Cable & Wireless: Bracknell

Location: Worldwide House, Bracknell, Berkshire

Sector: Telecommunications

Project Size: 50,454 sq ft

Project Value: Contracting: £2.5m; Furniture: £400k

Programme: 22 weeks

Scope of Works: Contracting > Furniture

The Brief

With teams previously operating across different floors and locations at the company’s Bracknell site, Cable & Wireless decided to relocate 600+ staff from the company’s Lakeside House offices to nearby Milbanke House (subsequently re-named ‘Worldwide House’), bringing colleagues together to work in specific teams and business function zones over two floors.
The brief was to create a ‘New Way of Working’ which would transform the working environment for Cable & Wireless colleagues, encouraging interaction and flexibility and helping to enforce culture change for the future. The project required the strip-out and refurbishment of existing Cat A office space to form open plan office space, including a new reception area, coffee shop, meeting rooms/ areas, presentation suites and restaurant.

The Solution

The refurbishment works included a new mechanical and air handling system, raised floors, ceilings, lighting, wall covering, signage and a complete furniture package incorporating 500+ workstations. The desking consisted of platform and wave style units, finished in white melamine with black support details. Cable management was used throughout, linking to floor boxes within the raised floor. Low-level divider screens again reflected the brand colours and were carefully chosen to reflect the localised scheme. The furniture package was carefully developed to maximise the flexibility required by the team and their global colleagues. When developing the space plans, one of the key objectives was to avoid the appearance of regimented desking runs. The use of informal breakout areas and meeting areas interspersed into the desk layout achieved this objective.

The Result

Claremont’s Richard Turner comments: “We all had to buy into the idea of what was being achieved at Worldwide House. That meant getting everybody involved with decision-making, including employees. But it also meant everybody being clear about what was expected of them. There was no scope for slip-ups . That wasn’t an option on a project like this, which was not only time critical, but also essential for the success of the client business.”
Patrick Cassidy, Director of Property for Cable & Wireless EAUS comments: “We’ve now got a headquarters that reflects our global culture and brand as all colleagues have had an input into the design. What’s more, the move will save us a significant amount of money that can be invested in other areas of our business to help us deliver a great service to our customers.”

"We've now got a Headquarters that reflects our global culture and brand as all colleagues have had an input into the design. What's more, the move will save us a significant amount of money that can be invested in other areas of our business to help us to deliver a great service for our customers."

Patrick Cassidy, Director of Property - Cable & Wireless EAUS