New Ways of Working Network

The British Broadcasting System chose a site in Salford quays, just outside Manchester, for its BBC North hub. The offices were designed by ID:SR, the interior design wing of architecture firm Sheppard Robson.

Prior to the move, BBC engaged in an extensive change management program. The process included employee interviews, workstyle profiling, design workshops, show and tell and look and feel sessions.

A major design challenge was overcoming the territorial feelings of some 30 user groups who had their own ideas about how their office should look and work. ID:SR’s head designer Helen Berresford, in an article in onoffice magazine, asked users to have faith in the designers. “It was about creating an urban approach, making desirable space for everyone, rather than a suburban one, where you’re just concerned about your own bit,” she said.

EvDes blogged that the design is “Amenity-centric rather than desk-centric.” The workspace supports a range of activities with a wide variety of work areas from semi-enclosed spaces to bench seating to phone booths. The effect: less space but more choice.

A kit of parts, designed with “velcro and wheels flexibility,” make the spaces quick to reconfigure.

Circular meeting pods line the glass interior walls of one building. Large enough to accommodate two people and are often used for impromptu meetings, the pods occupy dead space at the edge of the atrium. 

For more about BBC’s new offices, see: Quality Content and World-Class Talent: The BBC’s New Hub in Northern England, ALAN BAINBRIDGE & HELEN BERRESFORD, CoreNet Leader magazine, January/February, 2012