Atlas Estate Agency, Liverpool

The brief:

Atlas estate agents, Liverpool requested the expertise of MPL Interiors when it moved to new premises in the Mossley Hill area of the city. The client was keen for the design to reflect Atlas’s corporate colours, as well as feature textural elements and a variety of different lighting options. We were also asked to refit all aspects of electrics, power, lighting, heating and air conditioning; create two private offices; lay new floors; install a backroom staff kitchen, cloakroom and storage area, and refresh the shop front.

Our approach:

This project was easily divided into two halves: an extensive first fix phase and a decorating/aesthetics phase. The empty unit enabled us to quickly take every surface back to bare brick for a thorough refit. Meticulous space, electrics and lighting plans were drawn up, followed by mood boards detailing colours, textures and the placement of furniture.

Illuminating ideas

Often an afterthought among clients, the Atlas team was keen for its office lighting to take centre stage when it came to office space interior design. One of our first jobs was to install a drop ceiling that enabled recessed LED lights to be installed around the perimeter of the office. Another addition was recessed track lighting over the open-plan desk area – a system that allows the client to customise the lighting’s position and intensity. There are also spotlights, three suspended pendant lights and LEDs in the ceiling-mounted wooden slats.

Working the room

Smarter space planning is often the solution to poor customer journeys, disjointed working practices and low staff morale. Our blueprint for improving all of these for Atlas included a reception area, an open-plan desk zone, a boardroom and a private office. We used full height glass partitions with black Crittall details to section off the space and to keep the design connected, while a dedicated waiting area gives clients a good first impression.

Colour choices

The Atlas logo – seen as an acrylic emblem on the bespoke reception counter – directly influenced the colour of the waiting area’s feature panel, which is a bold cerulean blue. Set just in front of the building’s structure, the void created by the panel allows the TV screen to be recessed and the cables neatly tucked behind. Elsewhere, the boardroom features a matt black feature wall to match the satin black switches and sockets and black sinks, basins and taps in the back office.

Feeling fine

The client’s request for texture has been expressed throughout the design. Both the private office and the boardroom have brick slip feature walls that add a tactile element in the same way as the reception area’s 3D panel. There’s also a blend of carpet, tile and Amtico floor coverings – the latter in concrete and a wood plank herringbone effect. The concrete theme is mirrored by a panel inset into the reception desk, while upholstery takes the form of on-trend boucle fabric in the boardroom and velvet armchairs in the waiting area.

Additional elements:

Our electrical work encompassed the fitting of a motion sensor alarm system with a Ring camera, recessed ceiling speakers and the wall mounting of Samsung’s ‘The Frame’ art mode TV screen in the boardroom. All desks, chairs and storage solutions were supplied by MPL Interiors, and we created a consumer-facing refreshment station to the side of the reception desk.