Channel 4 Television
Horseferry Road, London SW1
MoreySmith was asked to respond to a major, and unpopular, culture change in bringing Channel 4's London operations together on a single site, and moving to a fully open plan environment while still reflecting the company's creative and vibrant edge. The redesign was complicated and challenging.
We redesigned the edit suites in the basement, the café and ground floor reception area, and the work spaces - on a budget that demanded the maximum imagination in re-using existing resource. Here is the café, also used for live broadcasts, which we made directly accessible from reception and created a raised coffee bar and touchdown area, making the immediate visitor experience a great deal more welcoming.
A strategic space evaluation confirmed that 50% of the building was empty almost 50% of the time, making space efficiency a key issue. The result of our work is greater operational efficiency and improved staff morale in a flexible interior which enhances teamwork and collaboration, all on a budget of about L230 per sq m - compared to the normal range of L400 - L1000 per sq m. All the teams, including management, were moved from offices on to simple, egalitarian bench desking, but otherwise much of the existing furniture was re-used.
Bespoke artwork panels by Jonathan Huxley divide the open plan floors up into smaller teams.