MDG architects have designed and delivered the CAT B fit out of a new regional office for a leading national gaming developer, Sumo Digital Group. The new Sumo Digital Group Gaming Studio was shortlisted for the finals of the BCO awards.
The new gaming studio is situated over 2 floors in a former department store on the Parade in Royal Leamington Spa. It covers a total area of 4000 square meters of floor space that has been subdivided into four unique studio spaces to be used by its subsidiary companies. Each studio is tailored to the individual working needs of each group with layouts and finishes carefully coordinated with their specific brand. A large shared communal space offers breaks-out for all, finished with a combination of all studio’s aesthetics and brand identity.
The design of the central communal area has been driven by the idea of openness, flow of people for the purpose of gathering and meeting. Few key points of interest have been introduced to guide people through the space starting at the reception, with its curves guiding you into the open plan areas. In the large communal space other signature pieces become apparent, the feature staircase surrounded by bleacher seating, multipurpose competition space, and the coffee bar. The lounge has been created as the main gathering space for all employees and guests, designed to change throughout the day to accept visitors in the morning, cater for the lunch rush and become a vibrant afternoon scene with games, and possibly even karaoke.
MDG have used multiple aids to convey the design aspirations to the client with the use of mood boards, colour swatches and samples, videos of walkthroughs across the spaces, renders of key areas, range of plans from spatial arrangements down to detailed drawings of signature furniture pieces.
Multiple design workshops with each studio and continuous client engagement helped solidify the design and complete a project that fulfils the client’s aspiration and needs.
The process had its own challenges. As the design of the project began prior to commencement of CAT A fitout works a few design development changes had to be accommodated like changing position of the light well, riser locations and raised access floor height. All variations have been included during the design process to achieve the best outcome for the client.
Within each studio a variety of working environments were provided to cater for the needs of the individual staff member creating a personalised working setting – a choice over whether you sit or stand, quiet working by sitting alone or with your team empowering each person to excel at their work.
As flexible working from home or from the office was considered by the client, the office layout resulted in a mixture of fixed workstations and hot desk spaces. Mixed working areas include open plan offices, individual working pods, meeting rooms, teamwork areas, hot desk facilities and various lounges.
Designing for neurodiversity has been at the forefront in one of the studios. This has led to the design of an open plan office to be subdivided to pockets of workspaces for smaller teams. A variety of team sizes and openness of the room allow team members to choose their work environment.
Great Importance has been given to good acoustic separation for meeting rooms, using double glazed or solid partitions to create silent working areas and soundproof meeting rooms separated from the bustling lounge area.
