Sky Central Workplace

Global media company Sky asked us to bring our most progressive, international design thinking to their game-changing London HQ – a 45,000 sqm, three-level workplace for more than 3,500 employees.

Drawing on years of workplace design experience (and a swag of awards), our interior designers worked with Sky and industry partners to pull together this super-flexible, multi-connected space.

Yes, it’s enormous – with floors as wide as three jumbo jets. But Sky Central never feels overwhelming or impersonal. Well-defined ‘neighbourhoods’ break up the space so it’s naturally easy to use, and touches like a circular lounge, banquette seating and planter boxes bring the comfort and warmth of home (or hotel) to the office.

Now Sky has an HQ to match the energy and ambition of their workforce – and their business.

Client

Sky

Location

London, UK

Status

Completed

Year

2016

Scale

45,000 sqm

Collaborators

AL_A, PLP Architecture

Design team

Felicity Roocke, Catherine van der Heide, Hannah Beveridge, Kaja Swiezewska, Kam Dhiman, Tiago Arieira, Colin Hockley, Simona Bielskyte, Go Sugimoto, Josh Cain, Despina Kalapoda, Julia Chang, Sheena Molloy, Tom Ayers, Giang Le, Celia Moreno Marcos, Chris Chesters

Imagery

Mark Cocksedge

“Working with Hassell gave us privileged access to leading edge design experience, thinking and benchmarking from Australia, where people-centric, activity-based schemes on this scale have led the way for many years.”

Neil Usher, Workplace Director, Sky

5K places to gather

2.5K desks

80 meeting rooms

Sky Central Workplace was designed to provide healthy, uplifting indoor spaces that enable maximum flexibility and future resilience.

Highlights include:

All internal elements were deliberately modular and freestanding, without connection to the ceiling and walls. This ensured they were movable – without requiring the removal of materiality – as the needs of the business changed. This was the case post-pandemic when Sky implemented a hybrid working policy.
A human-centred approach to design reflected through ‘neighbourhoods’ and diverse work zones, an abundance of indoor greenery (seven plants per employee) and natural light create a bright, comfortable and active interior that promotes employee wellness and productivity.

2017 British Council of Offices Awards – ‘Best of the Best’ winner (national)

2017 British Council of Offices Awards – ‘Corporate Workplace’ winner (national)

2017 World Interiors News Awards – ‘Workplace Greater Than 10,000sqm’ winner

2017 British Council of Offices Awards – ‘Corporate Workplace’ winner (London region)

2017 New London Architecture Awards – ‘Workplaces’ winner

2017 AJ Architecture Awards – ‘Workplace of the Year’ winner

2017 Estates Gazette Awards - ‘Creative Spaces’ winner

2017 Mixology17 Awards – ‘Large Commercial Interior Project of the Year’ winner (London region)

2017 FX International Interior Design Awards – ‘Best UK Project’ winner

Topics

Co-working and the rise of flexible space

Today the workplace isn’t somewhere you have to be – it’s somewhere you want to be.

Conversations

The three-day-a-week office: a strategy for the new era of hybrid working

As companies try to attract employees back to the office, a new challenge has emerged: many workers are only returning three days a week, leaving workplaces deserted on Mondays and Fridays. How do we design for this new era of hybrid working?

Research

From Office to Oasis: how landlords and developers can transform workplaces with green spaces

Workplaces with leafy terraces, indoor planting and green rooftops attract employees, improve wellness and productivity and help meet environmental commitments. But how do you make them a success?

Insight

The rise of the multibillion-dollar corporate campus

BBC

Research

Does workplace design affect employee attraction?

Design can win the war for talent.

Media

AL_A, Hassell + PLP complete flagship Sky central workplace in West London

designboom

instagram

Hot desking, is it still hot? We unpack ABW.. link via stories

Research

Spot the difference: incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces

Places are powering next-generation entrepreneurialism.

Projects

Fora Borough

GSK Asia House

Medibank Place

Sixty Martin Place

Sky Central Workplace

Global media company Sky asked us to bring our most progressive, international design thinking to their game-changing London HQ – a 45,000 sqm, three-level workplace for more than 3,500 employees.

Client

Location

Status

Year

Scale

Collaborators

Design team

Imagery

“Working with Hassell gave us privileged access to leading edge design experience, thinking and benchmarking from Australia, where people-centric, activity-based schemes on this scale have led the way for many years.”

Sustainability highlights

Awards

Co-working and the rise of flexible space

The three-day-a-week office: a strategy for the new era of hybrid working

From Office to Oasis: how landlords and developers can transform workplaces with green spaces

The rise of the multibillion-dollar corporate campus

Does workplace design affect employee attraction?

AL_A, Hassell + PLP complete flagship Sky central workplace in West London

Spot the difference: incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces

Projects