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PROJECT 1 033 PROJECT INFO


Architects/Designers tp bennett tpbennett.com


Client


Open Society Foundations


Start date February 2018


Completion date February 2020


Size 32,000ft2


CONSULTANTS


Quantity surveyor, project manager, M&E engineering Cushman & Wakefield cushmanwakefield.com


Lighting Consultant Nulty nultylighting.co.uk


Catering Consultant Sefton Horn Winch shw-design.com


Acoustic Consultant Sandy Brown sandybrown.com


Planting Consultant Plant Designs plantdesigns.co.uk


Furniture Dealer Spacecraft spacecraftint.com


Joinery Contractor Howard Brothers howard-bros-joinery.com


‘home from home’, welcoming not just for OSF employees but also for the wider community of grantees who are able to use the space, from the ‘highest delegates’ to ‘graduate students working with a charity’, Poerwantoro explains. It was immediately obvious that the spiritless environment of the old ofice wasn’t right for OSF’s employees, who had nonetheless tried to personalise the space where possible. Mark Davies, principal director at tp bennett, describes how the OSF staff had ‘festooned [the ofice] with artefacts’, including tapestries, pottery, ceramics, books and photos from their time working with grantees in different countries. Poerwantoro suggested this comes with the territory of working at OSF. ‘It’s not just a 9–5 job, it’s something that you bring your whole self to. You’re really passionate about human rights and seeking to promote democratic governance.’ In a former printing factory in Farringdon, the new ofice is spread across two floors and divided between more communal and more private areas: the entrance level functions as the former, with co-working areas and coffee facilities, as well as catering for larger events in The Forum, with a tiered social stair that allows


for the whole ofice to congregate. The lower level provides conditions for focused, individual work with ‘touchdown nooks’ of unassigned rooms and ‘home ofice’ pods. A variety of meeting rooms allow for different types of activity, as well as suiting different personalities and neurodiverse staff: a deep dark green colour used in many of the meeting pods aids concentration for research, brightly coloured rooms are designed to encourage collaboration, while others are a ‘neutral’ design for those who might find colours overstimulating. Due to the nature of their work, OSF employees might often receive news that a friend or colleague has been unfairly incarcerated, killed or injured. The design, therefore, paid careful attention to creating retreat spaces for dificult times – instead of leaving the employees to resort to the toilets. tp bennett created a well-being suite comprising a parenting room, no-tech sanctuary space, sleep pods, flexible contemplation rooms for private or group prayer, meditation and restful activities such as yoga.


Diversity and inclusivity were foregrounded by the client right from the beginning, and it invited the tp bennett team and project


consultants to attend a day of lectures on the subject at the University of Cambridge. But beyond accepting generalised guidance, individual employees with differing accessibility needs were consulted to ensure that proposed designs did actually work for them. As Poerwantoro explains, ‘There are some instances where there might be some amazing stair ramp configuration, [but it] draws attention to that person with the disability. It was more about integrating it so they feel like everyone else.’


Bespoke furniture included tables with the leg recessed enough to accommodate wheelchair users, furniture proportioned to the female body, and toilet doors orientated to left-handed people – the latter being the sort of detail that, even as a left-handed designer, Davies had simply come to accept until this project prompted them to find a solution. tp bennett was also keen to support the way the OSF staff had personalised the previous ofice, providing a physical ‘framework’ in the form of shelving and a ‘community wall’. Where staff had also been sharing plants in the old ofice, tp bennett translated this idea to create a ‘propagation


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