Design & Space Planning
Fit-Out
Furniture
Future Games of London is one of the London tech scene’s biggest startup success stories. Their brand-new office in Clerkenwell, close to Old Street’s ‘silicon roundabout’, offered us an opportunity to create a fresh, fun and colourful workspace design reflective of the mobile games they’ve become known for.
The Future Games of London team might have years of game-creation under their belts, but they’re still young at heart. Fun, originality, fearlessness and passion are integral to the game-creation process – all of which became our guiding thoughts when approaching our workspace design ideas. We began by interviewing members of the team across the board, quickly identifying a need for agile working and collaboration.
The building layout presented several challenges. Firstly, the split over two levels wasn’t necessarily conducive to the collaborative working desired. Secondly, to maximise the space and create a better flow between these two spaces, we recommended moving a staircase, which was agreed with the landlord. We decided to create two types of working areas – downstairs for everyday working and meeting; upstairs for getting together, hosting and playing. Other key considerations included using the great views, controlling the daylight (important for all things screen based), maximum space efficiency and enabling staff to move around the spaces freely.
This is what the workspaces of the future look like. We created an incredibly adaptable space that can be used in a variety of ways. Downstairs in the main working area there are bar tables for quick catch- ups, sofa snugs for informal meetings, chill-out areas, game demo rooms, long lunch tables and more. Upstairs, when not hosting clients, the meeting suite can be used as a breakout area. Here, there is also space for games, with the pool and ping pong areas doubling up as larger meeting areas thanks to bleacher-style seating. What’s more – and about the only traditional office-design feature you’ll find here – is that everyone has their own, dedicated desk. Little touches of humour are woven throughout, with subtle references to the studio’s well-known Hungry Shark app found in the pixelated flooring design, fin-like accent details and furniture selection. To top it all off, the staff floor was cleverly designed to accommodate 70 people on day one, and allow expansion to 90 without moving staff around and disrupting the flow.
