St James’s Place Wealth Management, Cardiff

St James's Place Wealth Management

After winning the tender process for the fit-out of St James’s Place Wealth Management offices in central Cardiff, we were asked to look at the implementation of their workplace design.

While the design layout was already largely fixed, it required significant detailed engineering and development to adapt the visual concept into a practical working environment.

Working alongside the team at St James’s Place and furniture suppliers, Abbey Furniture, we progressed the M&E and interior design package.

Particular attention was given to integration and the relationship between the new reception ceiling and associated fittings in order to provide a highly-detailed architectural finish to the main customer experience area.

Attention to detail was also required when considering junctions between walls and feature screens.

Throughout the workspace, a rich colour palette was developed to reflect the finely-detailed executive feel of the concept, inspired by the luxury hotel and leisure industry.

The project was later shortlisted in the Insider Wales Property Awards.

Lounge area at St James Place Wealth Management offices in Cardiff

A lounge with a view

The space needed to offer staff, visitors and partners of the business a professional, corporate and welcoming environment.

One of the highlights is an executive lounge offering impressive views over Cardiff Castle.

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Meeting room at St James Place Wealth Management offices in Cardiff

Efficient meeting spaces

Formal meeting spaces include a corporate boardroom, hot-desking and collaboration spaces, as well as enclosed rooms for private meetings.

Room booking systems throughout the workspace allow staff to arrange meetings quickly and efficiently.

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Breakout area at St James Place Wealth Management offices in Cardiff

Social catch-ups

Encouraging social interaction and informal catch-ups was also important.

A large open tea point with booth seating and island counter offers this in the form of a staff breakout and informal meeting space.

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Every last detail, from top to bottom

The fixtures and finishes were vital to ensure that this project met the required design style.

Liaising with the furniture team was particularly important in order to ensure that the fit-out made the best use of the available space.

Rich textures feature throughout the workplace with plenty of natural timber, including a partition system with timber trims and adjoining slatted screens to divide the space and guide visitors through it.

A mixture of hard flooring and cushion-backed carpeting adds texture to the space and helps to create zoned areas.

The tiled reception wall with aluminium trims and corporate signage gives visitors a luxurious and opulent first impression, while acoustic baffles offer peace and quiet while they sit in the waiting area.

Integrated lighting and highly-detailed feature ceilings with metal plank tiles complete the prestige feel from top to bottom.

The project involved coordinating with a wide selection of suppliers, including joinery by JS Bowsher, partitioning from Forza, Milliken carpets, flooring from Polyflor, graphics and manifestation by Morgans Consult, Swanmac window blinds and the staff breakout space from Howdens.

We also completed the comprehensive workplace design and fit-out of St. James's Place Wealth Management offices in Exeter, with furniture from Abbey Furniture,

Project Duration: 14 weeks

Contract Value: Undisclosed

Floor Area: 7,000 ft²

Paramount took the time to understand our company values and provided us with a design which is sympathetic to our brand and heritage with a modern twist

Sophie Hayward, Workplace Transformation Project Manager - St James’s Place Wealth Management