CASE STUDY WORKPLACE WEEK
IN A GOOD PLACE
Workplace Week London shone a spotlight on some of the most eff ective, creative and
downright cool workspaces in the capital while raising money for children’s charities.
Jo Sutherland, Magenta Associates MD and IFMA UK chapter Board Director, reports
In November, Workplace Week
London 2019, brainchild of Advanced
Workplace Associates (AWA), took
over the capital the same week that
BBC Children in Need graced TV screens.
Thirty organisations, including some
of the world’s biggest tech, media,
entertainment, facilities management,
legal, fashion and finance firms, opened
their doors throughout the philanthropic
event to celebrate workplace innovation
and share best practice.
“The idea was that Workplace Week
could open people’s eyes to new thinking
on ways of working, workplace design and
technology,” says Andrew Mawson, founder
24 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2020
of AWA and the brains behind the week-long
event.
And this year’s sell-out event didn’t
disappoint. Here are some of the highlights.
OFFICE WITH ATTITUDE
Dr Martens’ London HQ mirrors the
company’s ‘history of rebellious selfexpression’.
The brand is all about music
and identity, and that certainly comes to life
in the Camden workplace which is complete
with an amp wall, a drum kit, a stage and
framed records depicting the organisation’s
core beliefs and values.
But the corporate branding initiative that
sits at the heart of the workplace strategy
goes beyond the Diesel designer tiles, black
mesh, neon lighting and grunge artwork. Dr
Martens’ three distinguishing features have
been cra ily incorporated into the design
of the space.
The yellow stitching, the brand’s most
obvious trademark, is represented by
rows of yellow lights; the unique cross
logo features on the reception desks and
doorways; and the tread unique to the
resilient footwear is mirrored in the edge of
the stairways. This is the punk rock ’n’ roll
of branding.
The design and management of the space
places equal weight on the people within
it. Dr Martens’ ‘culture vultures’ focus on