GSK Moscow

One of the first smart office in Moscow

We participated in implementing one of the first revolutionary “flexible office” concept in Russia for GSK company.

GSK – a science-led global pharmaceutical company that helps people do more, feel better and live longer. In order to be successful in this mission the company strives to do everything possible to make working with them rewarding and to secure the best position in the labour market as an employer.

The company monitors the latest trends for the design and layout of modern offices to create better working conditions for its employees. It is one of the first companies in Russia to implement the revolutionary “flexible office” concept at its Moscow office, which is characterised by the complete absence of fixed workplaces. 

Smart working

Research shows that people are much more productive when they can work in a way that suits them best individually. Advances in technology in recent years enables an ever greater number of companies to take advantage of this fact when creating a work environment.

This approach takes the name "smart working" and the new GSK office reflects these trends as far as possible. Employees have autonomy and flexibility in choosing where, when and how to work. Instead of counting hours spent in the office the focus has shifted to results and outcomes.

Would you like a better desk? Get up earlier!

The key feature of the new office is an absence of fixed workplaces. The offices are conceived as a flexible space, where each person has a choice and an opportunity to change their scene. Staff are motivated to come to work earlier – to select a better workplace. Also, there is a lot of space in the office for private work: 18 focus rooms, where employees can focus on work away from disturbances. There are no separate rooms or strict hierarchy: everyone from the senior managers down work in the open-plan environment.

Although the new office is smaller than the old one, with the help of the “flexible office” 330 people were able to be accommodated at 280 workplaces, and the number of meeting rooms, collaboration and recreation areas was increased.

Smart technology

In addition to the Smart Working concept you can find other innovative concepts and technology-based solutions at the GSK offices, which promote cooperation and productivity. One of these is the Clean Desk Policy; a corporate directive that specifies how employees should leave their working space, which involves the storing of personal belongings in personal lockers and, as a result, the absence of “clutter” on work surfaces.

Also, Tunable White technology has been implemented in the office, which enables automatic changing of the light intensity of the luminaires during the day. 

Design

The key design idea of the project became a laboratory model. Architects created a clean and elegant space reflecting the environment in which the research and development of new medicines takes place. The interior is designed to incorporate the brand colours with an accent on the main colour – orange.

The favourite and most interesting space from the perspective of design is the communication zone. The dominant feature here is a large glazed wall with stabilised orange-red moss.

Organic moss is a reference to nature and ancient healing practices. The moss wall immediately became the main magnet of this zone and it attracts the attention of everyone due to the feelings it evokes of comfort and a homely atmosphere. The innovative system allows the creation in a short time of a seemingly natural wall with different colours. Moreover, it's an indoor vertical garden without any maintenance.

Not a chair lost along the way

For TECHO this GSK order is not a new experience. GSK is a key account of ours and for this project we worked as the general contractor for the interior.

Projects such as this are always demanding with respect to coordination and logistics. Both the production and purchasing of furnishings must take place according to plan. In this case it was necessary to coordinate production at a total of 12 production facilities in eight countries. We are pleased to say that all of the factories delivered to the agreed lead times, and the logistics process worked without fault - not a single chair or table was lost along the way.

Our following partners deserve thanks for this exemplary cooperation. They helped ensure that the offices were handed over on time and to the full satisfaction of the client: TECHO Czech Republic, Ahrend Netherlands, Gispen China, Deberenn Turkey, HumanScale Ireland, Hotbox England, Quispel Germany, Bachmann Germany, RIM Czech Republic.