RSA Insurance unveils new wellbeing-led workspace in Dublin
Project Details
Project Name: RSA Insurance
Architect/Designer: ALTU Architects
Photographer: Donal Murphy
Products: Carpet Tile: Human Nature, Embodied Beauty, Ice Breaker, World Woven and Touch & Tones II
RSA Insurance is one of the world’s longest-standing insurance providers, offering commercial and personal cover to businesses, individuals and families across the globe. RSA prides itself on constantly innovating and improving its offering to meet the needs of its customers and needed its Dublin office to reflect this. The insurance firm turned to flooring manufacturer and global leader in sustainability Interface, alongside ALTU Architects, to revive its 42,000 sq. ft. office space.
Putting employees first
To reflect RSA’s culture shift towards hybrid working and non-standard working hours over the last couple of years, ALTU was tasked with creating a workplace featuring both energising, collaborative spaces and quiet focus areas to suit its employees’ different working styles and needs. Working closely with Interface’s concept design team, a biophilic theme was chosen to introduce the calming influence of nature into the space.
“RSA were keen to push the boundaries with this refurbishment and wanted to avoid creating a stereotypical corporate office,” said Jun Lam, concept designer at Interface. “From the outset, they had a clear vision to create a nature-inspired, open plan space that encourages collaboration and socialising.”
To achieve this, ALTU selected various styles from Interface’s Human Nature collection in Limestone to create a neutral floorplate with organic textures across the work floors. “This decision played to the principles of biophilic design – which supports wellbeing by introducing the outdoors to reduce stress, promote positivity and introduce a sense of calm – and perfectly complemented the greenery present throughout the space,” said Jun.
To further support RSA’s vision for a wellbeing-first space, ALTU designed a tranquil room in the centre of the space to allow employees to escape for a moment of quiet.
“One of the most unique elements of this design is the tatami style mats that we designed for the tranquil room. Using our World Woven carpet collection in a combination of calming neutral shades, we were able to create a wellbeing sanctuary away from the buzz of the work floors to give employees the opportunity to relax.”
Introducing the brand
Though wellbeing was the number-one priority for the design, it was also important to RSA that the space reflected the company’s brand identity.
Arnold Ago, Senior Architect at ALTU Architects, commented: “We have worked with Interface on a number of projects in the past and have always found its custom service a lifesaver when it comes to introducing brand colours into a space. We worked with Jun to create custom light blue and sapphire shades from their Touch & Tones II collection which perfectly complement the textures and neutral tones of the Human Nature tiles that we chose for the work floors and meeting rooms.”
Ethical by design
Sustainability was carefully considered throughout this design to support RSA’s commitment to being a responsible and transparent business. The company prides itself on delivering long-term value to the environment and society, so it was imperative that the space aligned with its vision by having a positive impact on its end-users and the environment.
To support this, a selection of carbon negative styles from Interface’s Embodied Beauty™ carpet collection were chosen for one of the meeting rooms on the second floor. The collection’s subtle textured squares introduce subtle interest to the design without dominating these small spaces.
In addition to Embodied Beauty™ reducing the carbon footprint of the refurbished office, all other flooring products chosen for the space – Ice Breaker, Human Nature, Touch & Tones II and World Woven – are carbon neutral through Interface’s third-party verified Carbon Neutral Floors™. They also contain over 70% recycled and biobased content.
Reflecting on the project, Pat Buckley, account manager at Interface, said: “It was great to work with ALTU to create this refreshed office for RSA. We were excited to use such a vast range of products in various colours and textures, and the result is truly impressive. In fact, RSA have noted how eager their colleagues are to come into the office to work, despite having a hybrid working model, and you can’t ask for better feedback than that!”
To find out more about Interface, visit: https://www.interface.com.