Between October and December 2024, RICS renovated its global headquarters at 12 Great George Street on Parliament Square in London.
The project brief was to provide a sustainable, cutting-edge and inclusive design to transform three floors of 1990s-style interiors into a high-end, accessible staff office space and members' lounge.
The contract to design and carry out a category B fit-out was won by Cast Interiors. The fit-out involved creating a customised and fully functional office space tailored to the client's specific needs, including the installation of partitions, furniture, IT infrastructure, and branding elements.
The aim was to create a space that would accommodate events, enable collaborative or quiet working and enhance meeting spaces to encourage RICS members to make more use of the building.
The design had to modernise the existing office and member spaces to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022 and access audits without compromising 12 Great George Street's heritage character, in particular its grade II- and grade II*-listed features.
RICS members' area walkthrough video
Design supports diverse needs and working styles
One of the key aims of the renovation was to foster collaboration among RICS members. The redesigned member areas therefore include:
- new breakout and collaborative spaces to enable chance encounters with other members and the cross-pollination of ideas
- a new coffee point
- a new members' lounge with soft touchdown points, including sofas and breakout spaces to relax or chat
- a meeting room on level one where members can host up to 18 people.
The design team extensively researched and investigated material types, acoustic strategies and design schemes that considered the diverse needs of members, as reflected in the creation of:
- isolation pods for one-to-ones and individual work
- neurodiverse-friendly smart lighting controls
- new acoustic panelling for best-in-class ambient volume control
- suspended acoustic ceilings throughout, designed to absorb ambient sound and cater to all, including neurodivergent colleagues, and to create a space for work and concentration
- colour palettes and material blends selected for sensory accommodation
- zoned layouts to allow for a range of working styles
- controllable lighting to prevent sensory overload
- 850mm-high counters designed for wheelchair users.
Members endorse value of redesigned space
'The range of different spaces available in the new members' area and the flexibility of these is very appealing. We have made use of the smaller meeting rooms on numerous occasions, which are fitted out with good-quality teleconferencing equipment. We have also used the space to host client meetings, interview potential staff and to collaborate as a team.
'I have already used the space countless times this year; either booking a room for meetings or working from the communal space when I am in London and need a base for a few hours. I intend to continue using the space like this and find there is a comfort in knowing I can return there when I have downtime.'
Adam Santos FRICS, senior regional surveyor for London and quality assurance and technical support liaison at SDL Surveying
'The new members' space is a fantastic resource. It is professionally designed and laid out, warm and welcoming and offers excellent facilities for work, meeting and networking in the heart of London. It is easily accessible and signposted, and offers a variety of work area options in a space that reflects the standing of our profession. I would advocate its use to all RICS members.'
Ray Goodier MRICS, chair of the RICS North West Regional Advisory Board
Sustainability central to product specification
The renovations followed a sustainable product specification process, during which conscious material choices were made throughout. Materials with cradle-to-grave life-cycle certifications were prioritised as part of the project's carbon reduction and offsetting strategy.
Cast Interiors' sister company Cast Furniture – a carbon-neutral aligning dealership – provided furniture reuse solutions alongside a comprehensive sustainable design strategy.
Cast Interiors on-site team and environmental, social and governance lead Rosie Hart took a proactive approach to identify additional sustainable fit-out opportunities during construction.
This enabled the design plans to develop and change responsively during the project when needed.
The sustainability of various materials was also assessed using an in-house tool for tracking the construction and life-cycle impact of materials for fit-out.
One such material was carbon-negative, sustainable cork flooring supplied by Quadrant. Made predominantly from recycled bottle corks, this has all of the material's benefits in terms of acoustics, walking comfort, air-quality enhancement, thermal insulation and commercial-use durability.
No strip-out or refit waste landfilled
In terms of waste management, Cast Interiors partnered with specialists Construction Logistics Services and Encore Environment to ensure that the project sent zero waste to landfill.
The strip-out produced 22.23 tonnes of waste, of which 20.87 tonnes – 93.86% – were recycled and the remaining 1.36 tonnes, or 6.14%, sent to energy from waste.
By contrast, the construction phase produced 27.69 tonnes of waste, with 27.14 tonnes or 97.98% recycled, and 0.55 tonnes of waste or 2.02% incinerated.
Some of the hard surfaces stripped during the fit-out were donated to the workshop of a charity in Finchley, north London, enabling the immediate reuse of a high-quality worktop.
Contractors offset associated emissions
Cast Interiors calculated the upfront embodied carbon associated with all materials procured and waste produced during the works and used gold standard, nature-based carbon credits to offset all associated A1–A5 lifecycle impacts.
A portion of the building's future operational carbon emissions were reduced by Cast Interiors planting a grove of 150 trees to redress the associated life-cycle impact of the fit-out at 12 Great George Street.
As part of diversifying and reviewing the positive impacts of purchasing trees and offsets, Cast Interiors has funded the restoration of 15m2 of wildflower habitat in the UK.
The refit project also achieved a perfect score from the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) and the project team received a CCS national bronze award.
James Lever is interior design lead at Cast Interiors
Contact James: Email
Tyler Brand is a preconstruction assistant at Cast Interiors
Contact Tyler: Email
Lana Parise is group preconstruction director at Cast Interiors
Contact Lana: Email
Related competencies include: Property management, Sustainability
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