Farrar Bamforth Office Refurbishment
Interior design scheme

Stuff to do

Farrar Bamforth moved to its new studio at Bates Mill towards the end of 2023. The new workspace allows everyone to work together in one open plan office; a key reason for moving from our previous home where the building was split into different floors and small rooms.

Having worked in the new studio for around 18 months, it has become apparent that while the collaborative nature of having such an open space had great benefits, there are issues that needed resolving through considered design. This time has allowed the team to better understand our requirements and how we wanted the space to function.

The appointment of specialist interior designer, Sophie Clarkson, offered the ideal opportunity to truly realise our ambitions for the workspace when we moved premises. Not only was this a great chance to show our clients what we/Sophie can do, Sophie had the advantage of objectivity, coming fresh into the business, but also the vested interest in this being her workplace too!

How we got stuff done

Sophie approached the project by spending time with her new colleagues to learn how they currently use the space, identifying opportunities to improve the feel and functionality of it, and understanding what their needs and desires are.  Issues included the limitations of having to make furniture from the previous office fit into the new one and the disruptive nature of an open plan space, including noise levels.  Sophie began by analysing the space; identifying the areas of high traffic, the zones, and how they need to flow, which informed a schematic zoning plan. She also looked at the assets and limitations of the building and the opportunities we could exploit.

Some barriers to productivity were revealed: the use of the same space for multiple ways of working (focus working, virtual meetings, daily tasks etc), unused desks occupying valuable space and, albeit beautiful, high vaulted ceilings and exposed beams, creating acoustic challenges.

In terms of advantages, it is a big space, the old mill windows flood it with natural light, and the external wall is East facing pointing towards the canal and Longley Woods.

Sophie’s proposal includes creating multiple work spaces with differing levels of privacy, making them fit for their intended purpose. As well as open office desking, the zones include a semi-private focus area, a collaborative area with a large, high table, digital screen and whiteboard, and an area of soft seating for informal meetings and scheme reviews.  Successfully splitting an open space into zones takes more than just arranging furniture (plus it wouldn’t work for noise transfer), but flexibility has also been built in (in a way that wouldn’t be possible with adding stud walls to separate zones). This means that the space can change with the business’s needs. They could even take everything with them if they relocated, so the inventory is an investment.  Mid floor partitions, moveable planters and furniture details provide a level of privacy and all help to separate each zone for optimum use.  Sophie has also designed in acoustic products to both mid floor in the open office and meeting rooms to alleviate the noise transfer and make for a comfortable environment.

The two meeting rooms will be fully functioning; one for meetings that need plenty of space for training or a large team, and the other for 1 to 1 meetings or private virtual calls.

Sophie wanted to work with the assets of the building and take full advantage of the natural light, consolidating the desks according to need and situating them close to the east facing wall, providing light, air, and views outside the office for interest. As well as creating a more pleasant working environment (a key benefit in itself), this consolidation of the desks has created space for informal scheme reviews where materials can be assessed in natural light, allowing the true colours of finishes to be observed (making specifying them much more accurate). The challenge of noise disruption will be mitigated through acoustic products to absorb sound.

A key part of Sophie’s thinking was designing the space with all stakeholders in mind. While the needs of the team who work there are prioritised, consideration has been given to other potential users: clients, providers, and prospective colleagues. For example, for clients and partners there is an area to showcase business case studies and subtly reinforce the company branding to present the company professionally. For prospective colleagues, a workplace has to deliver much more than it did pre-pandemic. The design of this office very much has the presentation of an attractive alternative to working from home in mind, giving staff positive reasons to come into the studio.

New ideas can take some adjusting to and one of the more radical proposals was to remove the reception area and replace it with soft seating and moveable partitioning with some vision through to act as a buffer on entering the office. This gave us the opportunity to invite our accounts manager to sit with the rest of the team, away from ‘reception’, bringing everyone closer, both literally and figuratively.

Design is often about winning over hearts as well as minds; especially as the team already know a thing or two about good design, so the bar is set high (or the pressure is on!).  It was even more important to work with the team on the proposals, to understand their needs as well as wants, and allow them to see the positives in their office transformation. The scheme has been positively received, and plans are now in place to phase the project, tackling priority areas first.