For a global law firm of 2,200+ people, we created a single playbook to design, deliver and evolve its workplaces worldwide: one vision, one adaptable kit of parts, one delivery process. Then we digitised it, so the standard stays current on continuous data instead of dating the day it ships.
Every location was reinventing the brief. Offices were designed and refurbished project by project, with no shared standard, so quality, brand and experience varied widely. Leadership wanted one vision, expressed consistently worldwide, yet adaptable to local culture, climate and regulation.
We created one strategic and practical guide that gives leadership, project managers, designers and contractors a common language: vision and design principles, a full space typology, technology, wellness and brand standards, and a clear delivery process, proven through pilot fit-outs.
The vision and the business case in one place.
A repeatable process from brief to occupancy.
A kit of parts and standards to design from.
A global standard, adapted locally.
A printed playbook is out of date the day it ships. So we digitised this one. The standard is kept continuously updated on live data, occupancy, utilisation and the firm's own feedback, so every new project starts from the current picture, not a frozen snapshot.
It is the same principle behind how we now help firms become AI-native: keep the operating approach updated by the data, and the work stays sharp as the firm, and its world, change.
The standard updates as evidence changes, not once every cycle.
Occupancy, utilisation and feedback feed back into the guidance.
Every project starts from the current picture, anywhere in the world.
Inclusive, flexible workplaces that attract, develop and keep outstanding people.
Premium, client-facing spaces and technology that enable focused, high-quality work.
Spaces that project the expertise and gravitas of a leading global practice.
Human-centred design for belonging, wellbeing and a strong sense of identity.
A global study of how legal work is changing, and what the firm's people actually needed, surfaced clear signals and three interconnected themes that every space, technology and material decision is now tested against.
want more quiet focus space
value social interaction at work
rate technology as critical
want flexible seating
Give every person the spaces, tools and autonomy to do their best work, wherever they choose to sit.
Design the workplace as the social heart of the firm, a place people choose to be.
Build workplaces ready for technologies and ways of working that do not exist yet.
Every space type a workplace might need, defined once with guidance on size, purpose and specification, so any office can be assembled from a consistent palette while still adapting to local scale and culture.
A seven-phase framework gives every project the same backbone, with clear governance, defined roles and a real-estate checklist, so quality holds whoever delivers it, wherever in the world.
Agree the vision, drivers and success measures.
Understand people, work and the site.
Shape the workplace around the three themes.
Apply the kit of parts and standards.
Build, with governance holding quality.
Settle people in and embed new ways of working.
Measure, learn and improve over time.
The playbook was tested and refined through proof-of-concept fit-outs in pilot offices across Europe, the UK and Asia Pacific, each adapting the global standard to local culture, climate and constraints, then feeding what worked back into the guide.
The firm moved from reinventing every office to a shared language and a single, evolving standard: consistent brand and experience worldwide, faster and more confident projects, and a workplace that expresses who the firm is, adapted wherever it operates.
Client anonymised. Playbook developed by Work Transformers.
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