Size
9,047 sq ft
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Activity
Manufacturing & Industrial
Duration
8 weeks
The newly refurbished headquarters of Portmeirion Group PLC will provide 550 head office staff with a workplace that is both professional yet soothingly casual.
Streamlined and subtly finished with pastel and monochrome tones, the pottery giants 9,047 sq ft premises on London Road, Stoke on Trent prioritises worker wellbeing.
With a bespoke office design that places Portmeirion's brands at the heart of everything, it offers a generous haven for creativity to thrive.
Starting out as a couple’s quaint, entrepreneurial venture in the Welsh tourist town of Portmeirion in the 1950s, the homeware and pottery company is now made up of a six-brand collective, supplying ceramic tableware, glassware, fragrance products and giftware.
Owning the brands Spode, Royal Worcester, Pimpernel, Wax Lyrical and Nambė, Portmeirion Group recently chose to invest in its headquarters as part of a wider brand refurbishment.
A hub of innovation, ideas and design, Portmeirion Group’s head office required a working environment that not only inspired but reflected the heritage of its multiple and distinct brands.
We composed an integrated layout of communal working areas which feature relaxed, domestic details such as the lounge-style seating, kitchen-bar and family-style pantry.
Designing for an activity-based client, we shaped a domain which is both calm and inviting.
Portmeirion’s new headquarters is characterised by a fun and fluent design that houses a multitude of complementary coworking areas.
Each one is carefully designed to coordinate with the Group’s six different pottery and homeware brands, whether celebrating the heritage of iconic names such as Spode and Royal Worcester, or reflecting the brand values of the UK’s largest manufacturer of home fragrance, Wax Lyrical.
The workspace facilitates creative and communal collaboration, including hot desking facilities, gathering huts and a creative meeting lounge, as well as an unorthodox ‘write on wall’.
An assortment of furniture adorns the communal spaces, from long sofas to crisp, wooden tables and chairs topped in pastel grey coats.
Spaces are illuminated by hanging lights suspended in delicate-looking baskets, matching the colours of the wooden furniture.
Alternative to the spacious template adopted by the majority of the office space, there are also more secluded spots such as the quiet library and individual cell pods designated for contemplative, solitary work. And there’s even room for a new photography studio too.
It is an arrangement which cares for the people working within it, allowing them to fulfil their potential. We took care to reinforce this sentiment by constructing a feature botanical garden, an attribute to support worker wellbeing and further generate a sense of community.
Businesses are acutely aware that employees expectations have changed due to COVID-19. The office is no longer just a place to work in, its a destination that is collaborative and creative, and focused on our wellbeing. Weve adapted existing office space to provide a workplace that reflects Portmeirons proud heritage and its culture. It delivers a great work life experience for Portmeirons people and will allow them to thrive through new, agile ways of working.
Office Principles has taken our brief to modernise our office space to create a modern, inspirational and flexible work space for our employees, with our brands at its core, and what theyve created is transformational. It will change how our teams work and collaborate, and quite literally puts our brands at the heart of everything we do.