Key fact

PROJECT: Vizeum, London
DESIGNER: MoreySmith
CLIENT: Vizeum
SIZE: 1,765 sq m
COST: Undisclosed
COMPLETION TIME: 10 weeks

Project description

The London team of branding specialist Vizeum didn’t want to work in a ‘try-hard media office’, but they didn’t want anything dull and corporate either. When the company moved from its previous ‘dingy and cramped’ base in Covent Garden to a bright and spacious open-plan office in London’s West End, architect practice
MoreySmith and fit-out specialist Parkeray struck the perfect balance for them.

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Part of global media group Aegis, Vizeum was launched in 2003 and specializes in building strong loyalties between client and the end user. For the London project MoreySmith researched every job role in the London team to create an open-plan, inclusive workplace. The bold and inventive project took only 10 weeks to complete.

The new space in The Qube, an equally new building by architect Derwent London in
Whitfield Street, is relaxed and informal. It’s possible to walk around whole office without having to open a single door, but subtle differences in decor and the use of floor finishes, joinery and suspended glass screening gives each area its own look.

A glass lift takes you up in an atrium to the office and reception on the second floor.
Here, natural materials contrast with ultramodern design features, such as colored acrylic rods hang from an exposed concrete ceiling above the reception desk. Timber floors and a glass screen decorated with a graphic of trees and birds in flight, designed in collaboration with Vizeum’s in-house design team, add softness.

The same glass screen separates a quiet area behind reception from the throng of the main office. Here, circular booths with wooden tables and biege upholstery and lit by large pendant lights feel intimate and cozy. Larger tables and bench seating enable group meetings and communal dining.

The company’s work hinges on excellent client relationships, so MoreySmith designed a front-of-house area that feels sociable and informal, with full IT/AV connectivity giving it all the practicality and flexibility of the main office.

A cafe and events area, used for meetings as well as events, has a glossy ceramic Strata Tiles’ floor in white that creates a bright, lively space. There are two drop-down projector screens for presentations, while glazing and reflective finishes maximise natural light.

The cafe leads to a large boardroom with AV equipment. This is separated from the main office by a large, acoustic sliding timber door, which allows the space to be opened up to the cafe for presentations for up to 200 people.

A library and display area links the collaborative spaces to the open-plan office. An existing galvanised steel floor gives a utilitarian feel, and it is curtained on two sides by an Algue mesh screen, from Vitra, which delineates the space without creating a solid barrier. The area is further enhanced by a bespoke wire-frame fringed pendant light. Campaign artwork and graphics are displayed in suspended acrylic frames here.

In the main workspace, carpet tiles have been used to differentiate between functional work areas and collaborative, informal spaces.

Vizeum now has a London office that matches its creative and personal approach to branding; a beautiful, bright space that’s far from corporate, but where form never outshines function.

 

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