A leading, multi-office accountancy practice with specialist expertise in private client and financial planning work our clients, Mercer & Hole, aim to do things a little differently; to excel technically, to give their clients options they hadn't even thought of and to make complex issues easy to understand.
Following a competitive tender process, NHQ were invited to work with Mercer & Hole on their relocation into a new space in the City of London.
Our clients approaching lease termination point gave them the opportunity to leave their home in Fleet Street and move into a prestigious new 7th floor location at 21 Lombard Street to accommodate their London staff. Our clients wanted to ensure that the 8,700sqft floor plate was optimised for space efficiency and would give their staff a premium, professional services workplace experience to attract and retain the talent they need for their future. The relocation, which coincided with the firms rebrand, had to be delivered to a carefully managed timeline ensuring the unveiling of the flagship office and the confident new look of the firm’s branding was a seamless event.
Our senior design team worked through the process of understanding how our client’s business functioned and how, from a workspace design perspective, key points-of-difference could be created which would be meaningful in attracting and retaining top-talent. We also needed to think carefully about the story behind the client’s new branding and how this could be embedded into the design of the new space. The result is an interchangeable and uncluttered environment which balances the need for private spaces for quiet or confidential work with opportunities for staff to collaborate and interact. The planning matrix included an allocation of private and shared offices along the west side of the space leaving the bulk of the floorplate free for open plan desking, quiet booths, touch-down benching and a social area for entertaining clients overlooking the private terrace on the east side.
A clean, professional aesthetic was selected that would withstand the test of time. Subtle use of the brand colour palette gives warmth and comfort to the space while black-framed glazing, architectural marble and linear lighting details portrays the client as a progressive, top-40 accountancy firm.