A Tour of XTX Markets’ Modern London Office

Currency trading company XTX Markets recently hired workplace design firm Peldon Rose to design their new office in London, England.

“The office environment had to offer a balanced, inspirational working environment that would attract and retain the best talent available in the industry and mirror the firm’s innovation in technology.

The design focus for the office was to create a physical representation of what the firm is about; their people and their core values. The company’s core values of transparency, fairness, collaboration & excellence – combined with a focus on consistent liquidity – are displayed visually throughout the space and complement a workspace which is inspired by sci-fi, mathematics and algorithms. Every element of the office design has been individually considered and combines futuristic space elements with high-end residential finishes to foster an intriguing, one of a kind working environment.

Achieving a design as original as this space requires an in-depth understanding of the client and an ability to look beyond the brief to see what it is they are trying to create. The design process behind the XTX office lasted nearly two years and revolved around delivering a final design which would provide XTX with an environment that was distinctly theirs, entirely bespoke and give them with a platform to continue their growth and development.

We wanted this office environment to challenge the minds of XTX staff and create a space which would match the inquisitive nature of the business and its people. We were inspired by many concepts and ideas, but the most prominent influences include sci-fi, mathematics, Steampunk and other industrial elements which have been pulled from the surrounding area of King’s Cross.

Our project partnerships needed to address a high-level of precision as well as adopt an entirely bespoke approach. We partnered with some of the most inspiring minds to deliver interactive art installations throughout the office, which create moments of intrigue and levels of detail which you only notice when you understand its greater importance. Jason Bruges Studio, Acrylicize and Andrew Martin played a pivotal role in delivering the incredible features in the office.

Inspired by the company’s love for programming and mathematics, the art installation wall in the Portal is an algorithmic study in itself. The design is based on the 15th monohedral tiling convex pentagon, which is the final solution to a mathematical problem devised by Reinhardt in 1918. For the first time, this pattern has been animated as a cellular automata, and the system uses the same rule base as John Conway’s ‘Game of Life’, but operates over the five faces of the pentagon. This has never been achieved before, and is inspired by the firm’s highly methodical approach and importance of code and algorithms in their day to day business. The wall of light is designed to challenge the minds of the people who can understand it, and visually captivate the minds of those who don’t”, says Peldon Rose.