Following our tradition of celebrating Christmas at project locations, this year we travelled to Oxford where we have been developing the brief for a new university building. If you're wondering what the link to the title is .... our venue for this festive occasion was the scene of much historical debate The Oxford Union. Much hysterical debate ensued culminating in our own College photo. You can see it in all its glory here

Following the success of our work in developing a pilot workplace project for Allied Irish Bank (AIB) in Dublin we have been appointed by First Trust in Belfast to design the workplace for the refurbishment of their Ann Street premises. To date we have completed our Me + My Workplace survey to understand levels of occupancy and adjacencies and to define work styles. This will be followed by detailed interviews and Statement of Requirements.

UCL has a diverse estate that extends well beyond its traditional boundaries of Bloomsbury. iDEA have been appointed by UCL to undertake a review of the estate totalling circa 455,000m2 and to help develop an accommodation masterplan. The role will involve modelling in 3d the components of the existing portfolio and overlaying the opportunities and drivers to support sustainable growth.

As part of our continuing role with Manchester University's MECD project we are developing pilot projects for the Academic and Professional Services Staff office areas. Three pilot schemes are being trialled with each being occupied for a term at a time by selected teams. Achieving a contemporary and optimum environment for the diverse needs of University staff is a challenge for the HE sector. Time will tell on wether we achieve a degree of success.

Crikey, we're getting old! iDEA has been in business now for a quarter of a century. We’ve been around longer than Google, Facebook, YouTube, the Euro, texting, DVDs, Justin Bieber…

We’re always looking for ways to improve as a company - it’s been one of our strengths that has kept us going all these years. Last year we had complete overhaul of our brand, logo and website. We made the conscious decision to ensure everything with our name attached is approached with the same level of care and attention to detail, regardless of whether it’s a design proposal, holiday request form or a glossy publication.

Presenting information in the most clear and beautiful way possible is part of what makes iDEA unique and it really matters to us.

We are working with The University of Glasgow to schedule and photograph key research equipment in The School of Engineering. If this sounds a little dull- far from it. iDEA will then combine all the data and photos into 360 degree viewable rooms accessed via a 3D model of the James Watt and Rankine buildings with an easily updatable database for onward use by the University. It's a great example of complex information made simple and amazingly, asset management made interesting.

Next time you're thankful that your plane stops before the runway runs out you can thank Meggitt, a global producer of aircraft brake pads and much more. iDEA are currently engaged in developing the detailed workplace brief and design for their new 40,000m2 manufacturing and office facility in Coventry. When complete this will be the home for circa 1,000 staff and represents one of the largest industrial projects in the Midlands in more than a decade.

We're delighted that this re-designed website has been shortlisted for 3 Archiboo web awards: Best Written Content, Best Mobile Experience and Best Overall Experience.

The Archiboo Web Awards recognise and celebrate architects, designers and their collaborators who best use online to communicate their work. Judged by a panel of 30 experts from tech to property, the 10 categories recognise outstanding digital performers from engagingly written content and impactful design to firms pushing the boundaries with the latest technologies such as VR.

In 2017, the awards attracted over 250 entries from studios around the world. For 2018, Archiboo added one more category to reflect the importance of mobile devices - we couldn't agree more - therefore we're excited that this is one of the categories in which we've been nominated.

We're proud to be recognised amongst an impressive list of nominees and look forward to learning our fate on the 19th September.

We had a fantastic evening at Wilton’s Music Hall celebrating our 25th year in business. It was wonderful to see so many of our colleagues and clients, past and present join us for the event. We had an eclectic mix of entertainment throughout the night, from a silhouette artist to contemporary dance company, Meta4 Dance and then rounded off nicely by our in-house rock band, Harry & The Ramsdens. Thanks to all who came along and made it such a great event!

We're delighted to have been shortlisted for a Mixology '18 award. Our project for the Home Office is in the Public Sector Interiors Project of the Year category. It's a testament to the heard work and creativity of our team and we'll be heading off to the awards on 21st June to learn our fate - watch this space!

Whilst the rest of us waited for the first signs of summer, four of our finest found themselves basking in Italian sunshine last week at the Milan Furniture Fair. Alfonso, Agnes, Harry and Nick spent the week exploring the city and researching all things new in the design world, whilst significantly improving their monthly step count averages. Head over to our Instagram page to see plenty of photos.

To borrow the words from some bloke named Bob, the times they are a changing at iDEA.

Last year we gave ourselves a new brand identity. We changed our web domain to idea.eu and we're thrilled to say we've now gone live with our new and improved website!

During this time we’ve taken a long hard look in the mirror and as a result we’re making a conscious effort to be better at communicating in plain English. Like many others, the design industry is full of so many buzzwords and acronyms that we often unconsciously get caught up in it all. There seems to be an inexplicable obsession with combining words together (worksettings, workstyles, hangry…) and turning nouns into verbs, even though it doesn't actually change its meaning (desking?!). Well, no longer! We’re going to de-jargon ourselves from this point on. Watch this space!