Introduction
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY), are innovators and market leaders in business payment automation technology, enabling companies to make complex business payments simple, smart, and secure.
The Brief
In relocating to Arlington Business Park, the client’s key objectives were to improve employee work-life balance, enable smarter working in a high-tech environment, and cultivate a resilient progressive culture that would attract the best talent. With a strong international presence, Bottomline’s offices had to reflect the company’s position within the industry and reinforce its high-standing reputation and brand.
The interior space had to offer various forms of hot desking and agile working, ‘plug and play’ technology, collaborative spaces, and quiet areas for time out.
The Vision
It was our plan to create a ‘destination’ workplace that would reflect the ethos and values of the organisation. It was essential that the layout enabled people to function at their individual best whilst also providing spaces that would encourage good communication, stimulate creativity, and engender collaboration.
A series of workplace audits were undertaken to determine and measure work patterns, trends, and utilisation of the client’s current space. The data gathered enabled an informed understanding of the client’s aspirations for a cutting-edge, sustainable ‘destination’ workplace.
The Design
The human-centred concept considers the needs and wellbeing of both employees and guests with light filled spaces and soft seating areas that encourage time out. The result is a blend of multi-functional work areas, collaboration booths, and ergonomic sit-stand desks. Clear circulation routes ease movement throughout the building with shared destination areas such as the stairway and printer rooms enabling opportunities for impromptu conversations and the sharing of ideas.
Retaining airy open spaces creates an ‘uncluttered’ light filled workspace with a multi-functional blend of collaboration booths, hot desking, ‘plug and play’ technology, and ergonomic sit-stand desks. In creating this dynamic open plan work environment, small areas of ‘dead space’ throughout the ground and first floors were repurposed as hi-tech meeting rooms to accommodate brainstorming sessions or provide users with calm quiet spaces to think.
An area overlooking the private gardens inspired the introduction of biophilia elements and a connection to the exterior landscape. Designated an employee ‘collaboration zone’ we addressed the need for function and comfort by siting a ‘cloud technology bench’ and an inviting bistro style café at its centre that meets the client’s requirement for a multi-functional space for informal catch ups, meeting guests and a place to relax over a coffee.
Any possibility of reflected sound was addressed with the installation of timber acoustic baffle boards that are visually impactful. Lockers provide a secure means for personal items and a change of clothes for those all-important work engagements, or the bike ride home.
Open plan spaces over the ground and first floors, offer a flexible combination of hot desking, meeting rooms, ad-hoc breakout areas, and audio-visual facilities, with hexagonal hubs and adjacent freestanding whiteboards promoting creativity and innovation.
The design of the company’s in-house ‘technical support helpdesk’ on the first floor was inspired by the Apple ‘Genius Bar’. Sited under the vast pyramid skylight and set between four original columns, the low level units offer uninterrupted views across the open plan office. Removing the original glazed walls of the existing atrium and installing a Barrisol stretch ceiling, creates a sense of space with light flooding the surrounding work areas.
Operational interconnection of workspaces is business critical to this organisation as is communication between teams. In creating neighbourhood zones accessibility and interaction is enabled. Height adjustable workstations with smart cable management and low-level cabinets demarcate these zones and yet can be easily relocated and reassembled in numerous configurations. Clusters of aesthetically pleasing ‘hexagonal pods’ with adjacent mobile whiteboards, further encourages a sense of teamwork.
The East side of the first floor was to accommodate a large multi-functional ‘state of the art’ auditorium. A ‘town hall’ meeting venue inspired the design of this space.
With its acoustic glazing, high-performance audio-visual equipment, large presentations screens suspended throughout the auditorium, and ergonomic stackable chairs from 95% recycled material, we met the clients need for a well-designed multi-purpose conference room.