Reckitt Benckiser case study
Reckitt Benckiser is a global company supplying household cleaning products with operations in 60 countries, sales in 180 countries and net revenues in excess of £3 billion. It recently expanded its global headquarters in Berkshire taking 25,508 sq ft of additional space.
The prime objective set by the brief was to ensure best practise globally for Reckitt Benckiser. The challenge has been to create a more stimulating and interactive way of working, while considering privacy and personal space. It was also important to embed the corporate identity through the design.
The solution
The design is based on zones of both public and private space, with break-out areas, informal meeting spaces, and a cafe to bring the building alive. New work zones to create a new team environment, combining personalised spaces and storage have been introduced.
The managers have moved from traditional cellular offices to open plan to improve levels of communication. The concept of 'huddle rooms' was developed, integrated into the open-plan environment and intended as spontaneous non-bookable meeting spaces. They provide the centre piece for the first-floor open-plan area and are visually exciting, using interconnecting ellipses with suspended bulk heads and strong corporate graphics.
The ground floor incorporates the reception, senior directors' offices, boardroom, project rooms, restaurant, café and touchdown space all flowing from the large elliptical shape. The colour palette is white throughout and uses the company product portfolio to develop visually strong artwork, creating a gallery on the white walls which is very effective
The result
Head of operations Sendra van Roon is impressed with the design, feel and look of the space, the expansion required has been built into the design and the Global IS dept moved into the space with no disruption to the business.