Avison Young
Moving to a more agile approach to work, Avison Young's reimagined Birmingham office uses neighborhoods to create communities and a welcoming feel to the new space
Emplacement
Birmingham, UK
conçu par
squaredot

As the largest and most significant Commercial Property Consultant in the region, Avison Young’s brand (formerly GVA) was synonymous with its 20 year occupation and estate management role at Brindleyplace. Their Birmingham office has recently been consolidated from 40,000 Sq Ft, down to 25,500 Sq Ft and reduced the spread of 380 staff across 3.5 floors, down to 2.

“ I’ve really enjoyed adapting to the new workspace and environment. I much prefer the office layout and having other fee earners on the same floor allows for greater interaction. I prefer a paperless environment and the lockers allow for safe storage. It’s a really great new space which I enjoy working in. ”
Avison Young Staff Survey Comment

The key to this consolidation was the importance for the new environment to facilitate and catalyse the move to new, more agile working methods. The workplace now supports a 60% agility ratio and the project brief itself looked to create flexible working spaces which gave staff the choice of how they worked. The space has moved away from formal open plan office, with each person having a dedicated work place and meeting spaces, to flexible open plan arrangements and agile work spaces which recognises the changing working practices. The design provided the opportunity for staff to choose an individual quiet space, working within team neighbourhoods, formal meetings or informal meetings within office and client spaces. We were pleased to supply our Railway Carriage booths to provide collaboration hotspots to support this new style of working, as well as providing an area for informal meetings.

 The designers of the space, squaredot, zoned the two floors by neighbourhood and how they are utilised has been devolved to the teams that are assigned them. Utilising our Palisades Grid product to the full, designers are squaredot using it to partition to the open-plan space into smaller spaces, with a  community feel whilst also providing an attractive visual break. Used in a few different iterations around the workplace, the Palisades Grid units also house a TV alcove for greater tech integration and enhanced employee experience. 

Several configurations of our HotLockers are spread throughout the space to enable the move to a paperless and more agile way of working. Giving employees a personal and private space to store their belongings has been essential in giving staff a feeling of security as well as improving their experience in the workplace.

The fit out has been a catalyst for broader business changes such as ‘less paper working’ and agile working where staff have the opportunity to choose how they work within the office and the chance for more remote working.  Avison Young and squaredot's relentless focus on providing the best workplace and employee experience through this fitout, was rewarded when they achieved a finalists accolade in the BSO awards in the 'Fit Out of Workplace Category' for The Midlands and Central England.'

As part of the sustainability scheme, the old furniture has been donated to charities and sold to staff in exchange for a donation to the company charity, raising over £1,000 for the company's chosen charity.