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Sodexo provides world-class facility and hospitality services to some of the largest global brands. One of its service offerings, Sodexo Vital Spaces, focuses on creating flexible, employee-centred workplaces.
After working with Sodexo for 15 years, we were asked to help redefine the optimal blend of settings for its London HQ. Sodexo Vital Spaces required an environment that could shift perceptions and demonstrate to its clients how a modern workplace could look and function.
Together, we defined the purpose of this space – supporting three main user groups: leadership, business development, and operational teams. We then moved on to the spatial aspects of the solution, designing an aspirational environment that offers three distinct experiences: work, collaboration and showcase.
Sodexo’s new central hub can accommodate diverse activities and events, including immersive presentations, meetings, private calls, informal conversations and focused work. As a showroom of products and services, it demonstrates what Sodexo can achieve for its clients and enables them to fully imagine their own enterprise prospering in a similar space.
With several objectives and outcomes, and several key stakeholders to seek input from, it was vital we could navigate from the strategy stage to the design & build process with consistency, agreement and alignment.
This had to be a place that was flexible, editable and easily curatable to accommodate diverse activities and events. The distinct modern work modes of focus and collaboration could then be reflected in this space as a result. We installed reconfigurable partitions that can be altered to suit any number of occupants and tailored to a specific activity.
We responded to ideas of connection and communication for face-to-face meetings within the built environment, with additional integrated technology solutions to enable remote collaboration. This ensures an increasingly hybrid form of work pattern for the modern workforce is considered from the outset.
Providing a full service from strategy to design & build, all the way through to furniture choice, was a huge benefit to the delivery and execution of this project. It meant the extensive discovery stage informed the design choices and finishes in a much more joined-up way, which contributed to achieving an impressive three-and-a-half-month timescale.
The client’s high levels of trust and confidence in our abilities allowed us to design with genuine creativity and purpose. The Sodexo brand identity was represented in a muted and evolved way to make it a place that will consistently attract and nurture the talent of their workforce, while acting as a showcase for their services.
There is an air of subtle domesticity reflected in the aesthetic that manages to retain the authority and function of a working space. The bright, fresh, open aspect is married to biophilic design, blending natural light and a soft colour palette.
Innovative Vpod solutions operate as digital concierge services for guest bookings, offering meeting availability and suggesting catering and travel options throughout your stay.
There are several landmark metrics and measurables that point to the transformative nature of the new Sodexo workspace. Reducing their overall space by 50% delivers huge sustainability gains through carbon footprint reduction, and the operational savings follow a similar pattern.
However, the ultimate success of this project came through understanding how to make the transition from practicality to aspiration. It became clear to the client exactly what an operational hub space could become with a shift in mindset and approach. This is something that can now be adopted for any decisions on their existing and future portfolio.
As a showroom of products and services, it demonstrates what Sodexo can achieve for their clients – and enables them to fully imagine their own enterprise prospering in a similar space.