Before and After: ELECTRUM

Coming back to “the office” after a seriously great holiday and recharge is challenging at the best of times and its really made me reflect on how crucial it is to create a great working space and environment if you want to build the right culture within your team. Even if you work by yourself, having a space that you want to sit in is crucial if you want to find the drive and energy after days on the beach doing nada (ok, lets be honest with 2 kids there was literally NEVER a moment I was doing nothing, but I certainly wasn’t grafting particularly hard at any given moment)

I was so privileged last year to get to work with some truly awesome companies and help in designing and creating spaces that made their staff happy, creating environments that reflected their true essence.

Electrum approached me at the beginning of last year after they had just moved into a larger new space and even though the bones were there, they needed the right design elements to tie it all together and reflect who they are…a bunch of really funky tech geeks!

Despite being started 2012 and growing at a rapid rate, they wanted to keep that start up enterprise energy. It was crucial to create areas that the staff were able to relax in and have informal meetings and yet still spoke to a corporate client arriving for a presentation. The brief was to encapsulate their inner being, the funky side of who they all are, and not feel like just another corporate office space.

Colour as always was key to start injecting personality into the space and we used a graphic element that was crisp and sophisticated but spoke to the “cool”, younger energy we wanted present. Beanbags, benches and soft ottomans were added to individual offices to create spaces for pause and creative thought. In the main communal spaces furniture was sourced or made to bring a considered design feel to the spaces rather than a stiff upper lip, making it feel you are in someone’s seriously cool loft apartment rather than a bank with grey carpet floor tiles. As always, plants and art finish off the crucial frosting to make the space feel welcoming and inspiring.

The result is light and bright with great little focal points down the long walkways and little pops of colour throughout to inspire and delight.

A truly great bunch of seriously smart dudes with a seriously cool space to create in.

The Brief:

Conceptualise, design, source/manufacture and project manage the installation of an office space that reflected the corporate identity and answered its staff’s needs and personality.

The Transformation:

• paintwork/ custom artwork panels
• sourcing/ manufacturing of furniture for office areas, pause areas, boardroom and reception
• custom joinery for reception area
• design and manufacture of custom rugs
• decor elements to soften some of the spaces e.g. lighting, throw cushions, baskets
• storage solutions
• sound proofing solutions

Biggest Challenge:

Great team to work with so very few challenges,  biggest challenge was waiting for the shipment of custom rugs from India!

Best feature:

I love love love the art panel walls and the reception desk. They both reflect the personality of this funky team so well and it was such fun creating both of these elements.

AFTER: