icon-search

Enter a search term to see suggested pages.

Close
What we do
Workplace Consultancy
icon-consultancy
Design & Build
icon-design
Workplace Furniture
icon-furniture
Workplace Technology
icon-technology
Our Story
Our People
Careers
Academy
Sustainability
icon-case-study-red
icon-view_1
icon-blog
icon-whitepaper
icon-video
icon-360
Claremont Claremont
Chat
Search
  • What we do
  • Our work
  • Our thinking
  • Destination Office
  • Our story
  • Contact us
  • What we do
    Sub Menu
    • Overview
    • Workplace Consultancy
    • Design & Build
    • Workplace Furniture
    • Workplace Technology
  • Our work
  • Our thinking
  • Destination Office
  • Our story
    Sub Menu
    • Overview
    • Our People
    • Careers
    • Academy
    • Sustainability
  • Contact us

Blog

A Week in the Life of a Housing Association Interior Designer.

15 January 2021 | by Sarah Syson

5
MIN

read-circle
A Week in the Life of a Housing Association Interior Designer.

Home → Our Thinking → A Week in the Life of a Housing Association Interior Designer.

Promoting well-being in the workforce is a growing priority for housing associations, particularly through the design of their office environments. Sarah Syson, specialist Interior Design Manager here at Claremont, walks us through a week of space planning, toilet installations, town halls and pilots.

post-line-1

As first shown in Inside Housing.

Monday

This afternoon I put the finishing touches to a new scheme for a past client, Prima Group. I designed their head office a few years ago but now that they’re much more agile, there’s scope to make changes.

Central to the new look is a relaxing coffee bar on the ground floor, which will also act as a town hall space. Town hall is the name we give to large community spaces where colleagues come together either for informal meetings, to socialise or for company-wide gatherings.

In this case, it’s driven by a desire for greater well-being among staff as it will offer somewhere for colleagues to decompress after difficult client situations.

I’m excited to see the client’s reaction to the 3D visuals we’ve produced.

Tuesday

Following our recommendation for a changing places toilet, I’m working with specialist installers and our fit-out team to understand what this requires of a client’s space plan. As it needs to occupy 4m x 3m, we determine it is best located close to, but not in reception, to ensure additional privacy as people enter and leave.

These toilets offer dignity for people with physical and learning disabilities and are becoming integral to the sort of inclusive and well-being-orientated designs we’re creating. We recommended this toilet off the back of past project experience and as it will soon form part of the building regulations – it’s a real investment in the longevity of the space.

Wednesday

Today is dedicated to progress meetings with Eastlight Community Homes at their office in Essex.

We’re currently on site delivering their 20,000 sq ft head office project, so participation in a site meeting, socially distanced of course [and before the current lockdown], gives me the opportunity to see how things are developing and answer queries from the client and our on-site team.

During that meeting it becomes clear that we need to find an alternative and more durable flooring tile for their high-traffic kitchen area. I make a note that once back in the office I’ll need to source some other options.

Thursday
Today we should have been in Clerkenwell, London, taking Bromford round a series of showrooms to see the furniture we recommend for their new schemes. COVID-19 put a stop to that, so we’re working closely with suppliers to create a furniture pilot in the client’s office.

Today I’m planning how we’ll dress the space properly with desks, chairs, storage, soft seating and acoustic solutions as well as working on content for the remote video presentation we’ll give while the client steering committee trials the furniture first hand. We find this to be a really effective way to fine-tune our plans and ensure buy-in from the very people that will be using the space day in, day out.

Friday

This morning I’m working alongside our consultancy team as they help new client Saffron Housing Trust consider its office portfolio and how to improve the quality of the environment for their people.

While it’s too early for design concepts, this is an important time as it’s when the client typically shares their current frustrations and wishlist for a new look office. I make a lot of notes.

The best designs don’t just enhance the look of a space, but also its function and how it makes people feel. The client shares their ideas: they want a bold and bright design that improves well-being and collaboration. Workplace agility is also high on the wishlist as well as lots of meeting spaces.

The last few hours of the day are spent finalising a mood board for a forthcoming pitch and getting a handle on my ever-growing to-do list for the next week.

Author

Sarah Syson
Associate Director, Head of Design

Related thinking

cs-line-9

Video

Breakout Spaces – Some of our favourites!

Blog

Four Reasons Why Fitwel is For You

Video

Eastlight Community Homes – A video case study

Whitepaper

THE DESTINATION OFFICE

home-line-4

OFFICE INTERIOR
DESIGN & BUILD

From Workplace Consultancy through design, to the build and beyond. Whether you use all or part of our capabilities, you’ll find we’re a safe pair of hands.

home-line-5
icon-plus

Workplace Consultancy

Helping you achieve the optimal combination of people, space and technology, enabling your organisation to realise its maximum potential in a FutureFlexible way.

icon-plus

Design & Build

Claremont’s comprehensive in-house capability takes care of it all, it’s an end-to-end solution that mitigates risk, accelerates timescales and controls costs.

icon-plus

Workplace Furniture

We believe furniture has a huge impact on the people using it. We aren't limited to a specific range of suppliers, so finding exactly the right products for you or even designing you something unique is at the heart of our approach.

icon-plus

Workplace Technology

Just the right tech fully integrated with your space gives you that all-important agile and collaborative environment.

What we do

Get in touch

home-line-10
logo-ig
logo-twitter
logo-linkedin
logo-pinterest

    Warrington Design Studio (HQ)
    • T: 0800 262 880
    • E: hello@claremontgi.com

    Claremont House
    The Breeze
    2 Kelvin Close
    Birchwood
    Warrington
    WA3 7PB

    Bristol Design Studio

    Origin Workspace
    40 Berkeley Square
    Bristol
    BS8 1HP

    Living Wage Logo

    © Claremont 2023

    Design and build by

    Future
    • Privacy Policy
    • Anti-Slavery Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this.
    Dismiss
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT