Kimberly-Clark EMEA

CHALLENGING THE NORM CAN LEAD TO ENORMOUS BENEFITS

The European projects drove a review of working environments and offered the opportunity to provide more creative surroundings with a platform to use buildings differently and more appropriately. Using the model developed at the Kings Hill offices, we applied the tactics and deployed the approach to the user groups in each of the European locations. Our appraisals also involved the assessment of building options and by applying the developed organisational models to the architectural infra-structure we were able to recommend best ways forward.

These projects were about maximising the opportunity for a fresh approach to how space is used and how business is conducted within it. It was also about minimising the total floor area required yet retaining some key social spaces that were pertinent to the various ways of resting and relaxing. The communal spaces in particular offer a lively and natural world for the users to share and live in a collaborative way that is informal yet business like. The graphic solutions speak loudly about the brands and what they mean to both consumer and employee alike.

There was a risk of de-humanising the workspace by allowing market forces to dictate the solution and confusing the agenda by blurring the boundaries too much. It was asking staff to relinquish territorial advantages and the building required a design that incorporates immense flexibility that is not flash with unnecessary frills, but a blend of solutions that provide an overall balanced working environment. Our design offered an exciting platform for activity based working providing the right combination of work settings based on what people do and how often.

Local differences were also respected through individual national characteristics and local relevance, be it cultural, architectural or simply geographic. In each case we have been sympathetic to the needs of the local team, mixing a blend of new ways of working, new ways of relaxing and new ways of collaborating within the complex structures of a global corporate business.

Wow.......without the.......but why!.

Projects

• Turin, Italy (1,150 m² / 68 staff)
• Paris, France ( 950 m² / 58 staff)
• Madrid, Spain (1,150 m² / 74 staff)
• Ede, The Netherlands (1,124 m² / 52 staff)
• Mainz, Germany (826 m² / 45 staff)
• Brussels, Belgium ( 675 m² / 25 staff)
• Prague, Czech Republic (575 m² / 28 staff)
• Kings Hill, England (2340 m² / 233 staff)
• Brighton, England (3020 m² / 300 staff)
• Reigate, England (710 m² / 80 staff)
• Moscow, Russia (2,595 m² / 185 staff)
• Istanbul, Turkey (555 m² / 29 staff)
• Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (330 m² / 15 staff)
• Dubai, UAE (205 m² / 11 staff)

Projects were delivered with local country partners from property consultants, Cushman & Wakefield.