As Empire Group grew, hot desking became a necessity. Storage was scarce, and everyone could no longer comfortably work from the office at the same time. A larger workplace would address the pressure on space, but it also offered a chance to ask what kind of environment would reflect the business. Walking into Empire Group today, there is an immediate sense of warmth. Their new workplace has an intimacy that feels unusual for a corporate office, with places to gather woven among quieter spaces for individual work. For a recruitment agency whose work is centred on people, conversation and connection, that feeling was as important to the brief as finding room for a growing team.

Abigail began by thinking about the moments that make up a day at Empire Group: a conversation that continues after a meeting, someone stopping to speak with a colleague, or the team coming together away from their desks. The plan allows for those interactions without asking every part of the office to feel equally social. Spaces unfold into one another, with multiple ways to move across the floor and informal places to pause. The shape of the building presented Abigail with another opportunity. Its angles and corners could have been concealed within a more regular floorplan, but she chose to bring them into the design.