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ArchShowcase

Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Mendeley Office in London, England by align

August 12th, 2016 by Sumit Singhal

Article source: align

About Mendeley

Mendeley is a fast-growing, global, collaborative research and knowledge-sharing platform with over 3m global users. At the core of the business offer are cloud-based tools, platforms and services, designed to help scholars all over the world discover content, organise their papers and connect with other researchers, with the overall aim of making science more open, social and accessible.

The Mendeley offices are on the third floor of the Alphabeta building, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

Architects: align
Project: Mendeley Office
Location: London, England
Photography: Gareth Gardner

Full-height graphic illustrations reveal movement from the meeting rooms beyond but also ensure privacy, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

In 2013 Mendeley was acquired as a start-up – with just 40 employees – by Anglo-Dutch publishing and information giant Elsevier. Thanks to successful expansion and integration with existing Elsevier teams and resources, the company is now well on its way to being five times that number.

Nook with royal blue velvet sofa in lift lobby area, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

Waiting area opposite reception with Loved-up high-back chairs and ‘Dog’ table by Imbibe, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

The brief

The brief revolved around enabling staff to work at their optimum level, especially when coding. This meant planning for single working, working in pairs and also in both smaller and larger groups with maximum flexibility and variety, meaning staff can work seated or standing and are able to collaborate with varying degrees of privacy in sealed-off spaces, semi-private spaces or open meeting areas. Concentration and stimulation needed to be carefully balanced in a dynamic, hard-working environment where the human and ergonomic needs of staff were to be respected at all times.

The Social – the longest single space in the scheme, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

The Social is a general space for eating, drinking and relaxation – as well as a ‘Town Hall’ meeting area for the whole company, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

The brief also requested specific areas where consumers could come in to test new software and be observed in the process, as well as a range of break-out spaces, ranging from the relaxing to the very chilled indeed in order to off-set the intensity of the programming work. A central gathering space was also requested for the whole company to be able to come together in one place.

Central carpeting in the meeting rooms allows for access to cabling and data and future-proofs the otherwise sealed floors, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

A second meeting space is more relaxed, whilst the first features a ping-pong table, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

Summary

‘The move to Alphabeta is enabling us to continue to attract top talent and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, fun environment’, said Fernando Fanton, SP Global Product and Technology at Elsevier.

Meeting rooms on the other side of the atrium are clearly visible from The Social, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

The open plan office areas feature sliding screens and write-on-walls, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

align Director Gurvinder Khurana commented, ‘This is very much a grown-up scheme, which has been designed to be extremely functional and flexible in order to enable a work culture that is highly collaborative and where togetherness and sociability are both encouraged and celebrated. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work on, especially within such an exciting new building envelope.’

The Snug at the end of workzone 2 has upholstered seating and a quilted surround, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

An open meeting area within workzone 3 features a walnut table by Zeitraum and Eames armchairs from Vitra, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

About align

The aim of our business is to align our clients’ brands and businesses with environments crafted around real people’s wants, needs and ergonomic well-being. We believe that the essence of any successful project lies in understanding the ambitions, values, vision and challenges of our clients and that our mix of creativity, technical resource and very personal and tailored approach are a powerful combination in gaining that understanding.

The Lab features .04 chairs by Vitra and Chroma rubber flooring, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

‘Carbon’ is a video-conferencing and larger-scale meeting room, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

We are specialists in workplace design, but are active across a variety of sectors, including commercial interiors, retail, hospitality and residential. We also do business across a wide spectrum of industry sectors such as financial, media, technology, charities and public. We firmly believe that this cross-fertilisation of influences, experiences and relationships keeps us fresh, open and creative.

The smaller meeting rooms are for up to 4 people, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

Bespoke wallpaper by Claudia Stocker, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

A two-way mirror allows consumers testing out the software to be observed, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Mendeley offices are on the third floor of the Alphabeta building, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Full-height graphic illustrations reveal movement from the meeting rooms beyond but also ensure privacy, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Nook with royal blue velvet sofa in lift lobby area, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: 3.2m bespoke reception desk in Corian, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Waiting area opposite reception with Loved-up high-back chairs and ‘Dog’ table by Imbibe, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Social – the longest single space in the scheme, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Social is a general space for eating, drinking and relaxation – as well as a ‘Town Hall’ meeting area for the whole company, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Meeting areas adjoining The Social can be screened off via corrugated ply metal-framed screens on rolling tracks, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The third meeting space is the most formal, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Central carpeting in the meeting rooms allows for access to cabling and data and future-proofs the otherwise sealed floors, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: A second meeting space is more relaxed, whilst the first features a ping-pong table, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Meeting rooms on the other side of the atrium are clearly visible from The Social, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Butterfly Pod meeting space leads off from The Social, mImage Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Giant blueprint wall graphic of the whole office, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Staff lockers by Maine in laquered-finish raw natural steel, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The open plan office areas feature sliding screens and write-on-walls, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Each bank of 6-8 workstations includes one station that can be adjusted to standing height, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Collaboration Point is a break-out space featuring Alcove sofas and table by Vitra, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Snug at the end of workzone 2 has upholstered seating and a quilted surround, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: An open meeting area within workzone 3 features a walnut table by Zeitraum and Eames armchairs from Vitra, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Lab, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The Lab features .04 chairs by Vitra and Chroma rubber flooring, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: ‘Carbon’ is a video-conferencing and larger-scale meeting room, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The rooms were named and branded by align and all feature a gigantic, 1200mm-diameter bespoke lampshade from Albion Lighting, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: As well as the timber-spun strand of DNA, the desk also features an etched DNA-patterned panel to each side, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The corrugated play screens were made to order by a Leeds manufacturer using timber from Vancouver, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Furniture in The Social includes Copenhagen tables from Hay and five different types of chair, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Feature lighting above the tables in The Social is by Buster + Punch, from the ‘Hooked’ range, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: The blueprint wall graphic is illustrated with magnets showing who all the staff are and where they can be found, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Three types of write-on walls include magnetic wipe walls; Ideas Paint walls and magnetic sliding panels, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Feature wallpaper in The Lab was specially-created in a blueprint style by artist Claudia Stocker on a lab-rat theme, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Three smaller closed meeting rooms in a row are called Oxygen, Hydrogen & Nitrogen, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: Each of the three rooms also features an individual wall graphic on a science theme by artist Claudia Stocker, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

: These rooms include an Observation Room, User Testing Room & Customer Experience Room, Image Courtesy © Gareth Gardner

Contact align

Tags: England, London

Category: Offices

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