FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
FLOOR PLANS
Each of Flutter’s seven floors has a clear purpose. The first floor is a team space with formal meeting and quiet rooms. The second floor is for more technical work with studio spaces and a mock-up shop to replicate Flutter’s different retail environments, while the third and fourth floors are home to collaboration settings and individual touchdown spaces. The fifth floor houses a hugely modernised café complete with a relaxation and gaming area, while the sixth floor, which boasts striking views of Dublin’s Wicklow Mountains, is a collaboration zone for meetings, company gatherings and social activities alike.
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin, Chief Legal Officer & Group Commercial Director of Flutter and the Executive Lead for the Dublin office said: “This building encapsulates our vision for the future of work. The office will always be the hub for a business like ours because that is where you get people together – when you do that, you unlock more innovation and connection, which means better teamwork. That said, we are in a totally new world now and while we expect hybrid working to remain a central feature, exactly what that means in the long term is still to be seen. The main focus is to make sure that what we offer works for everybody.”
One of the fundamental ways that Flutter’s new office accommodates more varied needs and working styles is by dispensing with owned desks. Instead there are spaces and resources that prioritise shared experiences, collaboration and inclusivity. One of the distinct upsides of activity-based working, where individuals choose the space for the task, is that it can also help to build capacity and flexibility into a space. Bundy added: “One of the biggest legacies of the pandemic is the way it’s changed how we all work and consequently what we expect of the workplace. Employers need their workspaces to offer what home and remote working simply cannot.”
FLEXIBLE FLOURISH
Flutter’s new home offers no shortage of choice. Huddle spaces, kitchen-table settings, studios and tech zones – all help to create neighbourhoods. Desking is included, but makes up just 29 per cent of the space compared with the 75 per cent it would have been previously. Areas for socialising and relaxation are plentiful too with an on-site café, a restaurant and gaming areas – which help to show that Flutter prioritises wellbeing and the power of a workforce rich in social connection.
Flutter’s Pádraig Ó Ríordáin wanted the workplace to allow people to flourish in their own way. He said: “Our people are our top priority, and we really feel this is an environment which people can come in and be themselves. It’s part of unlocking their talent but also putting them at ease. We’ve created an environment that really promotes wellbeing and interaction, so that people know their colleagues well and form strong bonds with them. Fundamentally, we want people to love coming to work – that’s what keeps people happy and productive, and attracts other people like them to join us.”
The building is also home to an on-site Market x Flutter convenience store – Ireland’s first fully frictionless shop. It features more than 90 cameras and AI technology so that colleagues can literally ‘grab and go’. The shop is also open to anyone working in the Clonskeagh-based office park, which helps to make Flutter an important part of the local community.
For a business like Flutter, which maintains a keen eye on acquisition and innovation, it’s not surprising that the headquarters will also act as a centre of excellence for technology to help drive innovation across the Group. Consequently, the office has capacity for future growth built in.
Mark Mercer, Director of CRE & Workspace for Flutter summarised: “When we look at our culture and the building, we wanted the space to drive engagement and for it to be based around three principles which are collaboration, socialisation and learning. When you walk around this building you can see why we’ve done what we’ve done and how it delivers on those values.”
The role of the office has been one of the most hotly contested topics since the start of the pandemic. This workplace shows clearly, that for Flutter, the need for a shared workplace is integral to their success. It is a powerful and strategic tool for innovation, wellbeing and talent retention. No longer just a place for desk-based working, the workplace is now a purveyor of powerful employee experiences and a hub for innovation, inclusion, culture and sociability.
