Case study
Property Agent
What we found
With a 360° panorama of Leeds from the heart of the city's commercial and retail centre, the prominent 1970's office building, Fairfax House, had the potential to be used as cutting edge premises for some of the region's leading businesses. However, it was in need of updating in order to compete with the many new office developments in the surrounding area.
Work Interiors was approached by one of Yorkshire's leading property agents, GSD, to undertake the entire refurbishment of the building. GSD selected Work Interiors due to its reputation for innovation and creativity but also for delivering projects on time and to budget through a single point of contact.
The project was complex to carry out because a number of floors remained occupied throughout. Work Interiors has proven experience of operating in occupied buildings and to minimise disruption to the working day, over 30% of the project was conducted out of hours.
What we did
The client's main objective was to attract new companies to Fairfax House. Creating the right atmosphere for a building starts outside and follows through into the reception area. The shell of the interior also needed to be completed to a high quality in order that occupants could tailor the space to their own needs.
Work Interiors helped to fulfil these objectives by rejuvenating the external frontages and interior of the building to a high quality without loss of productivity to those already working there. The project took place over a 26 week period and created 44,160 sq ft of prime, grade ‘A' office space.
As well as creating a contemporary new reception area and refurbishing the core areas to all seven levels, Work Interiors fitted new flooring, replaced all the existing windows and painted the exterior facades.
Making it work
As with all its projects, Work Interiors worked in partnership with the client throughout to gain a strong understanding of what was required and ensure that all targets were exceeded.
Mark Brear, Work Interiors' Lead Designer on the project explains: "As Fairfax House is situated in such an appealing location for high profile companies, we wanted to help the client create a space that was equipped to accommodate this kind of occupant. Businesses demand high quality premises and recognise the impact that a well-designed, user-friendly office can have on the productivity and well-being of their employees and visitors."
