eOFFICE

I PORTLAND STREET, MANCHESTER

BUILDING HAM

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8UILDING DATA

(' 'WI - MARCH 2006 {MANCHESTER srrn

:, I (WITHIN AN EXISTING BUILOINGI

")" 1500.000 - INCLUDES FIT -OUT AND FURNITURE

eOtfice is a rapidly expanding network of serviced office erwronments mat enable new

and growing enterprises (or businesses with only the occasional need for a desk) to inhabit contemporary commercial space without incurring large overheads or property responsibilities. Typically, serviced offices are Iligilly cellular, but eOffice broke the mould by introducing largely open-plan environments to this sector. Meeting rooms and small one-toone rooms are made available, but the philosophy of the business is to create a netvvork of like-minded and mutually supportive companies - a sort of entrepreneurial community. eOffice won the BCO's Award for Innovation in 2007 for its premises in lVIanchester; tile following year its Birmingham site won a BCQ Regional Award. The key to the success of mese places is creating facilities, plans and designs for unknown clients. Tilis is the spec office par excellence in mat tile eOffice offers what appears (at first glance) to be a bespoke solution for what can only be a generic tenant.

What eOffice has done is to borrow from

hotel technology to enable extremely flexible communications so that businesses can operate from any desk, take a call at any phone and use wireless technology for services such as printing. They have created the facility to 'plug in and work'. Moreover, the company has used interior designers to give its offices a slick, contemporary, colou rful and almost quirky ambience. There

is something of the boutique hotel or the wellappoi nted advertising agency about these

environments, rather than the pared-back neutrality of most' boxes to rent'. The Manchester site provides 100 workstations in an open-plan configuration, as well as private spaces which

can operate as boardrooms, and a 1 co-sea conference facility. A 'working wall' provides central storage, mail boxes and coffee-making facilities, leaving more than half of the site free of barriers or partitions. Like most modern offices, this workplace boasts informal lounge-like areas and 'touch-down' poots, as well as more formal

GOOD Of-FICE DESIGN WORKPLACE

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eOFFICE IS DESIGNED AS AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH ENABLES CROSSFERTILISATION OF COMPANIES; A MINI-·BUSINESS DISTRICT UNDER ONE ROOF, A SPACE THAT ENABU:S COMPANIES TO NETWORk INFORMALLY

workstations, all bound up in a package of hypergraphics, bright colours, sophisticated lighting and Hermann Miller furniture systems. 'The objective was to develop an innovative serviced office with a strong identity,' said the company's award submission in 2007. 'eOffice is designed as an environment which enables cross-fertilisation of companies; a mini-business district under one roof; a space that enables companies to network informally. '

BCQ judges described the Manchester site as more like an 'office club' than a workplace: 'Design and attention to detail is part of the secret. Ferrari-red casual furniture and record covers

on the walls create a dynam ic character from

a limited budget and tight space. High-quality furniture with a range of configurations and

services have made good use of a base building on a busy city centre corner.' Judges were similarly impressed with the Birmingham branch, which they said 'deserves an award tor the pure refusal to do the proper thing and its sheer spirit of achievement'

Part ot the success of these spaces is that

they are not, in fact, just spaces - the sense of community and belonging that eOffice tries to bring to their operation is just as important as the hardware and space planning, Regular events bring users together, members can communicate via an intranet. and other services such as filesharing and email are provided on subscription. It is all very flash, and almost certainly beyond the means of many small businesses were they to try to create all this for themselves.

GOOD OFFICE DESIGN WORKPLACE

OPPOSITE. COLOUR IS K,Y TO THIS O<VELOPMENT Tllf ClIEN r AII~EO TO PROVIDE A SERViCW Or-FIC( ENVIRONMeNT WITH A 6UZZ -AN ENTREPRENEURIAl COMHUNITY

eeOfiice

lEFT. fURNITURl WAS SOUI<CfU fROM KIUSTALIA. ~1}\GI5 /IN 0 HITCfI MILIUS. MEI18EnS CAN ·PLUG ANO WORI{' ANYWHERE.

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