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A bright contemporary office defined by clean lines, open layouts and warm timber detailing in Holborn, London.
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Floor-to-ceiling glazing brings abundant natural light into the workspace, enhancing clarity and comfort.
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Clear zoning separates collaboration, private working and breakout areas for seamless workflow
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Feature ceilings and integrated lighting add visual interest while maintaining a calm, contemporary feel.
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Elegant glass partitions and warm timber elements create transparency while defining the workplace zones.
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Relaxed breakout zones offer a comfortable setting for informal meetings, collaboration and downtime.
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Bespoke workstations and furniture solutions tailored to the workflow and design language of the office.
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Collaboration zones designed for focus, comfort and easy communication in a refined contemporary setting.
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Soft neutral tones create a balanced atmosphere that feels modern, professional and welcoming.
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A sophisticated office designed for flexibility, performance and a seamless working experience.
Here's How We Transformed an Outdated Holborn Office into a High-Performance Modern Workplace
The Business Case for Redesign
Before any finishes or furniture were selected, we analysed how employees moved through the office, where natural daylight reached the floorplate, and how existing structural elements influenced workspace planning. Instead of simply modernising the appearance, the project focused on reorganising circulation, improving workplace flexibility, and integrating architectural features that would support long-term business growth.
The central challenge facing our commercial design team was highly specific: How do you completely reinvent an ageing office floorplate without changing the building itself? Every workstation, meeting room, and collaborative area had to be repositioned to create a more connected, productive, and future-ready office environment that actively helps the company attract and retain top-tier talent.
The Client's Operational Challenges
Modern businesses cannot operate efficiently in outdated environments. The existing office suffered from several critical operational bottlenecks:
- Inefficient Layouts: The office had become severely inefficient due to years of incremental, unplanned alterations.
- Restricted Natural Light: Heavy internal partitions interrupted natural daylight, leaving the center of the workspace dark and reliant on artificial light.
- Lack of Flexibility: The rigid layout completely lacked the flexibility required for changing team sizes and modern collaborative working.
- Disconnected Workflows: Meeting spaces and workstations were physically disconnected, increasing friction and reducing operational efficiency.
- Poor Brand Perception: Outdated finishes, peeling laminate, and exposed messy services no longer reflected the company's professional image to visiting clients.
Workplace Strategy: Engineering Business Outcomes
A successful commercial fit-out must drive business outcomes, not just interior aesthetics. We developed a comprehensive Workplace Strategy to ensure the new office supports the actual mechanics of modern work.
The floorplan was strategically mapped to support deep focused work, informal spontaneous collaboration, formal client meetings, and hybrid working schedules. By balancing these competing needs and building in modular expansion capacity, we ensured the investment actively supports the company's future growth and employee retention goals.
Structural & Architectural Problems Solved
How we restructured the floorplate to solve deep-rooted environmental issues.
Partitions blocking natural daylight.
We reconfigured the entire floorplate using glazed meeting rooms and strategically positioned collaboration spaces, allowing natural light to penetrate much deeper into the office while maintaining acoustic separation.
Fragmented circulation routes.
A new circulation spine was introduced to organise the workplace logically, improving movement between reception, meeting rooms, workstations and collaborative areas while reducing unnecessary walking distances.
Columns interrupting workspace.
Instead of concealing them, we integrated the structural elements into bespoke timber screening, planter systems and architectural features, allowing them to become part of the workplace identity.
Visual clutter from original ceilings.
A coordinated ceiling strategy simplified lighting, ventilation and architectural detailing into a clean contemporary system that improves both aesthetics and maintenance access.
Lack of functional zoning.
We introduced carefully planned workplace zones, combining open-plan workstations, enclosed meeting rooms, informal breakout areas and quiet focus spaces while maintaining visual openness throughout the office.
Mistakes We Prevented
Protecting our commercial clients from costly design errors that ruin office productivity:
Fragmented Department Layouts
We prevented retaining fragmented departmental layouts that reduce collaboration and isolate teams from one another.
Blocking Natural Daylight
We prevented blocking natural daylight with unnecessary enclosed plasterboard offices along the primary window lines.
Treating Columns as Obstacles
We prevented treating structural columns as obstacles, integrating them instead as defining architectural features of the floorplate.
Generic Office Furniture
We prevented installing generic office furniture that ignored the building's geometry, which creates dead space and awkward walkways.
Overcomplicating Ceiling Services
We prevented overcomplicating ceiling services with multiple competing design elements, ensuring a clean, easily maintainable overhead grid.
Designing Around the Building, Not Against It
One of the defining aspects of this project was working with the existing structure rather than treating it as a limitation. Instead of hiding structural columns, existing glazing and service routes, we incorporated them into the overall design language through timber screening, integrated joinery and carefully planned circulation.
This approach reduced unnecessary structural intervention—saving budget and time—while creating a workplace that feels purpose-built, contemporary and naturally connected to the building itself.
Why We Made These Design Decisions
In a commercial environment, every aesthetic choice must have a functional ROI.
Why Maximise Glazed Partitions?
Glass meeting rooms maintain acoustic privacy without sacrificing natural daylight, creating a brighter, healthier, and more visually connected workplace for all staff.
Why Introduce Timber Screening?
Timber slats soften the stark commercial environment, provide subtle zoning, and create visual rhythm throughout the office without blocking the open-plan feel.
Why Integrate Biophilic Planting?
Biophilic elements are proven to improve employee wellbeing and lower stress. They also naturally define circulation routes and act as soft borders for collaborative zones.
Why Redesign the Reception?
The reception now creates an immediate professional first impression while reflecting the company's contemporary identity, instantly improving visitor and client experience.
Why Customise the Workstations?
Rather than relying on standard, ill-fitting office furniture, bespoke workstations optimise storage, hide messy cable management, and encourage team collaboration while creating a much more cohesive workplace.
Image Storytelling: The Transformation
Visual evidence of how Oraanj reengineered the floorplate to modernize operations.
The Problem: The original reception lacked a clear identity, with dated finishes, inefficient circulation and little visual impact for arriving visitors.
The Solution: The redesigned reception introduces warm timber detailing, integrated lighting and bespoke architectural features that immediately establish a modern and professional workplace.
The Problem: Fragmented partitions, exposed services and ageing finishes limited flexibility while preventing natural light from reaching the entire office.
The Solution: The completed workspace balances collaborative working with individual focus areas through careful zoning, bespoke furniture, integrated planting and contemporary architectural detailing.
Ceiling Visual Clutter: Lighting, HVAC services and ceiling elements had accumulated over multiple refurbishments, leaving the workspace feeling dated and visually chaotic.
Fragmented Circulation: As departments expanded over time, the workspace evolved without an overall strategy, resulting in awkward movement paths and disconnected teams.
Our Commercial Expertise
Delivering a high-performance office requires a multi-disciplinary approach:
Commercial Interior Design
Balancing corporate brand identity with durable, high-traffic commercial finishes.
Workplace Strategy
Aligning physical layouts with HR goals, hybrid work models, and future headcount growth.
Office Space Planning
Optimizing square footage to increase desk density without feeling cramped.
Interior Architecture
Re-engineering circulation spines and integrating structural columns into the design.
Bespoke Joinery Design
Crafting custom reception desks, timber slatted screens, and integrated storage walls.
Lighting Design
Implementing lux-level compliant LED grids alongside warm architectural feature lighting.
Meeting Room Design
Engineering acoustic privacy, AV integration, and glazed partitions for executive spaces.
Reception Design
Creating high-impact visitor arrival experiences that instantly communicate brand authority.
Biophilic Office Design
Integrating living and preserved planting systems to naturally boost employee wellbeing.
Design & Build Renovation
Acting as the single point of contact from initial concept through to final turnkey construction.
Commercial Fit-Out FAQs
How do you modernise an outdated office without relocating?
By conducting a comprehensive "Cat B" fit-out. We strip back inefficient partitions, reorganize the mechanical and electrical services, and implement a strategic floorplan that breathes new life into the existing square footage—saving the massive costs of moving.
What is the benefit of workplace space planning?
Space planning ensures you aren't paying rent for dead space. It optimizes circulation, ensures natural light reaches desks, and groups departments logically, resulting in a measurable increase in daily operational efficiency.
Why are glazed meeting rooms popular in modern offices?
They provide the required acoustic privacy for confidential meetings without creating dark, solid walls that block sunlight from penetrating deep into the open-plan office areas.
Can bespoke joinery improve office efficiency?
Yes. Custom joinery acts as both storage and architecture. Built-in storage walls can divide rooms while hiding printers, servers, and coats, keeping the office visually clean and highly organized.
How does office design improve employee productivity?
Design directly impacts wellbeing. Access to natural daylight, comfortable acoustics, ergonomic furniture, and varied spaces for focused vs. collaborative work all actively reduce fatigue and increase output.
What should be included in a commercial office renovation?
A successful renovation must include space planning, HVAC and lighting upgrades, acoustic management, IT and power routing, bespoke joinery, and the specification of commercial-grade durable finishes.
Does Oraanj provide complete office design and build services?
Yes. We operate a true turnkey service for commercial clients. We handle the strategic workplace planning, interior design, landlord approvals, and the complete physical construction of the space.
Lessons Learned
Transforming commercial spaces reinforces critical truths about modern working environments:
- Layout Dictates Performance: Workplace performance begins with the floorplan rather than the furniture. A bad layout with expensive desks is still a bad layout.
- Embrace the Building: Structural constraints can become defining architectural features if integrated properly (such as using columns to anchor planter walls).
- Light is Priority One: Natural daylight should shape workspace planning wherever possible. Desks must always take priority near windows over storage or corridors.
- Flexibility equals Longevity: Flexible layouts extend the lifespan of commercial offices. By using modular zones instead of solid walls, the company can adapt to hybrid working seamlessly.
- The Dual-Mode Office: Successful office design balances energetic collaboration with quiet, focused working. An office that only provides one or the other will fail its employees.
The Final Outcome
By executing a comprehensive workplace strategy and intelligent space planning, we transformed an aging, inefficient Holborn floorplate into a high-performance modern headquarters. The new office respects the building's architecture while maximizing natural light, fostering collaboration, and providing quiet focus zones. The result is a contemporary, professional environment that actively supports employee wellbeing and equips the business for its next phase of growth.
