Newydd Housing wins Forbo Escapes 2023
We are delighted to announce that our interior designer Rhian has won this year’s Forbo Escapes competition for her work at Newydd Housing Association. The annual competition run by Forbo Flooring was established to “recognise outstanding use of Forbo's extensive portfolio and projects which truly create better environments”.
Rhian explains, “After securing the tender for the design of Newydd’s offices, we were asked to create a space that supported and inspired the new hybrid way of working that many offices have adopted post-Covid. Newydd really wanted to achieve a flexible and adaptable environment, so that any future changes could be made at minimal cost and with little disruption.”
One of the first things they had asked us to do was to remove any designated areas for teams or individuals. This was to encourage the sharing of information between staff in collaborative spaces. We replaced these areas with zones that supported a variety of tasks, like desk work, formal and informal meetings, brainstorming and more. The idea behind the whole design and layout of the office was that the employees would choose the area that supported the task at hand on any given day.
For me it was really important we got the colours we used right. We really wanted to make this a space that employees could explore their creativity and problem solving in and not a traditional, bland workspace. For this reason, it was key to find the right colours and materials to convey this feeling. This was part of the reason I specified Forbo’s flooring, there’s such a wide range of products, I knew there would be something that would fit what we were looking for.”
We would also like to thank the following for their help and contribution to the project’s success:
Newydd Housing
Pentan Architects
Henstaff Construction Ltd
Karna Design Ltd
John & Jane
Crown Paints
Furniture manufacturers including: Allermuir, Andreu World, Billiani, Bisley, Boss, Enea, Fenabel, Pedrali.
