COLLABORATE DESIGN

MCM Architects won the bid to design an additional floor for MasterCard in their London Headquarters building in Canary Wharf. The brief was to provide a v2.0 where the best design was continued but to develop the design further to allow users to try out new ways of working. The programme was incredibly tight as they were growing out of their existing office floor and needed to get the new floor up and running as soon as practically possible. As we only had a week to define the brief, I spent much of a week embedded into their existing floor and produced the report whilst there. This worked very well. Once, we understood the brief and the spaces and design features that were working well for them, it was back to the office to develop the concept.

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The brief called for a number of cellular spaces and due to space constraints these needed to be back to back with the core. However to enliven the experience for the users, we developed the idea of 'jewel' spaces. These were pockets of space that became stand alone spaces and not 'attached' to the core. These developed into meeting rooms with various breakout spaces surrounding them. A cafe/presentation space was developed to take advantage of the views and would become a whole office facility with the ability to hold small town hall's. Lastly, we designed various styles of breakout spaces, the idea being that the teams can trial these and those that are successful can be utilised elsewhere in the MasterCard property portfolio.

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In terms of concept, we took a multi layer approach. Firstly, the theme of "your city - London" - not the landmarks but the small spaces, the blocks, the side streets, the green spaces and the oddities. This reflected the plan we had developed to allow a number of ways from getting from A to B and different breakout spaces, some hidden away. Over this we also layered the MasterCard brand, the red and the yellow, the interlocking circles and their 'everything else is priceless' and other marketing strap lines. This kept the space fresh and clean with muted, soft areas as well as a level of vibrancy.

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MasterCard were very happy with their space. We had certainly pushed their boundaries somewhat but they were completely comfortable the entire way through the process.

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As Project Leader, I led the internal and consultant team through the process of this traditional contract. We led the client through the process from brief taking through to construction and also including the furniture package. We put together a full tender set (which was later praised for its comprehensiveness and ability to price accurately.) It was a very successful construction period with a great consultant and construction team! Following this successful first project MasterCard have asked MCM Architecture to do some further work for them including a project in Madrid and some work in Hammersmith.