XYZ Building, One of David Drews Is Allied London’S Associate Director of Design

Xxxxxxxxx A special report from Creative Review in partnership with Allied London CREATIVE WORKPLACES CREATIVE Creative Workplaces

Introduction

Welcome to Creative Review and Allied London’s special report on creative workplaces. In this document we present the findings of our extensive survey on workplace design in order to shed light on what makes these unique environments tick and what creatives need and want from their particular space. We wanted to find out what makes a workplace more conducive to creativity and how the working environment affects the work that creatives do. How can workplaces be organised to maximise creative thinking? The results offer a snapshot of where the creative industry is right now – and where many of its practitioners want it to get to. I talk to David Drews, Allied London’s Associate Director of Design about how the company is creating places that dynamically improve the ways in which people work and live. As part of Manchester’s new St. John’s neighbourhood, for example, Enterprise City is one of Allied’s major workspace projects and aims to unite creative businesses across five diverse buildings. David discusses some of the thinking that has gone into making this area a unique part of working life in the city. A creative space can work for other types of companies, too – as law firm Shoosmiths and Soho House & Co show in our focus on two recent developments that have helped to engender a new conception of the workplace and the benefits it can bring. Cover image: Workspace in Sky’s digital technology Mark Sinclair, hub at Leeds Dock, courtesy of Deputy editor, Richard Walls. Creative Review Facing page: Soho Works, Shoreditch, London Creative Workplaces Creative Workplaces

Foreword Survey findings

Over half the respondents WHAT IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST A CREATIVE SPACE? HOW The essence of place is an imperfect science. What makes us productive, OBSTACLE TO WORKING CONDUCIVE to our Creative Workplaces EFFECTIVELY IN YOUR Firstly, we asked participants how TO CREATIVITY comfortable and creative in one place versus another is a ‘feeling’ that survey identified themselves CURRENT WORKSPACE? conducive to creativity they felt IS YOUR as being part of the ‘design’ their current workspace was – and WORKSPACE? we can’t always easily measure. industry, with around a third the responses were largely positive: At Allied London we create workplaces and workspace hubs across coming from ‘advertising’. with 22% saying ‘very conducive’ Half of our respondents had 42% and 42% ‘fairly conducive’ (64% the UK. From Spinningfields, one of Europe’s leading business and lei- Distractions, interruptions, noise been in the same workplace combined). However, just over 27+922+42 for between one and six a third of our respondents (36%) 1. Not very sure districts, to Leeds Dock, our digital waterside community and the conducive (27%) industrial workspace Herbal House in London’s Clerkenwell, every years; nearly a quarter of claimed their working environment 2. Not at all them for more than ten. 23% was either ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ conducive (9%) Lack of informal, quiet or display spaces conducive to creativity – so there’s 3. Very conducive place and every building is created with great energy and research. (22%) a lot of room for improvement here. 4. Fairly We care deeply about the envelope of the space, its architecture, de- A correlation between work- conducive (42%) 6% place design and creativity was sign, layout and flow because we want the places we develop to work and Lack of privacy something that people were very to be sustainable. The minutiae of how people want to live their every aware of, however. Over 90% of IF THE DESIGN OF YOUR day in our developments is important to us. From the finish of a door those surveyed believed that if the WORKPLACE 5% design of their workplace was im- IMPROVED, handle, to the way you’ll want to book a meeting room, we want to make Desk sharing, hot desking WOULD IT proved it would have a positive ef- IMPROVE THE sure this works for the creatives and businesses within our workspaces fect on the quality of the work that QUALITY OF YOUR WORK? and who better to research this with than Creative Review. they produced. 5% The location of the workplace This project is vital raw data for us and we hope also it will be a great Lighting issues was also significant for many people. Nearly three-quarters of those pool of information for any others looking at workspace design. We surveyed (73%) thought it was 9+145+45 1. Probably have been lucky to have input from some of our existing and future 5% either ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ important wouldn’t (8%) Network, internet, IT issues to be working in a part of a city or 2. Definitely tenants into this project including agile working pioneers, Shoosmiths town that was surrounded by other wouldn’t (1%) 3. Definitely would and Soho House & Co, as well as utilising our experience working with creative businesses or organisations. (45%) 4% Within a shared building, however, 4. Probably would Sky and Google – all of whom we have worked with to create ‘creative’ Being tied to desk this attitude wasn’t so keenly felt – (46%) spaces and places. only 58% of respondents considered This project’s findings will serve as research not only for our up- being with other creative compa- 4% nies on the same site as having any coming Enterprise City workspace cluster in Manchester but our other Boring, dull office décor significance on their own working. developments to come, as we expand our commercial and enterprise portfolio across Manchester, London and Leeds. We hope you enjoy 3% the results. Environment, temperature 2% Michael Ingall, Lack of collaboration Chief Executive, Allied London 1% Isolation, working alone Creative Workplaces Creative Workplaces

Survey findings

HOW MANY OFFICE ENVIRONMENT WHAT WOULD YOU MOST DEDICATED SPACES MUSIC AND FOOD THE OPEN OFFICE DESIRE FOR CHANGE DO YOU HAVE OTHERS DO LIKE TO CHANGE ABOUT YOUR A DEDICATED YOU SHARE So what kinds of amenities were WORKSPACE? Regarding the office space itself, Music also played an important role When asked to specify what were Participants were also asked what WORKSPACE YOUR BANK OF beneficial to the working experi- the ‘ability to work in quiet areas in the office environment for most the best things about an open office they felt was the single biggest FOR YOUR OWN DESKS WITH? ence? ‘Cafes/restaurants’ were con- when needed’ (97% marking ‘very’ of those surveyed, with only 11% of environment, respondents most obstacle to working effectively in USE ONLY? sidered either ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ im- or ‘fairly’ important), access to ‘pri- people recording that there was no frequently referred to the potential their current workspace. By some portant by 92% of those surveyed, vate space’ (89%) and more space music played in their workplace. for collaboration and communica- margin, the most frequent response with ‘pubs/bars’ deemed important 22% for ‘collaboration’ (90%) were also While 47% said music was on for tion; that this kind of space encour- related to distractions – from noise Dedicated space for specific tasks 15+5332 by 71% of people. Next in terms of deemed high priorities. everyone to hear, 42% reported that aged the exchange of ideas and that levels to interruption. A general 21+79 1. 11+ (15%) importance were ‘creative suppliers’ Interestingly, space to ‘display they used headphones. Desk culture there was increased opportunity to lack of space for quiet or informal 1. No (20%) 2. 6–10 (32%) 2. Yes (80%) 3. 1–5 (53%) (67%), ‘galleries/museums’ (62%) work in progress/visuals’ was seen also impacted on lunch times signif- talk face-to-face instead of using the work was the next most noted ob- and ‘retailers’ (56%). 20% as significant (80% saying either icantly – with 57% of people saying phone or email. stacle, followed by a lack of private More space, storage In terms of the collaborative na- ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ important), while they ate lunch at their desk, 29% say- It was also a positive experience areas. In terms of personal desk DO YOU HAVE MUSIC PLAYING IS YOUR OFFICE ture of the working environment, adequate ‘meeting spaces’ were ing they ate together with colleagues for some who saw the lack of hier- space, ‘hot desking’ was considered AT WORK? ENVIRONMENT 68% of those surveyed reported that also seen as important (90% noting and only 14% saying they went out of archy as being linked to a more in- by some to be an obstacle, yet being CLOSED OR % OPEN? they worked in an ‘open plan’ office, 14 ‘very’ or ‘fairly’). Space for ‘making/ the building for lunch. clusive workspace. Another positive tied to a particular desk was also More modern design décor with 32% in a ‘closed’ space. Just prototyping’ was also seen as im- reaction was that an open plan office something that a similar amount of over a quarter of participants (29%) portant for 63% of our respondents. could ensure there was a general buzz respondents believed did not help recorded collaborating on work Flexibility of employees’ relation- about the place and that this could their working. Environmental fac- 11+4247 projects with other businesses in 11% ship to the office – and within the even generate a feeling of being “in- tors – from lighting and tempera- 1. No (11%) 32+68 Better desk or chair 2. Yes, through 1. Closed (32%) the same building. When it comes office space itself – was also evident. spired by seeing everyone in the space ture to the general office design and headphones (42%) 2. Open (68%) to working from home, 35% said Yet 80% of our respondents said and creating work”. décor – were also recorded. 3. Yes, for all to they regularly did this – yet when that they still have a dedicated Conversely, the worst aspects In terms of what people said hear (47%) asked how important the ‘ability 8% workspace that is solely for their use of this kind of environment were, they would want to change most Better lighting, natural light to work from home for some of the only – and when it comes to sharing by far, the potential for noise and about their working environment, time’ was, nearly 80% of respond- banks of desks, just over half those distraction; interruptions resulting the majority of responses were con- ents marked this option with either surveyed identified themselves as in a lack of focus. Also, the physical cerned with having more dedicated ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ important. 6% sharing with a group of five people environment could be a source of spaces for specific tasks – be they More privacy When asked to rate how signifi- of fewer; 32% worked among a group problems for some; namely, the am- areas for quiet, focused work or cant a range of environmental fac- of six to ten, and 15% in a group of 11 bient temperature, lack of airflow break-out spaces – followed by the tors were in improving the quality or more people. or air con issues. Similarly, some re- wider desire for more office space of their work, 97% of respondents 5% spondents felt that there was a lack and storage in general. Modernising Environment, air con, heating put ‘natural light’ as either ‘very’ or of privacy in open plan designs and and updating the design of a space ‘fairly’ important. ‘Wi-fi connectiv- that they could sometimes be dull was also noted frequently, with im- ity and/or workplace app’ was rated and boring spaces. provements in the quality of both equally as high. 5% desks and chairs, access to natural Tidier, cleaner space lighting and more privacy also recorded. Various environmental factors were also noted – from better 4% temperature regulation to issues of Less noise tidiness and cleanliness being signif- 3% icant for some. Better atmosphere, more collaboration 2% Working from home Creative Workplaces Creative Workplaces

Interview Below: First floor area of the XYZ Building, one of David Drews is Allied London’s Associate Director of Design. As the first architect to be Allied London’s latest projects in employed by the developer, he now works with a range of external firms and also interior Manchester designers. Currently, his main focus is Enterprise City, the collection of buildings in Manchester’s St. John’s development that includes Old Granada Studios, Manchester Goods Yard and the Bonded Warehouse. He has also recently completed work on the co-working spaces the XYZ Building in Manchester and Herbal House in London “PEOPLE WANT A VARIETY OF SPACES Spatial awareness TO WORK IN. THE TRADITIONAL FIXED OFFICE DESK IS BECOMING OBSOLETE”

CR: If you’re designing a space for creative people, what kinds of factors are paramount and what kinds of needs do these types of companies now have? David Drews: What I see more and more is that people want a variety of spaces to be able work in. The traditional fixed office desk, with your landline and PC is becoming quite obsolete. People are tending to work more and more on their laptops. There’s a rise in people working from home as well. People need to be able to work in different locations, so there’s that aspect of being mobile – but within in a fixed location. If I think about what we’re doing at XYZ, we’re offering [people] a “THE RANDOMNESS variety of different spaces that they FACTOR SEEMS TO can work in. So we have what we’re INCREASE IN THE calling an ‘agora’ which is a like an UPPER ECHELON OF amphitheatre space where presenta- LUXURY BRANDS” tions can be given. We’ve also got a ‘knowledge wedge’ which is like a mini lecture theatre. We’re also providing lots of spaces for ‘hot desking’. This used to be actual desks but now what we’re doing is providing lounge seating areas with coffee tables. And we’re starting to rent those spaces, so you have your own little lounge space as a space to work.

CR: Does that relate to the idea of more people working in non-office spaces, like cafes, where the ‘desk’ space is more about the environment? DD: Exactly. And even here in our Creative Workplaces Creative Workplaces

Interview Below: Inside Tower 12, the 12th building in Allied London’s Spinningfields development in Manchester (the structure also has twelve floors)

“DEPENDING ON THE WORK YOU’RE DOING, IT CAN BE GOOD TO HAVE THINGS GOING ON AROUND YOU”

London office we have a variety of spaces. Right now I’m in a little room we call the ‘library’ – there are two armchairs in here and it’s where we all tend to come to do calls. It’s one of the most used spaces in the office because it’s just a really nice space to come to, out of the general office environment. It’s an enclosed space but it’s also relaxed. It allows me to come away from the desk and stop seeing emails coming in and be able to focus on what I’m doing.

CR: Does that concept of ‘distraction’ come up a lot in your research? If people can focus on one thing, surely that’s where the best work comes from? DD: I guess it depends on the task in hand at the time. People who are writers, for example, are very aware of the isolation of being a writer. People do need to be around people. And also, depending on the work you’re doing, it can be good to have things going on around you.

CR: What’s interesting is how much of what you’re saying tallies with the results from our survey: things like natural light and good wifi are important things for creatives to bear in mind, but this variety of spaces seems to be exactly what people are saying they want – from meeting rooms, to private spaces and areas for collaboration. Would you look to create spaces that can be used in a number of different ways? DD: Absolutely. One idea that might be going into XYZ is that Creative Workplaces Creative Workplaces

Interview Left: Seventh floor area of the XYZ Building in Manchester

“RATHER THAN GOING FOR THINGS WE THINK ARE TRENDY, WE’RE MORE INTERESTED IN JUST MAKING GREAT SPACES”

we’ll be providing meeting rooms that flexibility about where they I love architecture, I know that the on our ‘club’ floor, but one will be work – they can come out of their average person doesn’t actually per- a kitchen, one will be a lounge, and office and work in the middle area. ceive what’s happening above them, one will be a dining room. So you That really is the crux of it at the they perceive what’s happening at can rent the kitchen for the whole moment, that ability to move away ground floor level. So we’ve paid day, which means that you have the from your desk and be able to think a lot of attention to the landscap- kitchen and the island unit which differently in a different space. ing, the look and feel of the actual you can sit around and it gives a streets and creating those really very different feel to sitting at a CR: How important is the location inviting retail units at ground floor. conventional meeting room table. It of the building itself and what sur- loosens [people] up. Psychologically rounds it in terms of amenities? CR: This idea of fostering the it’s a big difference. How does thinking about that im- life of a company as it gets big- pact the creation of a community? ger seems to be a more fluid way CR: The XYZ space, designed by Cart- DD: What Allied London as a devel- of looking at the life of a business? wright Pickard Architects, embodies the oper always strives to do is [create] a DD: More importantly we want to ‘co-working’ ethos. What’s the thinking good mix of uses. So in St. John’s, in create a community of interesting behind that? terms of workspace, in Old Granada companies, a thriving community. DD: One of the floors of XYZ is go- Studios it will have a container park ing to be a co-work / multiple-oc- which will house small businesses CR: You spent some years in Spain cupant floor. We’ve seen lots of of two to three people. And then in working as a project architect with models of co-work – basically small, the Bonded Warehouse, a Victorian Nike and FC Barcelona. What did glass-partitioned offices in the mid- warehouse we’re refurbishing, that that experience give you that you dle of floor plans. What we’ve cho- will be for medium-sized companies now make use of with a developer? sen to do is make small units all with flexible partitions that can be DD: I learned that while, as an ar- around the perimeter of the floor- offices of different size – where you chitect, I looked at things spatially, plate, so that everybody who rents can grow, to a certain extent. In they looked at things visually. So an office, no matter how small, will Manchester Goods Yard, we’ll have with the design of the cafe at XYZ, get a window. XYZ has really high the bigger corporate [tenants]. which is at ground floor and which ceilings, exposed concrete sockets So there’s a site-wide strategy will support the workspace above, and we know that every single one to keep people, so they can grow an architect would typically try to of those spaces will be a good space with us – from start-ups, to medi- do the layout that works best for the to work in. um-sized companies to big brands. space – and I’m all for that. Then they have use of the com- And supporting that is this mix of But I’m also very aware of what in this new era of co-working: ‘is things that we think are trendy or munal area which contains the residential, workspace and retail – does the person on the street see that a space I want to work in?’ cool, we’re more interested in just elements I described earlier, the so all across the site at ground floor from the street? When they come making great spaces. agora and knowledge wedge, the there’s retail; we’re very much fo- up to the door what do they see CR: Can you tell us about your ap- Places that everybody can go different kinds of lounge seating cusing on that in terms of design when they go through? [It’s] that proach to the design of the spaces into and think ‘that’s beautiful’. in the middle and then they’ve got because we believe that all the ac- understanding of the consumer themselves? Is there an overarch- More than anything else that’s what three private meeting rooms and a tivity happens at ground floor level. journey – the things that would ing strategy to the look and feel? I’m striving for personally. Beauty cafe bar. So basically everybody has I’m an architect and as much as apply to a Nike store are [there] DD: Yes, rather than going for rather than trend. Creative Workplaces

Case studies

The way that workplaces enable people to work is changing – and being ‘agile’ is a philosophy that goes beyond just creative businesses Agility ability

Soho House & Co’s new venture, Soho Works, is hoping to estab- lish a network of round-the-clock workspaces designed to support a membership of creative practitioners looking for flexible working. The company behind the famous House member’s clubs (there are 18 around the world, including its Soho base), now has its first Works site, a 16,500 sq ft space in the Tea Building in London’s Shoreditch. It offers a café and bar, a member’s kitchen, meeting rooms, private phone booths, even editing/ post-production suites, plus a library, roof terrace and workshops. A 22,000 sq ft space housed within a 1950s building on Sunset Boulevard in LA is in the works. And it’s not just creative businesses that are embracing new, flexible models of working. Take law firm Shoosmiths. Based across a network of offices in the UK, the rooq. “We don’t want our people sat library, a multi-zonal project room, company is just about to take on a at their desks all day long, which we booths, drafting areas, telecom new space in Manchester’s XYZ consider to be dull and unhealthy. rooms,” says Farooq. “Layered on Building that exemplifies the new To maximise wellbeing and, in turn, top is a unique IT solution that al- approach to working environments. productivity, colleagues need to be lows colleagues to roam the build- This page, clockwise from Partner Vaqas Farooq says that he able to move around freely and col- ing whilst staying fully connected.” top: Private and his team are looking forward laborate.” Design has been crucial Shoosmiths have taken out ‘hard phone booths to moving into XYZ – the culmi- in enabling this, he says. “We’ve connections’ and will instead make at Soho Works in Shoreditch, nation of three year’s of research, created five neighbourhoods – one use of wifi-only laptops and ‘cloud London; Law consulting with colleagues, exter- for each practice area which is effec- phones’. Wireless casting will also firm Shoosmiths’ nal advisors including the Clare- tively their home base. Traditional enable any laptops to project to the new space in the XYZ Building in mont Group, and clients such as desks can be found in each of these large TV screens in the space. Manchester. Marston’s who have also embraced neighbourhoods, but desks are just This way of working, in realising an ‘agile’ way of working. one of 11 workspaces that we have how wellbeing relates to productiv- Facing page: Soho Works, Shoreditch, “At the heart of Shoosmiths Ag- created.” The new workspaces in- ity, looks set to be a benefit to both London ile is personal wellbeing,” says Fa- clude “a working garden, a special the staff and the company at large.