Here is an office refurbishment that I worked on earlier this year. The previous interior was rather dark - lots of navy and dark blue with orange and terrcotta features walls. Overall it was quite dull. This company had a great collection of Asian and Pacific art and posters, as well as quirky little details that made the office interesting. These were lost, not hung properly or not well displayed.
The brief - the office needed a change but not changing the big things like carpet, furniture, the existing dark blue joinery...so it was up to the walls to bring some much needed impact.
A simple and crisp paint colour scheme of a bright white, bright red, taupe and a grey blue. There is a bold half wall of red and white which ties in with the reception desk, all the office and meeting room doors are red, all the main walls are white and the offices have a taupe feature wall. To tie in the existing dark blue joinery and furniture, the back 'pod' area of offices is painted in a softer grey/blue. This also distinguish the 'private' area of the office.
The panels by the elevators were previously in navy hessian (!) - this was replaced with white ostrich leather-look vinyl. One occupant commented the 'rice paper' effect these panels had. I like that.
We brought in an art installer to hang all the art in place. Even the photocopier area has a piece to look at while waiting and there is a great photographic series in the conference room to impress the visitors.
Since the change - I have been told that the office has collected more art and has them ready for installation next week. I'm glad the new scheme has encouraged them to keep this up and to keep their corporate environment interesting.
Photographs by Charlotte Minty.
