Designing a Workspace That Inspires Creativity and Focus

The modern workplace is having an identity crisis. Post-pandemic, companies are trying to reclaim the reasons people come to an office — collaboration, culture, creative energy — while also respecting the reality that focused, individual work is often done better at home. The result is that office design has never been more strategically complex or more important.

When Apex Financial Services approached us to redesign their Westlands offices, the brief was specific: they wanted a space that gave their team a genuine reason to want to be there. Not a mandate. A desire. That is a profoundly different design challenge.

Designing for the Spectrum of Work

The first principle we applied was acknowledging that different kinds of work require different kinds of space. A financial analyst writing a complex model needs deep focus and acoustic privacy. A creative team brainstorming a campaign needs energy, vertical surfaces, and the freedom to make noise. A client meeting needs formality, good acoustics, and impressive materials.

We mapped out every type of work that happened in the Apex offices and designed a distinct environment for each. The result was a zoned floor plan with five distinct work settings: deep-focus booths, collaborative open tables, a semi-formal meeting zone, an informal lounge area, and a formal boardroom. Every employee could choose the setting that matched their task at any given moment.

Materiality as Motivation

The material palette was selected to signal to employees that their employer takes their environment seriously. We used real oak veneer panelling in the executive zone, a bold graphic floor treatment in the collaborative area, and soft acoustic panels in warm woven fabrics in the focus booths. The message was consistent: this is a company that invests in quality.

We also brought in biophilic elements throughout — a living moss wall in the reception, potted statement plants at key nodes, and a rooftop terrace that functions as an informal meeting and break space. Research consistently shows that access to plants and natural elements reduces cortisol levels and improves cognitive performance. Good design is often simply good science applied to space.

The Results

Six months after moving in, Apex reported a 34% improvement in employee satisfaction scores related to the physical work environment. Office attendance — purely voluntary — increased by 28%. Three members of the senior team specifically mentioned the office design when explaining to candidates why they should join the company.