Total FM
| The open office |
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| Written by Carl Stowell-Smith, 2007 | |
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Carl Stowell-Smith outlines the path one firm followed from traditional office environment to a new flexible workplace in line with current business needs.
What are the advantages of an open-plan workplace? What factors are essential to a successful office relocation? London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) took a bold step recently to move into new open plan offices in Tower Bridge House, opposite the Tower of London. The firm, which employs over 260 lawyers and 500 staff, previously had offices at High Holborn and Leadenhall Street. RPC's Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Martin, wanted to do away with the hierarchical cellular office - a legal tradition - and replace it with a base where everyone could work and interact together in one transparent space. His objective was for the company to be seen as London's "most pragmatic, open and collaborative law firm" by:
Fitting out the visionIt was the task of the office fit-out specialist to help deliver a solution that would reflect RPC's vision of 'openness' and create new ways of working by improving social interaction and staff communication. During completion of a basic Cat A fit-out of Tower Bridge House, the decision was made by RPC to undertake a Cat B fit-out. Arranged over five floors and totalling 100,000 sq ft, the new office scheme had to accommodate an open-plan mix of fee-earning and support staff space along with flexible meeting and breakout areas. A multi-configurable seminar suite was another key requirement, along with a new high-quality reception, kitchen and servery. RPC's new conferencing facility also required integrated audiovisual facilities. It was a brave decision to move to a modern open-plan design, particularly for a law firm, but this is a trend seen in all business sectors because it offers greater flexibility for staff and improved productivity for the organisation. Consultative approachIt was essential that Reynolds Porter Chamberlain's decision to go open-plan was unanimous. All RPC staff were consulted through focus groups, seminars, staff questionnaires and reference site visits. Staff were initially sceptical - not least because it was a rare and bold move to make. Senior management feared open-plan working would expose senior partner working routines, and concerns were raised surrounding confidentiality of information. Adrian Martin admits community, transparency and a flat structure may be buzzwords of the moment, but if done properly they can also add up to an effective productivity tool. His enthusiasm for the project resulted in 95 per cent of the firm's staff agreeing that the vision reflected the RPC brand, culture and supported their business requirements. After being given the green light, as contractors we worked with architects HOK, quantity surveyors Davis Langdon and mechanical and electrical consultants Hurley Palmer-Flatt - as well as with RPC - to realise the firm's workplace vision. One of the main objectives was to create a space where staff could meet informally to work together, share ideas and take time out. The aim of the fit-out was to encourage staff to move around the building and away from their desks by introducing central services areas and postal pigeonholes on each floor. The building has great views all around so all staff have an attractive environment to work in, too. However, the very best views are reserved for the common areas, such as the café, so everybody gets to enjoy them. We transferred Adrian Martin's vision of transparency into our communication with the design team and RPC throughout the project. We held weekly formal meetings with everyone involved, including RPC, so that staff knew exactly what to expect when they moved into Tower Bridge House. In an open-plan office environment, noise can be stressful and distracting when people need to concentrate. The solution here was to install a £70,000 sound masking system (sometimes called 'pink noise') - an intelligent device that transmits a subtle background frequency. The system has eight masking zones per floor, allowing for a degree of flexibility in the level of the masking. The 'noise' is very similar to the sound of air conditioning and is broadcast from hundreds of tiny speakers hidden above the suspended ceiling. Employees say the sound masking makes a huge difference to their environment - when it's turned off at night a phone call can be heard at the other end of the room. Improved performanceThe results of RPC's office transformation are conclusive. Team interaction and cross-selling of services have improved. Trainee solicitors are learning faster, with an improved transfer of knowledge. Physical communication barriers with senior partners have been removed. Social areas are regularly used. Confidentiality and the distraction of staff have not proved to be issues. New filing systems also operate effectively and staff now follow a clear-desk policy. Lawyers notoriously store a lot of paperwork. Those at RPC have an efficient electronic filing system, which means paper filing has been almost halved from four and a half miles of storage to two and a half. This has resulted in savings of over half a million pounds. RPC was also keen to encourage its staff to recycle waste. Bespoke recycling units were provided to separate paper, plastic and general waste - again saving floor space with no need for individual bins at each workstation. And, as there was no longer a requirement to heat individual offices, the new open plan space promises reduced annual energy costs through the installation of intelligent and more efficient heating and lighting. The latter included sensitive lighting systems that adjust to natural light levels in the workplace and low-energy light bulbs that typically have one-fifth of a normal bulb's energy requirement. RPC's in-house, high-tech conferencing suite has also enabled the firm save money on hire costs. The new environment looks absolutely fantastic. Because CEO Adrian Martin involved staff throughout the entire design and construction process, the fit-out has been a resounding success with high levels of user satisfaction experienced almost immediately. Since moving into Tower Bridge House, Reynolds Porter Chamberlain has also become confident of improving recruitment and staff retention. Martin is delighted with the results: "We expected to see a higher than average exodus of staff after the move; in fact the opposite happened. Within certain groups we've also witnessed a rise of 34 per cent in billable hours between January 2006 and January 2007. Plainly speaking, day-to-day life is more effective. Going open plan has proved to be a low-cost energy solution that works really well for our business." Legal trainee Matthew Dando has the last word on RPC's office transformation: "I no longer have to hang around people's doors. I feel as if I'm working as part of a team and not alone in a glass box. This is not only radical for a law firm but it's radical to my friends too." His comments clearly reflect the success of RPC's decision to change and, in the process, realise its vision of being London's most pragmatic, open and collaborative law firm. About the author Carl Stowell-Smith is Project Manager at fit-out specialist Overbury. Please visit http://www.overbury.com/ |
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