When Cisco renovated its emerging markets division, it wanted to introduce decor accents based on employees experiences of traveling to those parts of the world. The result is an eclectic mix of textures, colors and cultures.

Key facts

PROJECT: Cisco Emerging Markets Division headquarters
DESIGN: PENSON Group
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Procore
CLIENT: Cisco
SIZE: 2,000 sq m
COST: £895,000

Project description

Expect the unexpected if you visit the newly renovated HQ of global IT company Cisco’s emerging markets division in Feltham, Greater London.

From the moment you enter one of the twin foyers, each guarded by a life-size lion statue, a delightfully eccentric interior by architect and interior designer PENSON Group takes you on a trip around the world.

The design is immediately striking, eclectic and unabashed, but the fabrics, ornaments and photographs used to decorate the office are actually very personal to some of the people who work here: many have been supplied by employees themselves, who brought them back from their travels in the various ‘emerging market’ regions across the world.

A curved wall leading from the foyer into the office has been made into a photographic gallery, exhibiting a selection of employees’ best travel snaps, while another wall is adorned with square panels made up of exotic fabrics.

As well as adding color and verve to the office, the new scheme also maximizes floor space by stowing the company’s trusty storage units by KI in specially designed alcoves beneath shelves, on which employees place ornaments and trinkets from their travels.

Meeting rooms and cellular offices, ranging in size from the main meeting room which accommodates 28 to small ‘focus rooms’ meant to be used by one employee at a time, are named after rivers in the emerging markets regions – Zambezi, Nile and Amazon, for example. Again, they are decorated with employees’ photographs, and cushions covered in bold fabrics.

The meeting rooms and offices had an inherent problem with acoustics due to the proliferation of floor-to-ceiling glass, but acoustic panels made from thick foam and loose-weave fabric provided a very economical solution. Rather than looking like a design afterthought, these have been specially manufactured to be just the right size for each room, and are decorated with cut-out photographs of fabrics in the shape of each of the corresponding rivers.

In the main meeting room, named Nile, Visavis chairs by Vitra are arranged in a square around Herman Miller desks to help promote discussion. The walls are decorated with graphic maps of the emerging-market countries in orange, one of Cisco’s corporate colors. Another fabric panel links the design of this room to the rest of the office, while babushka dolls give it a homely feel.

Cushions covered with Moroccan-style fabric and a large sofa creates a comfortable breakout area, lit by ceiling-mounted spots and Copper pendant lights by Tom Dixon.

An eccentric dining table, designed by PENSON, steals the show here, with a surface of MDF covered with melamine in a daring 'pomme vert' color and supported by four ‘horse legs’ cast in plastic and painted a matching green.

PENSON’s founder and CEO Lee Penson says the client is thrilled by the design: ‘The thing the client loves is that, despite this being the first project with PENSON, it’s also the most daring, most imaginative and snag-free scheme it has seen to date.’

It also proves that you don’t need a huge budget to make a big impression.

Project Suppliers

• HermanMiller – www.hermanmiller.com

• Interface – www.interfaceflor.com

• Tsunami – www.tsunami-axis.co.uk

• Vitra – www.vitra.com

• KI – www.KI.com