SCC

Squaredot brings new life and a spirit of collaboration to a disconnected, disjointed and depressing set of buildings.

A businesses head office should be an extension of their business, reflecting their culture, values and style. Unfortunately for SCC, the out-dated, failing and disconnected James House that they called HQ was the opposite of what this modern, collaborative company stood for. In desperate need for a re-design and re-furbish, the buildings at James House left employees feeling unmotivated, frustrated, and often disconnected from their colleagues.

SCC brought in Squaredot to oversee a complete overhaul of the buildings, to modernise the head offices with a design that would encourage collaboration, innovation, and communication. One of the most valuable parts of the research Squaredot carried out was the Workplace Analysis Study. This revealed how much of a negative effect the surroundings were having on SCC employees, and highlighted the resulting cracks in the infrastructure and culture.

The vision of this major refurbishment project was to bring everything back to its roots before re-building it back up better than before. This repurposed building needed to be sustainable and appropriate for the future, and consider the Environmental, Social Value and Governance (ESG) aspects of the new building. Environmentally, thermal efficiency is above and beyond regulations and Squaredot worked closely with SCC’s internal sustainability team to achieve compliance with SKA and Fitwel rating systems. Additionally, furniture provided was 99% recyclable and old workstations provided to a charity, furthering the sustainability efforts. 

The area this office is located in is one of extreme poverty and social challenges, and as such it was important for this refurbishment to offer the local community a degree of confidence that inner city urban zones can be a thriving hub for business and opportunity. These ESG considerations helped lead to the design becoming a finalist in the prestigious BCO awards. The cost-effective, sustainable design throughout James House responded to the requirements of employees learnt through the analysis study, and has helped to transform the working culture at SCC. It has also improved employee well-being as they feel more valued than before, which will organically improve staff retention and attraction for the company. The project presented an opportunity to challenge the existing working practices and adopt a new more flexible approach, something which SCC enthusiastically embraced.