A Look Inside Busuu’s New London Office

Educational platform Busuu hired workplace design firm AIS Workplace to design their new office in London, England.

“The expanding team had outgrown their old space and needed a larger new space big enough to support their current and future workforce. Working closely with the team we created a 13,885 sq ft space that enhanced their existing work practices and culture, while paying homage to their core brand values enabling staff to feel closer to their cause.

Key to creating strong company culture our design was centered around creating a central hub space, that could bring the whole team together. The warm home-like kitchen and adjacent breakout space creates a social hub in the heart of the floorplate. Staff pop by in the mornings to make use of the breakfast bar or perhaps grab a coffee with a colleague to run over the days tasks sat at one of the large communal style tables. Throughout the day you might find larger teams carrying out an informational team presentation sat around bleacher style seating, or given there is plenty of space for the whole team there might be a company wide town hall.

In order to accommodate for their predicted growth, we made sure to design enough working areas for everyone to work comfortably. While also considering flexibility in our designs to allow for future growth. Many of the partitioning and storage items incorporated into the design are loose items to enable future reconfiguration of space with ease. New furniture items within the space also have the capability to be re-configured depending on how an individual may want to work, or may need to work within their team depending on the task at hand, further allowing for teams to grow or disband over time. We placed multiple meeting rooms, meeting booths, soft seating areas and private phone pods set amongst the large open plan desking space. This ensured there was always a place for someone to go no matter the task at hand. This element of readily available and reconfigurable space has created a sense of belonging amongst staff. This helps to embed the people first mentality amongst the team.

Furthermore, we made sure to carry the Busuu branding throughout the whole space through the use of colours and logos. It was important to the team that their workplace embodied their brand and company values in order to inspire their employees and create a lasting impression upon visitors and clients.
This project was our third referral project within the Broadwalk House building. Our knowledge of the building through previous projects meant that the project ran seamlessly. We were able to shorten the project delivery timeframe through the phasing of planning obligations.”