Paragon Interserve – a contemporary workplace

Resonate Interiors was appointed by Paragon Interserve’s Matt Bray and Paul Vinten to design a state-of-the-art, modern workplace to house the newly-merged global construction company. 

The client approached Resonate with a brief for a contemporary, flexible workplace for circa 140 desks.

Paragon required a flexible workspace and had a need for hot-desking to encourage various teams in the business to collaborate and work together in a supportive and welcoming environment. ABC+D takes a look…

The new headquarters at Old Broad street is acting as the Southeast Hub for Interserve and Paragon – a great place for combining this large infrastructure company and the interior fit out company.

Based in the heart of the city and enjoying great reputations within the London market, the companies are well-placed to access their clients in the City and the West End and to get to sites quickly if required.  

Branding is subtle rather than overt, with colour being carefully selected from the orange and teal palettes of the two original companies and applied to soft furnishings and lockers. This provides a sense of place and offers a vibrant backdrop to the workplace.  

The space is very fluid and agile enabling staff work in any place, at any time and to choose a setting that is suitable for the particular task in hand. For instance, project-specific teams can sit together when they are in the office and work out best solutions for a particular issue.

The Finance and IT support teams are also based here. The large, central breakout space acts as a town hall in which Matt Bray or Paul Vinten can update the team on project progress and general business matters. The interior fit-out is also one that Paragon is proud of; this is “what they do” and they do it well, with joinery and attention to detail on finishes being of the utmost importance.

The company is using this as an exemplar project to demonstrate to its clients. The concept is a kitchen table approach, gather the family around for support, catching up on news and creating harmony amongst colleagues.

111 Old Broad street is a light and airy space with large deep floorplates. The challenge was to maximise the natural light into the depth of the space.

The reception was a case in point where seating adjoins the exterior façade to allow light to penetrate into the space. The palette of materials was selected by Resonate for longevity and solidity, contrasting modern Corian with solid concrete and oak panelling – a traditional British building material.

The meeting rooms are located just off this space, allowing an easy transgression from reception, to lounge area to meeting room.

The manifestations of the meeting rooms had varying degrees of transparency but were a play on structural steel supports, again reflecting the construction heritage. Subtle references to both brands are found in soft furnishings, lockers and bespoke carpet design within the hub.

The centrepiece of the office is the café hub, this is the go-to-location in the office for serendipitous meetings, project discussions or lunch breaks. Resonate selected a deliberate and eclectic mix of furnishings which allows a variety of settings from café to lounge to bar height.

This is the heart of the space and has a warm, homely feeling, with carpet tiles imitating Spanish tiles and a wide range of pendant light fittings over various seating areas. To the back-end of the core workspace there are three project rooms with clever pivoting metal mesh screens which provide semi-private spaces.

All of these rooms are fitted with AV, making it a useful space for small teams to dive into for quiet time or small meetings.

Matt Bray, director of Paragon Interserve commented: “Overall, this is not a corporate scheme but one with depth and warmth, successfully designed and delivered by Resonate that will support the business for years to come. This space reflects exactly what Paragon does, which is delivering beautifully appointed workplaces with a high attention to detail.”