heritage that forms the foundation of the business.