Office redesign for Trainline Edinburgh & Barcelona
Trainline is Europe’s leading train and coach app. Trainline aims to bring together all rail, coach and other travel services into one simple experience and give people smart, real-time travel info on the go.
Trainline approached Amos Beech with the urgent need to accommodate more staff to their call centre area within the existing office. The first phase of the ongoing refurbishment project is the major re-design of the staff kitchen and breakout space which did not meet the client’s needs.
Corporate kitchen design and office refurbishement for Trainline Edinburgh
Phase 1
The Edinburgh Trainline offices are situated at Tanfield, an established commercial location for central Edinburgh.
With the Trainline business expanding at such a fast pace, time was of the essence to create a stunning design that both reflected the brand and met the practical needs, both in terms of facilities but also to the right furniture for the dining and lounge spaces.
(Initial visualisation and final end result)
Corporate kitchen design and fit out
The kitchen itself is a fully integrated self-service zone for staff including built-in microwaves, dishwashers, and larder fridges plus water points and a separate coffee area exclusively for drinks. A separate hand washing sink was incorporated late-on in the process as fit-out commenced during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
The space doubles as an area perfectly suited to host trainline’s multiple social events.
The result is a large, open practical facility; welcoming and verging on the current “resimercial” design trend – the merging of a residential approach with commercial interior design.
The palette is modern and muted bringing in soft tones and biophilia to enhance the comfortable nuance to the space.
Phase 2
In addition to the initial kitchen and breakout space we have refurbished the meeting room and reception area. Whilst we’re there we also had a look at how the kitchen and breakout area had evolved after the first few years of use:
Trainline Barcelona Office
After completing multiple successful projects for Trainline in the UK, Amos Beech was asked to support their Barcelona project. After outgrowing their original office space, they took the leap (and obvious upgrade) to a fantastic space right under the nose of the historic landmark, Sagrada Familia.
This was a wonderful project to work on. Bringing to life a vibrant space within a quintessentially Barcelona building right next door to one of the most well-known landmarks in Europe.
This space was all about collaboration and creativity and the design brief was simple – bring in colour, biophilia and make sure everybody knows this is a Trainline office. The exciting bits? Well, check out the digital split flap departure board in the games and social area. This is used to make important company announcements or show information on team events. The Amos Beech team also designed ‘train’ graphics which brought to life the many glass partitions throughout the space. As an added perk for Trainline staff, there is also a bar with a beer tap!
This project could not have been achieved if it was not for our diverse and capable projects team that make us a dependable design and construction management company for projects all over Europe.
(sorry we haven’t got images just yet…)
Published: phase 1: 4 December 2020, phase 2: 3 October 2024
Text: Deborah McAulay
Photography phase 1: Jill Tate architectural photographer Newcastle
An interactive and collaborative space for BRD-GE in Edinburgh
At BR-DGE they are pushing the boundaries of payment technology and are on a mission to shift power and control back to merchants because payments have become too complicated. In the digital purchasing environment, they want to deliver a great customer journey and a frictionless experience.
With staff returning to the office post covid, it had become clear that the old ways of working had changed. There was a need to create spaces that supported videos calls with clients, and other teams, away from the desk. The need for teams to interact and be more collaborative was also an essential.
Collaborative space Edinburgh
Having created a collaborative space before for the client contact in a previous role, there were some previously used items of furniture that transferred, as well as some different needs to be supported. So we came up with the office interior design ideas shown below.
Design visuals:
A high back seating area replaced the old meeting room in the open plan office with a less formal presentation area for team discussions.
An adjoining office gave them the space to add a high table with a presentation screen and a large circular work desk allowing staff to pop in for a few hours and do focussed work alone, or work as part of a larger team.
The top floor Boardroom was redecorated along with new furniture and lighting, and the larger space used for a table tennis table and bean bags creating a fun space.
All rooms were redecorated and the clever use of ‘colour blocking’ using brand colours, defined different zones. New carpet was used in the collaboration space. The areas have now been further branded with new wall graphics.
The end result:
text and images: the Amos Beech team
Office interior design, fit out and refurbishment for MRI real estate software in Newcastle
When MRI Software (previously Orchard Information Services) took the decision to move their offices from the Technopole to the Central Square in Newcastle, they turned to Amos Beech again for workplace consultancy regarding the interior design and office fit out of their new location.
Office fit-out and refurbishment for MRI in Newcastle upon Tyne
Any refurbishment and office fit out project in Newcastle has 4 steps:
1. Research
This is partly done by the client and partly done by the interior design team. Together, we have to answer a few questions.
What works for the office space and what doesn’t (based on the company’s needs and on those of the employees)? What are the space limitations (those perfect office chairs may be too big for some areas)? What is your long-term growth plan (scalability is very important)? How is technology helping or hampering the refurbishment and fit out?
2. Budgeting
Of course, office refurbishment costs per square metre vary a lot depending on what the client wants. The costs can be tweaked a lot, but there are some areas that are set in stone. The right Newcastle refurbishment company can help you identify the areas and item that leave wiggle room and get you the best costs without sacrificing the outcome.
The best results in terms of both outcome and budgets happen when you work closely together with your office refurbishment and fit-out specialists. They are part of your team and you have to trust them enough to know that your best outcome is their best outcome. Be honest about your budget and about your needs.
3. Project Plan
As soon as the details are agreed upon, the client receives the office fit out and refurbishment project plan. This document contains an outline of what the office will look like as soon as the work is completed.
Office refurbishment and fit out Newcastle for MRI
For the client, this is one of the last stages in which they can ask for changes without seriously affecting the final office refurbishment cost. In our project with MRI, the project plan was the result of close collaboration, so we had minimal changes to make after the client review.
4. Building, Installations and Review
After the office refurbishment and fit-out specialists work their magic and everything is in place, the client is ready to move in. But this doesn’t mean that the work is done for the designers and technicians.
We always ask our clients to review the changes and tell us how they feel in their newly refurbished office. This way, it’s easy to deal with minor creases early on.
The entire process is, of course, more complicated. But these are the stages where the client is most involved.
Furniture and technology
Integral to this was their desire to move their existing workstations which had been supplied by Amos Beech previously and complement them with a bench desk system that would manage the large volume of data and electrical cabling that their development teams needed.
Using Samuel Bruce TeamTable as a starting point and developing a specific product that met the needs of MRI Newcastle was all in a days work for the product design team. By utilising the unit construction of the system a solution was developed that allows all sides of the bench to be worked from without intrusion from legs, support rails or cable management.
All data and power is perfectly integrated beneath the desk and an on desk grommet offering power and USB charging points make it extremely easy for staff to stay connected without the usual tangle of cables.
Interior design, office fit out and refurbishment Newcastle Upon Tyne
The scheme isn’t just about desks and task chairs – in todays ‘smart office’ break-out spaces and meeting booths all form an integral part of a ‘knowledge business’ and MRI Newcastle has plenty. Collaboration spaces are fully fitted with power and data points, staff can choose where they work and who they are working with. Flexibility and communication along with a relaxed homely feel to the office interiors makes this space in Newcastle so much more than a workplace. Maybe even a home from home – although the staff might never admit that too readily to their partners who wish they would spend more time at home!
Publication date: March 21st 2016
Text: Roy James
Interior photography: Jill Tate
Amos Beech: working with businesses in Newcastle Upon Tyne on a wide range of office fit out and refurbishment projects:
