HWFS, Feltham

The brief:

Unusually, the backbone of the brief from HWFS was to provide the workforce with a comprehensive breakout area, since the office is open and staffed 24/7, 365 days a year. MPL was also asked to incorporate generous amounts of storage, as the industry is still paper based with a profusion of shipping tickets and documentation. Finally, the client requested the colour scheme to be drawn from its new logo – recently introduced to celebrate 40 years in the freight and logistics sector.

Our approach:

Our initial appraisal of this commercial unit close to Heathrow Airport revealed an uninspiring and unfit-for-purpose office. A complete strip out was needed and plans were drawn up to repurpose the square footage to accommodate the HWFS team – a space that although not customer facing, needed to be smart. A number of half and full-height glass partitions were specified to create a new entrance lobby, private offices and meeting rooms, with safety and privacy built in using frosted vinyl decals and freight motifs.

Breakout boost for staff

The office’s breakout area was a key element, considered crucial to staff wellbeing and morale as many work weekends and overnight due to the nature of the freight industry. As well as a fitted kitchen with new appliances, there is a pool table - planned in with enough space to play a full range of shots - a nook where a dart board now resides, bar-style seating areas, comfortable tub chairs and a large wall-mounted TV.

Unlike other areas in the office, where a midnight blue carpet has been installed, the breakout area features hard-wearing laminate to withstand the round-the-clock use, high levels of traffic and footfall from the adjacent warehouse.

Desk details

As well as specifying lots of filing cabints and tambour storage units, the desk arrangement also needed to accommodate HWFS’s paper- and planning-heavy operation. MPL specified the biggest desks possible for maximum worksurfaces, and we opted for in-built monitor arms capable of each holding two screens. Staff wellbeing was also a consideration, therefore a number of electronically-operated, mobile sit-stand desks feature throughout the office.

Blue is the colour

Our client asked us to take the HWFS logo for colour inspiration, therefore we worked to a base palette of blues. Shades including midnight, cornflower, soft teal and azure feature across kitchen tiles, upholstery and wall art, with a complimentary splash of mustard yellow – a vibrant accent colour to add richness to the interior scheme.

Additional elements

MPL installed a number of wall mounted screens throughout the office, including a flush-fit LCD with conferencing capabilities in the main meeting room. We also installed three new cloakrooms, created a soundproof meeting room off the main open-plan desk area, sprayed the handrail on the stairwell black to match the other fittings, and applied a number of wall decals featuring HWFS’s logo, mission statement and values.