East Renfrewshire Council
East Renfrewshire Council wanted to maximise the potential of their Barrhead headquarters, creating an agile, modern space for over 400 staff.
- Year 2024
- Size 1850 sqm
- Location Barrhead, Glasgow
- Sector Public
- Services Design & Build
Overview
Following a review of their property portfolio, East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) wanted to maximise the potential of their Barrhead headquarters, creating an agile, modern space for over 400 staff. The SPACE Design & Build team worked with ERC to upgrade their existing building to provide a flexible office community with improved staff, social and wellbeing spaces.
Approach
Originally built in 2006 as a multiple tenant space, ERC’s building consisted of three floors that didn’t naturally accommodate a single occupier. Tiny tea preps in odd locations, an outdated reception area, and lots of owned offices created an awkward use of space for the ERC staff. We redesigned the reception and customer hall areas to improve flexibility and functionality as well as improving and upgrading the toilet and staff wellness areas.
The design is welcoming but practical, with neutral finishes to the reception desk, screens that highlight social spaces and an enticing and coherent look and feel. Everything we suggested in our finishes was considered from a reuse, repurpose, recycle perspective, with a site review to determine what could be reused or relocated elsewhere. We reused flooring where appropriate, utilised all existing partitions and repurposed the internal spaces themselves with a refresh in decoration.
As a local authority, ERC care about their people and their space, and the end user was a constant consideration throughout the project. The changes have impacted the space significantly, leaving ERC with a cohesive, bright and calming space that encourages collaboration and supports staff wellbeing.
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