As designers, the scope of a fit out can often start with us. We have influence. Even if we have little say over the budget, lease expiry dates or supply chains, clients look to us to set the tone of a refurbishment and what needs to be included to create a great space. This starts with what’s present in the office already and looking at what we’ve got to work with.
I have definitely been guilty in the past of turning my nose up at the prospect of re-using 10 year-old partitions, orange timber veneer doors, suspended ceiling tiles and corporate, blobby, furniture! It doesn’t look good. How could any of these things compliment a new, exciting concept and look anything other than drab?
These days I realise that’s not the right lens through which to view a new opportunity. Our design team at Woodhouse aspire to find positives in the ugly and reinvigorate the drab. This is harder than starting with a blank canvass so is truly a test of creativity. Taking a space and the things in it that no longer support an organisation and making them work again to avoid a one-way trip to the skip.
Even though we are not seeking environmental certification for this project or many others (there can be reluctance from our clients, due to time and cost) we bake this thinking into our designs nonetheless.
We're proud to be Planet Mark certified, measuring and reducing our carbon usage, creating operational efficiencies and working towards our goal of net zero by 2030.
We're on a continual journey to create new spaces that support what clients need now, out of the stuff that’s holding them back.
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So about those those orange veneer doors, still working on that one. Those things are a right pain!
