A more engaging and collaborative workplace for London Councils

London Councils represents London’s 32 borough councils and the City of London. It is a cross-party organisation that works on behalf of all of its member authorities regardless of political persuasion.
The recent project at London Councils was developed through a referral and began with Kinnarps’ Next office consultation which assisted them with understanding how to better utilise their current space incorporating activity based working. London Councils wanted to offer staff a more engaging and collaborative workplace whilst improving the communication across teams. For staff there has historically been little interaction between floors in the building, which has hindered communication and team spirit. They also wanted to explore the option of achieving additional revenue by letting out one of the floors within the building.
A concern leading up to the project was that staff may find it difficult to move away from the 1:1 desk ratio into a more agile work setting. Would moving towards a more activity based working environment work for London Councils as an organisation? When employees were given the chance to voice their views during Kinnarps Next Office consultation process, these concerns, as well as a clear appetite to try something new, were all captured.
Having under taken Kinnarps’ Next Office consultation, London Council’s thought it was a positive way of onboarding all staff and preparing them for change. This process allowed London Councils to give Kinnarps a robust and accurate brief when it came to designing the space and supplying the furniture to fulfil their goals.
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that daily work was not majorly interrupted during the refurbishment of the new floor.
The lead up to and the installation were smooth and fuss free. Like any project there were slight teething pains however London Councils have shown the potential to save on space, communication across teams has improved and the staff now enjoy having a choice of agile work settings.
The result of this project has given London Councils a modern and flexible working environment which aims to attract and retain talent.

You can read more about our Next Office process here