WHITFIELD CONSULTING

A design for growth: Planning a more productive office space

Outgrowing your current premises presents you with an opportunity to build a new space: bigger, better and fit for the future. That’s exactly what Whitfield did. 

6420

Square feet

40

Employees

20+

High profile clients

About The Whitfield Consulting Project

 

Construction consulting firm, Whitfield, had outgrown its premises. For the Surbiton-based firm, the time had come to switch to a larger headquarters – somewhere with enough headroom for future growth. Having settled on an office space occupying half of a floor at Platinum House, next on the agenda was a ground-up redesign. Whitfield tasked Plann:d with delivering the project, trusting us to carry out a complete space plan, design and installation service. 

As we touched on earlier, one of the priorities for Whitfield was utilising all of their existing furniture. They didn’t want to start from scratch with all-new furniture when they already had desks and tables that were fit for purpose – but they didn’t want a haphazard mishmash of different styles in their new workspace, either.  In response, we utilised our network of industry contacts to source matching furniture, allowing Whitfield to keep the items they already had. Not only was this a sustainable choice, it also helped keep the cost of the project to a minimum. A win-win, if you ask us.

Relocating to a new building gave the team at Whitfield a chance to totally reinvent their workplace. One shortcoming of their existing base was a lack of meeting space; there weren’t any dedicated collaboration or conferencing areas, and correcting this was high on the list of priorities for the new office. The space planning phase was going to be pivotal to the success of the project, too. Whitfield is a fast-growing company, so they wanted to make sure that the office layout left room for additional desks and chairs to be added as fresh faces joined the team. We worked closely with them to design a layout that ticked all their boxes – and managed to source new furniture that matched their existing items.

The level of communication from Plann:d was fantastic – they were very responsive right the way through. The whole process was very efficient; all of our old furniture was moved into the new space in one day, for instance.

Plann:d were very collaborative and responsive. They made us feel like a priority.

The new office has helped us work better. The acoustics are much better – it’s a calmer environment. The meeting spaces give much improved privacy too, so you can concentrate on your own work more easily. 

But before we’d sourced all of the furniture and accessories we needed to complete the fit out, we approached our long-standing fit out partner, ck4. We introduced them to our proposed space plan and design, and they began working with the client – under our guidance – to achieve the best possible end result. Taking into account the client’s needs, their current and new furniture, they worked with the team at Whitfield to create a layout that worked for everyone. Once this finalised layout was agreed upon, furniture sourcing could be completed.  With the furniture sourced, ck4 completed the final installation, bringing the digital designs we created earlier to life. “Both companies worked very closely together,” noted Whitfield’s Mandy Dennelly, “and queries were answered quickly.”

Whitfield’s new office proved to be a revelation for the company’s growing team. Not only did the managing director now have his own office, the wider team had access to meeting pods for the first time. This new-found sense of privacy made it much easier for the team to focus, improving their productivity and mental wellbeing.  ​

We were based in a converted workshop before, with limited toilets and a tiny kitchen. The new space has a healthier atmosphere, with much more daylight and better views. People thought they’d miss the old place, but once they started working here they preferred it.

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