Attracting premium tenants to Well Court

Re-inventing an underperforming space

8-9 Well Court, located in the City of London, was previously two separate buildings, which have been merged into one. The original fit-out was basic in design, underperforming and space-hungry.

The main objectives of the design were to increase the usable space, reinvigorate the services with new technology, and make the interior differences between the two buildings internally diminish, visually depicting a consistent design thread throughout.

Creating a high quality ready-to-work space

WSS's main objective was to attract premium tenant occupancy in the financial district of London. A contemporary environment presenting a versatile workspace on the first floor offering different areas of use including breakout areas, agile working, collaboration, a quiet meeting space and ergonomic workstations.

The second and third floors are designed to be high quality CAT A interiors, adaptable to the future occupiers’ identity, use of space and style of working.

The key deliverable was to refurbish and recreate three office floors, and all common areas to a high-quality finish for a ready-to-work scheme on the first floor, and CAT A on the second and third floors.

The fit-out includes new mechanical services fitted to all the floors from basement through to the roof, as well as a modern design that is convenient and energising to enhance the user experience.

The office presents a high-end modern reception area with soft seating and lift lobby to accommodate up to three tenants occupying the building, offering essential services such as showers, WC’s, lockers and bike storage in the basement to meet occupiers’ every day needs.

Gaining space within the building

The design increased net square foot by recovering redundant service risers. Following a lease review and structural works, the redesign of the partition set out and treatment to conceal the new services in the reduced riser locations, as well as extending the ceiling and electrical design into the uncovered dormant riser areas.

Uncovering these areas presented a clean solution to relocating the comms room into a more suitable and hidden area, contributing to the appeal of the interior fit-out.

Sustainable and tenant attracting design

The world is becoming more aware of the impact build, waste and lifestyle has on the planet. Its apparent that there is an increasing trend in companies looking for spaces that meet the sustainable requirements where the building infrastructure has very little impact on the environment.

Office design affects every lettable square foot that a landlord has to offer and can impact a higher return on their investment.

The design objective in the ready-to-work space is focused on the experience of the user and being BREAAM Excellent and WELL enabled, benefiting the wellbeing of the occupier and sustainability standards such as Energy Performance Certificate.

This design aesthetic can be seen within the exposed ceiling design and treatment to all the internal structural services and build elements that have been highlighted as design features including sprayed concrete columns, exposed sprayed slabs and roof trap doors on third floor.

The metal doors on the third floor have been accentuated using colour and LED strip lighting, showcasing what would normally be considered as ordinary and an eyesore into an attractive sculptural feature.

The ceiling design was one of the most challenging aspects of the design, as it had great impact on the exposed mechanical services and ceiling heights – which is a key driver of the mechanical and electrical features.

Adding value for landlords

Head of Landlord Kevin Wither explains “We designed a space that is vibrant and modern where thought and detail was put into every aspect of the interior. The space works hard for the occupant, ensuring an experience that exudes comfort, engagement encouraging top performance and productivity for a long-lasting, happy tenancy”.

“A well-delivered, cost effective net square gain was accomplished throughout design and challenges the traditional workplace environment expectancy.”