A photo of our three Directors in London enjoying a beer wouldn't ordinarily attract much fanfare - but on this occasion, it's the first face-to-face meeting in over 16 Months. If the last 16 months have proved anything it's that work still continues (at pace, we might add) in the virtual world. However, there sometimes really is no substitute for an informal collaboration (and thirst-quenching beverage) in person. Cheers!
What a nice way to start the month! Our office design for Paragon Interserve has been selected as a finalist at the Mixology Awards. We’re delighted to be in the running for Workplace Interiors of the Year (sub 5k sq ft).
We'll wait to hear on our other submissions with fingers crossed...
There's no doubting that 2020 certainly was a perculiar one. Hard to remember the beginning of the year when the office flooding was the biggest disruption to our working lives. As the year closed out we produced a short film to document just what a crazy year it's been - in a funny way, perhaps bringing us closer together than ever.
Show, don't tell. It's kind of been a mantra of ours for a few years now. The power of visual imagery to provide context and narrative never ceases to amaze us. Pictures really do tell a thousand words. So what about moving pictures? Can you imagine!
For this reason, we're pleased to be able to point you in the direction of our Youtube channel. So much more of our work is 'alive' these days, so static visuals just don't cut the mustard any more. At least, not on their own.
After some really positive feedback on the content we've shared privately (maybe it's the fact that little effort is required on the part of the viewer...) we'll be jumping both feet first into more video production. And we'll be sharing it all here. So subscribe to our channel to be kept up to date with the latest in moving picture technology. Have a browse, we've been busy...
We're proud to say we've once again renewed our Cyber Essentials Plus Accreditation. Not only something which has proved more challenging, owing to the remote nature of our working environments, but also, more vital, for the same reason.
It's something we've quietly considered before posting - not because we doubt its significance, but because it's become such an ingrained aspect of our everyday working lives. However, we take the security of our data very seriously, so it's a testament to the internal team that we've once again proved we have the procedures in place to justify this certificate.
We’re never ones to stand still for long. In our 27 years, design trends have shifted, new techniques been adopted - but most significantly - technology advanced. Massively. Alan Kay, renowned Computer Scientist and pioneer of the Graphical User Interface (and the screen you’re reading this on) had the right idea:
“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.”
We feel exactly the same way about the digital tools we develop to inform our workplace strategies – tools which empower us to help you solve your spaces and evolve your workplaces.
If you know us, you’ll know we’re huge advocates for internal R&D. Rarely do we discover something ‘off the shelf’ which can satisfy our clients’ needs – we much prefer to let our talented team of Web Developers, 3D Artists, Animators and Strategists work their magic and develop in-house.
If our experience tells us anything, it’s that no two design challenges are the same, so if you need help solving a space - whether it’s a single office or an entire campus - we’d love to develop something with you.
We may not be on the frontline like so many others, but we're conscious to help the combined effort wherever possible. If we think we have the capability to provide assistance, no matter how small, we will.
We've used our 3D printer to create 300 PPE ear guards for the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. We've printed templates on our A0 plotter to size material for hospital gowns. In fact, we've all been knitting, weaving and generally 'making' to help the cause in some shape or form.
Perhaps most significantly - and a little closer to home - we've been chatting to property departments to help advise the best use of their estates - whether it's freeing up space for crucial Covid-19 response activities and preparing them for the eventual return to work.
Workplace design may seem a world away from the medical frontline - but we're just pleased to be helping where we can.
As a response to the ongoing Covid-19 measures we've been remote working since 17th March. We're fortunate enough to be part of a growing number of organisations who can up sticks and work remotely. Business-wise, where possible, we're carrying on doing all the great things we do.
We are conscious, however, that our strength as a creative workplace comes from our collaboration with one another - the daily mish-mash of our combined personalities is a powerful and healthy circumstance of the way we work. And we love it. It's what makes us a family. As 'designers' (of code or craft) we put great value in talking to one another - that's where ideas come from. So why do less now?
We've stuck our heads together and created a number of alternative opportunities for collaboration; every day we hold a team video call, Thursday is our virtual pub, Tuesday our online darts tournament. We use Slack, Loopup, Google Meet - plus, you know, there's always the phone. Just because we can't 'see' one another, doesn't mean we can't still talk.
Plus, it's an added opportunity to critique each other's home decor.
Only a few days in, and we feel like we're already talking more - not less.
If there's two things we're passionate about, it's solving challenges through design, and making changes to protect the environment. Now, if only there was a way of combining the two...
As part of our ongoing commitment to becoming carbon neutral we've been developing our own app to measure staff travel activity. Travel, both business and personal, makes up a significant part of our footprint - and only by measuring it can we make positive changes for the future.
We relish the opportunity to create bespoke applications like this - developing simple, lightweight but powerful tools to help solve our design challenges - especially so, when it's something we can build upon to help our clients in the future.
We're not just doing it because we can, but because we should.
At the end of each year, one tradition of ours is to gather for our festive outing. Another is paying a visit to projects we've worked on.
In December 2019, we were bound for Manchester and the University's ground-breaking new buildings; the impressive Manchester Engineering Campus Development, or MECD. For those of us who worked on this project (and since we've been envolved with the University since 2013, there have been a few of us that have) it was a chance to experience the grand scale of the site in person, rather than on a computer screen for once.
It's a lasting testament to our team's innovative thinking and our role in designing the initial brief; a project to be immensely proud of.
The site tour of MECD complete, suitably impressed, steps counted and appetites earned, we dried off over a tasty lunch (courtesy of the nice folks at Australasia) before heading out once again to enjoy the drizzle-soaked delights of some of Manchester's finest public houses.
With both the opportunity to see our hard work, and to gather en-masse (something we would sorely like to do more often), it was a genuinely grand day out and equally fitting curtain call for a decade that's seen us lay the foundations of our reputation as trusted experts for University Estate strategy.
With many more projects like this in the pipeline, together, we're looking forward to building on that.
Roll on the twenties.
We're thrilled to have been shortlisted for the 2019 Mixology North "Design Practice of the Year" award. We'd like to think this nomination is a reflection of how we deliberately try to do things differently. Let us explain...
It's in our DNA to work together as a family, not just a business, and, like any family, we're a bit of a mixed bag. Our collective backgrounds span the design spectrum: interiors to illustration, coding to crafting, master chef to masterplanning - that's how we can keep our work varied, our solutions bespoke and our response rapid. What makes us a family, however, is our common passion for design (in all forms) and an open willingness to pull together: collectively thinking, interrogating, challenging and crafting the perfect solution to exceed our client's expectations.
So if you're expecting a super slick, corporate, glossy, high-definition design studio we might not quite be for you. If you're after a cuppa, chin-wag and collaborate kinda place, then we're probably exactly what you're looking for. Trumpet-blowing aside, we know our work stands up - and so it should, we've been doing it for nearly 30 years - but we believe the way we work is far more important to our clients. That's why (we're pleased to say) they keep coming back to us.
*toot
Vic, Susanna and Dave were invited to take a trip upt' North to visit NaughtOne at their factory and showroom near Harrogate.
Manned with hi-vis and safety goggles the trio were put to work making their very own Pinch stools.
It was an insightful and impressive day, following the factory operation from start to finish and learning all about their handmade manufacturing process along the way.
Many thanks to NaughtOne for having us!!