From two floors to a single modern working environment for the Scottish Refugee Council

ngo<7500glasgow

15 Apr

The Scottish Refugee Council is Scotland’s national refugee charity, working since 1985 to support people who have fled war, conflict, and persecution. Their mission is to help refugees rebuild their lives in Scotland with dignity and hope. The organisation offers advice and support services, promotes integration into local communities, and advocates for a fairer asylum system. At the heart of their work is a commitment to human rights, inclusion, and empowerment for people seeking safety.

Downsizing from two floors to a single modern office space — A welcoming and functional environment for the individuals and families they support.

Following a lease event, the Scottish Refugee Council made the strategic decision to downsize from two floors to a single 5,500sq ft space. Amos Beech was appointed to lead the design, refurbishment, and furnishing of the new workspace. The project brief included the creation of a refugee and customer facing reception, as well as an office space to bring together all the charity's operational teams.

The new floorplate split into two defined spaces. A welcoming greeting space for the refugees, and their families, with separate meeting rooms, including a family room. As well as separated seating zones, a 4-person meeting booth was included to allow refugees to fill in online forms and as an additional meeting space for staff to use. A team table with planting was introduced to give form filling space and allowed some greenery to be brought into the internal space. Each room was colour coded using Scottish Refugee’s Brand colours and these were mixed on meeting chair seat pads for the large Boardroom. The space also had to support the many complexities around security and health & safety of both refugees and staff.

The open plan office brought together all the teams into one area and included support spaces such as meeting rooms, a quiet room with soft seating, a staff tea point area with high backed seating to provide a break-out space and additional meeting / video conference call spaces away from the desks. Open grid storage was provided again facilitating the introduction of plants. Rather than under desk pedestals each member of staff was given a locker for their own personal use. Again, the Brand was reflected in the interiors using different colours of upholstery and carpet tiles, as well as highlighting each column.

Key Elements of the Project

Detailed Space Planning and Interior Design: with reduced square footage, careful and collaborative space planning was essential.
Interior Fit-Out: the space was reconfigured to include modern partitioning, flooring and up to date lighting.
Furniture Supply and Installation: Amos Beech provided furniture including workstations, task chairs, a meeting pod, and breakout furniture.
Branding and Signage: the organisation’s brand identity was integrated into the physical space through colour palette choices creating a strong sense of place.

The finished project was a true transformation and provided staff with the modern working environment.