The Brief
The Watford Borough Council were looking to move out of their historic Town Hall building for it to be modenised and brought into line with the plans for the redevelopment of the area. The plan was to use their adjacent building for 3 years while the work took place.
The modernisation of the Town Hall would allow for not just the council staff and their clients but also a museum area, starter businesses and community space.
We had to design a space that would accommodate a more hybrid working practice that the council were moving towards and be transferable back to the Town Hall once the works have been finished.
Finally, we are designing a space for a council not a London blue chip business, so budget was important.
The Solution
Was to split the floors, with the second floor being a more formal meeting room space with a limited number of work desks that could be booked. In the meeting rooms we reused existing furniture but added power and data to make the space better equipped for technical connectivity.
The space is designed to be quieter, with staff getting an opportunity to get their head down and work.
The top floor was a more collaborative space, it houses a breakout area and coffee bar, which has limited power connections to encourage staff to not use it as a workspace.
There are two sizable standard height tables and 2 tall tables for laptop users who are looking for a drop in space between meetings rather than booking a desk.
The space is buzzier, however, to compensate we added pods some are for one-to-one calls others are for people to catch up in twos or threes.
There is a media space which allows for collaborative meetings and high sided sofas for quick get togethers.
The Outcome
The design offers something for everyone, some staff chose to work more days in the office as there are options to where they sit depending on the day’s tasks and importantly once the Town Hall is complete everything can be relocated.
