Bath workplace design company Interaction has unveiled its latest cutting-edge project – a flexible office that promotes collaborative working at intellectual property law firm Withers & Rogers.
The 4,866 sq ft workspace in Bristol’s Castlemead office complex has been designed around the firm’s new hybrid business model and features a mix of collaborative meeting spaces and quiet work areas, as well as private offices.
The innovative new workplace, pictured, includes a video conferencing room which has been acoustically sealed for confidential court hearings.
Interaction has also created a welcoming client lounge and reception area for both formal and informal meetings.
The large kitchen and breakout area provides a social focal point for staff and includes a large banquette table, which doubles up as an agile working space.
The scheme is among the latest designed by Interaction to embrace new ways of working following the pandemic.
Many businesses are now allowing staff to work from home so are reshaping their workplaces to create more collaborative spaces along with areas where staff can gather informally.
Withers & Rogers partner Matthew Gillard said: “Our new space has had a really positive impact. It’s given people a new enthusiasm for coming into the office and enables more collaboration because we have a better mix of spaces and zones where people can work.
“Not only do we have traditional cellular offices, but we also have some high-spec open plan areas to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other.”
He said the firm, which also has offices in London, Paris, Munich, Warwick and Sheffield, wanted to a modern workplace that would appeal to staff and help attract and retain talent.
“Interaction’s expertise was really around understanding what we wanted and then using their creativity to deliver something that would be really great for our staff,” he added.
Interaction project lead Ollie McCafferty, pictured, said: “Withers & Rogers saw the imminent ending of their lease as a brilliant opportunity to fundamentally rethink the way they work.
“They realised they needed less, but more effective space – a space which would enable them to adopt a more agile approach.
“They found the ideal space in Bristol's Castlemead development and engaged us to make their vision a reality.”
He said it had been important to get the right balance between designing a space that attracted the brightest talent and showcased Withers & Rogers’ dependability and professionalism to their clients.
“By thinking deeply about the needs of their clients and their people, Withers and Rogers have ended up with a space that works brilliantly for both,” he added.
Privately owned Interaction has been creating workplaces for ambitious organisations across the South West since 1992.
Among its recent projects is a new 116,000 sq ft Bristol headquarters for international law firm Osborne Clarke, a new UK HQ for the global cloud-based finance software provider Xledger, also in Bristol, and GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre in Filton.
Last month its flagship office in Bath for games media group Network N was selected as a finalist in The Society of British & International Interior Design’s International Design Awards.
