One of the last bastions of cellular office working – the British legal sector – is tearing down its walls. Overbury’s recent fit out of new offices for London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP in Tower Bridge is an example of the growing trend for open-plan working which firms like RPC are saying is delivering results in the form of improved staff morale, increased productivity and better business performance.
“We expected to see a higher than average exodus of staff after the move, in fact the opposite happened,” says RPC’s chief executive officer Adrian Martin about combining the dramatic change to open-plan with the move to new offices. “Within certain groups we’ve also witnessed a significant improvement in efficiency - between January 2006 and January 2007. Plainly speaking, day-to-day life is more effective. Going open-plan has proved to be a low-cost energy solution that works really well for our business.”
Overbury worked with architects HOK, quantity surveyors, Davis Langdon and mechanical and electrical consultants, Hurley Palmer-Flatt to deliver the five floor, 100,000 sq. ft, fit out which mirrors RPC’s vision of ‘openness’ and its desire to be seen as London’s ‘most pragmatic, open and collaborative law firm.’
“It was a brave decision to move to a modern open-plan design, particularly for a law firm, but this is a trend we are continuing to witness in all business sectors,” says Carl Stowell-Smith, Overbury project manager. “It offers greater flexibility for staff, better cross-fertilisation of services, information and ideas as well as improved productivity for the organisation.”
