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:
A new office for Calero Edinburgh
Veropath, headquartered in Edinburgh, helps large companies optimise their expenditure on telecoms and have recently been acquired by US software group Calero Software for further expansion. Calero manages more than $7 billion of annual telecom, mobility and cloud spend for over 3,000 customers operating in more than 50 countries globally.
The acquisition meant the company was moving from Castle Street to 40 Torphichen Street, near Haymarket Station, the heart of Edinburgh's financial district. The building has undergone a major refurbishment to provide high quality open plan offices and a new entrance. Calero were taking space on the 4th floor and Amos Beech were engaged to fulfill this project from design creation through to the fit out and furniture.
Office fit out and furniture for calero Edinburgh
The interior needed to be in line with the new status of the company within a global group and there was a tight budget and timeline to work to.
It was important that the open plan office had several collaboration and break out spaces as well as 45 workstations. To enable the data team to have their daily meeting, the new office space now has a town hall seating area with 20 seats alongside a writable wall and surrounded by acoustic screens.
A further breakout area was created and this has a double function as a cafe as it is located next to the tea/coffee prep area. It features pendant lighting with laminate oak veneer shade, rich in tactility, providing warmth to the area. Obviously, key to the success of this space, and any organisation for that matter, is the fresh bean coffee machine!
Operable Moving Wall
An acoustic operable moving wall between the boardroom and a further meeting room or client area, gives the space the flexibility to have either two meetings at the same time, or one large meeting space with great views over the surrounding area. The wall is the ultimate in terms of acoustic integrity, achieving the highest possible sound ratings whilst leaving the floor free of any track or obstruction.
Date of publication: Nov 14th 2018
Text & Images: Vincent Hartman
Interior design, fit out and furniture for Blackcircles Edinburgh
I suppose if you are an internet based company you are going to use the internet to find your own suppliers and that is what BlackCircles did when they embarked on an office relocation and fit-out.
We were contacted and arranged to meet with the senior management team in one of Edinburgh’s coffee shops to discuss their plans away from the eyes and ears of their staff as it wasn’t yet public knowledge.
Interior design, fit out and furniture for Blackcircles at Tanfield in Edinburgh
As is often the case, we went through a couple of potential locations and then settled on what seemed like the ideal space only to then hear that the company who was moving out of the suite was now staying.
First interior design pencil sketch
So back to the drawing board and the next door suite was selected. To be fair, the space was a much easier shape to work with and it is also larger so the cloud had a silver lining but other challenges were looming. A bigger space but no more office fit out budget!
So maximum creativity required – step forward the design team and bring about a functional, minimalist space with just enough accents to keep Nick happy – whose eye for detail and nose for a bargain is the stuff of legends.
Some pretty clear lines were drawn and making the best use of space as well as planning for their future growth, a design emerged. Making sure that the natural daylight was allowed to filter through from reception whilst retaining some privacy for the office staff was achieved using some material more associated with conservatories, but the result is spectacular.
Allowing the staff the opportunity to work away from their desk was another consideration and various spaces have been incorporated to include quiet/concentration space, more open collaborative areas and a town hall space with tiered seating where the staff can gather for company announcements.
Shared components on the Samuel Bruce Team Bench desk design kept the cost per workstation down and allowed BlackCircles to specify the award winning Drumback from Viasit for all their operator chairs.
The making of the new office @Tanfield in #Edinburgh:
(click on the play button in the image..)
The biggest talking point though goes to their wall mural in the reception and something that our Interior Photographer was the most pleased with – a line drawing of an iconic vehicle that he drives himself, the one and only Land Rover Defender 110 with the proper engine (and if you don’t know what he means – that’s not the Ford one!)
