Work, Rest & Play

Studio philosophy

This studio will appeal to those designers who want to work with large well branded corporate clients. It follows a narrative of the professional within the business workplace, at head office but also considers how people meet, negotiate and communicate in transient space such as cafes, hotels, airports and the golf club or the Spa. What does the future workspace look like? Do hotels create appropriate business class spaces?

The corporate business world is rarely seen as it sits behind glass, steel and concrete, it can be imposing, cold and ambitious to the outsider. However each high brand business is lead and motivated through principles, strategy and targets. The workplace should offer its workforce a series of spatial opportunities not just to be able to work efficiently, but also to find creative ways to work collaboratively developing flexible working practices and bonding space for teams and colleagues, attaining a high morale both individually and companywide. The studio asks you to think about all the spaces that the business employee could potentially work in, from the hotel room to airports to trains, planes and cafes. Should we be thinking about more intuitive and flexible spaces and furniture?

Project

Phase 1
BNY Mellon Workspace
bnymellon.com

You are asked to design the offices of BNY Mellon an International Investment Bank situated in No. 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf. To look at their specific brand characteristics and working practices and design an office layout that adds experience, dynamism and value to the space, the people, and the company. The brief asks you to design an office layout, it’s public and private areas, shared and individual space. It requires you to look at both the function and the qualities of furniture and materials areas, taking an environmentally responsible view of your selection.

Phase 2
The Business Hotel
firmdalehotels.com

Taking the workspace principles of this studio apply these to the space within a hotel, to its bedrooms, conference suites, foyers, corridors and cafes making permanent and spontaneous spaces for those that need to work. You should consider practices such as meeting colleagues and clients, private and open conversations, the use of hardware and technology and think responsibly looking at anthropometrics and ergonomics and materials.
There will be a chance to work cross discipline within workshops concentrating on the design of the desking furniture for the business hotel.

Phase 3
The Hotel Room Workstation
humanscale.com

Most people would agree that the furniture in the typical Hotel Room still relates to the ideas of dressing tables and chest of drawers rather than to a Workstation. The business person can spend considerable time working in their bedrooms in between meetings and so those ergonomic and appropriate qualities are often compromised. This brief asks you to design address the characteristics of the Hotel brand and design a workstation for the Hotel Bedroom, this project is sponsored by Human Scale, furniture designers based in Clerkenwell, renowned for their ergonomic and sustainable design. In keeping with the international breadth you will working in collaboration with students from Dong Yang University Seoul South Korea.

Phase 4
Transient work space pop up
banburywalker.com

Banbury Walker will develop ideas of spontaneous and flexible workspaces within the airport/trade show.

Outcomes

Your ideas will be illustrated through a series of sketch development and sketch models and hand drawn layouts. You will provide detailed dimensional drawings of spaces and the designed interior using Autocad. Project proposals will look at brand analysis, mood boards, customer journeys, FFE and it’s notion of personality and gender related to colours, furniture and pattern. Professionally presented and illustrated through visualisation 3D studio max and other software.

Throughout this project there will be opportunities to develop

  • Human scale Hotel Room desking brief and Internship competition
  • Banbury Walker 48 hour Internship competition.
  • RSA / D and AD competitions, similar themes to be explored and developed through an appropriate brief.
  • Independent Project that follows similar themes and narratives.

Study Trip

There will be study trips to Amsterdam and Milan Furniture Fair.

Office space

Details

Course Interior Architecture BA (Hons)
Interior Design BA (Hons)
Where CR517, 41 Commercial Road
When Tuesdays, Thursdays
Tutors Kaye Newman
Karl Harris
Website Andrew Walker: Banbury Walker

Shahnaz Shinani Bidabadi
Farida Hasan
Suad Mahamed
Garcia Troy Mushiga
Patricia Pascoal
Maria Radeanu
Hiba Al Saadawai
Tatiyana Tiam
Pavlina Vackova

Riem Alaeddine
Jack Boyson
Camilla Chung
Meglina Dimitrova
Maya Fabri
Dena Ghaneei
Shakti Gupta
Mahum Javed
Ekta Khetia
Kairi Kivinuk
Arta Marku
Jessica McCarthy
Sara Mitrova
Katrina Rich
Bianca Ross
Valerija Selest
Isra Tabassum
Leyla Taremi
Salam Uddin
Ave Nae Win