Siemens HQ, Frimley, Surrey, UK

29 April 2009

Siemens HQ, Frimley, Surrey, UK

BDG WorkFutures carried out an exceptionally challenging fit out at technology company Siemen's UK headquarters, designed to make working in the four-building Surrey campus part of the "brand experience".

Key facts

PROJECT: Siemens HQ, Frimley, Surrey
DESIGNER: BDG Workfutures
CLIENT: Siemens
BUDGET: Undisclosed
PROGRAM: Five months

Project description

Technology giant Siemens moved some 1,600 staff from four sites across southeast England and brought them together on a single campus in Frimley, Surrey. In just a few months workplace specialist BDG Workfutures made all areas of the four-building complex accessible to any member of staff so they can choose where to work. It was an exceptionally challenging fit-out program says director Lydia Randall.

To use its time effectively and cause the work on site to run smoothly, the team spent more time on strategy and planning at the beginning, which led to a watertight programme being put in place. Part of the brief was to show off the ‘brand experience so that services and facilities available to employees and customers would reflect Siemens brand and values.

Building Four is the client-facing building, explains Randall. Here, clients are welcomed by a concierge and met by staff in the client business lounge, which has drinks facilities, casual seating and a bar for laptop use. The lounge looks out on to the campus and is adjacent to glazed meeting rooms. The shared, breakout areas in each building are set up for relaxation and informal meetings, organized around central atriums and served by monitors showing 24-hour news coverage, and vending machines set into freestanding walls, brightly colored according to Siemens' brand colors.

The environment in each building is uniform in its quality (another requirement of the brief) and in its openness, which allows visiting clients to see the inner workings of the company in open-plan offices and meeting rooms with clear or frosted glazing. Siemens departments that work as teams are able to configure their desks according to the layout that best suits their practice, whether in 120 degree groups or benches, free or fixed use.

High traffic areas such as the reception, ground floor atria, lift core, and staff restaurant are laid with stone flooring, while workspaces are covered by carpet with different patterns denoting walkway and desk areas. In addition, on-site conveniences include a gym, indoor/outdoor garden adjacent to the restaurant and a Starbucks coffee shop.