Granada Television explores how stimulating environments can be used to attract and retain a young and creative workforce in a fiercely competitive industry. The top two floors of a 19th century former warehouse building in central London are opened up and visually connected by a simple process of cutting out a central void. Around this space, a series of new ideas about offices are prototyped, particularly the manipulation of surfaces with graphics, colour and text. The void – complete with an abstracted giant bas-relief of the Granada logo – brings light into the centre of the deep plan and, by acting as point of entry, café, informal meeting area and break-out space to serve the surrounding mix of densely-populated open-plan office areas and cellular offices, augments the idea of reception. The project was won in a limited competition.
