With their workforce returning to the office after an extended period of working remotely, we worked closely with our client Gamestop to reinvigorate their workplace and add a fresh new look through a cleverly approached retrofit. Our work included the introduction of biophilia, clean window dressings, flooring, and other aspects including the reimaging of their existing office furniture, which we had installed in recent times.

The outcome?  A fresh, vibrant workplace that reflected the energy of their business and their team and essentially, offered a design that encouraged collaboration and areas for rest and offered space that encouraged a positive and comfortable environment to work in.

How did we do this?

Like so many businesses in recent times, the offices of Gamestop lay idle and unused for the last two years with the majority of their team working remotely,  and also like many businesses, Gamestop recognised that when welcoming their team back, they wanted to make sure that their offices fully reflected the culture of the company and were welcoming in a way that embraced their team. Central to their considerations was the comfort, happiness, and well-being of their team thanks to the environment around them.

Biophilia

The reception of a business is the first port of call for visitors and employees alike and it is where first impressions are made.  Our introduction of a maintenance-free plant wall from the team in Mummy Plants immediately imparted the restorative and calming benefits of biophilia to those who walked through the door. Given the location of Gamestop’s offices in a busy industrial area, this immediate exposure to nature is intended to put people at ease and offer tranquillity.  Supporting the deep-rooted human connection with nature has an undeniable biological restorative effect – offering a calm and healing welcome.  What’s more, apart from the beauty of this green wall, it also offers acoustic benefits in what can often be an area of hustle and bustle.

We carried on the biophilic theme in our introduction of stunning Pedrali Kado planters on the office floor, each of which has been beautifully planted with fresh greenery from the team in Plant Design .These planters were placed at the end of each row of workstations, where storage units previously sat. Immediately the office floor was filled with the magic of fresh greenery. Apart from the beauty of these plants, they also add health benefits to the open-plan office space by releasing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide which not only freshens up the air, but also eliminates harmful toxins.

Softening the design with flooring and other soft furnishings

Prior to our arrival, the offices were floored with a vibrant geometric patterned carpet, which we swapped out for a more muted colour and design. In doing so, we enhanced the feeling of calm that we were looking to achieve.

In looking to expand the need for calm, we replaced the existing window dressings with a clean line of roller blinds. The team in Gamestop benefit from a considerable expanse of windows flooding the area with natural light, but we recognised that at certain times of the day, this needed to be tempered with the subtle shade of neutral blinds.

Reconfiguring privacy screens to deliver a fresh new design

As mentioned, in recent times we had furnished the offices with desks and privacy screens from Actiu, therefore, there was no need to replace this furniture. In line with the previous design, the privacy screens at each desk were alternating in colours. To bring a more stylish approach to the new calming design, we moved the screens to keep the colours together, so the colour distribution was less energetic and more restful.

Dedicating space to downtime

We completely hijacked a communal area and turned it into a fun space for breaktimes, with the inclusion of a kitchen and dining tables and chairs adjacent to which we installed a fun snooker table.   Rest and break times during the working day is an essential component of working well and working smart. Being able to properly extricate ourselves from our work enables us to clear our minds, refresh ourselves, to think, innovate, and increase our productivity. What better way to encourage restful times in the day than with the introduction of a space dedicated to this important aspect of the workday.

Finishing touches

There were so many more small but significant changes and finishing touches that included wall décor and window vinyl amongst them that brought this whole project together. Delivering a whole new office, without delivering a whole new office!

In summary

Our work in Gamestop is a prime example of how reinventing an office to create an exciting new space to welcome your team back to does not mean tearing everything back to the foundations. We worked with everything that Gamestop already had in place, using existing furniture and floor layouts, and offered a facelift and refresh to areas that required it, delivering a whole new office.

To learn more about this specific project please contact Keith Bannan on 086 823 0211 and he can share with you his advice and suggestions for your own office retrofit or reconfiguration.