Blue Light Card (BLC) does something good: it provides workers in the emergency, healthcare, and support services with discounts at a huge range of well-known retail and hospitality brands. The benefits of the Blue Light Card to this vast army of essential, but often undervalued workers became even more obvious during Covid, when they had no option but to carry on working. To cope with increased demand, BLC moved to a bigger site in Leicester and asked us to make that space unique to them. They wanted a working environment that fostered wellbeing and collaboration, and would make the most of post-Covid, hybrid working.
The new building was a tough site to humanise – a vast, double-height glass-and-metal box that could easily pass for a warehouse – and the kind of challenge that sends us back to first principles. Instead of trying to cut the space down to size, we thought about brand and values, and how that would help us fill the space with BLC personality.
For the main space we brought in plants, living walls, colour, and a few barely-there black metal dividers to define zones without reducing daylight or blocking sight lines. There are cosy pods for private meetings, and a series of rooms, each themed to a frontline support service, for group work and collaboration. The effect is joyful and supportive, a working environment steeped in the put-people-first culture of the workers it supports.
There’s also plenty of opportunity for quiet chilling in a corner for book lovers, and for letting off steam in an exuberant, neon-lit games room with pool, table tennis, arcade games, air hockey, and more. No need for a gym because they already have one onsite.
'Phase 2' looked at revamping the reception area, the remaining meeting rooms and a general update of the office layout, supporting their increasing growth over the last few years and highlighting their brand value and culture. The reception was focused on being multipurpose, doubling as a social area for the staff or an informal meeting area for the company.
We incorporated a high level structure to make use of the high ceilings; the structure was made from acoustic materials to help with sound deadening and lights up blue at night to showcase through the large windows from outside. We also added a coffee bar near the front of the building, which also doubled as a guest arrival area. Greenery was placed all throughout the office to promote a positive working environment, while providing a sense of nature in the workplace.
The functionality across all the office spaces was increased, alongside the kitchen areas to maximise the potential of the rooms inside the building. Accessibility friendly was at the fore front of all the designs, and was an integral part when constructing areas like the sinks and cupboards; ensuring wheelchair users were able to comfortably use the space without any hinderance.
The meeting rooms were also refreshed, to reflect each of the different services that BLC support. The 'Peel Board Room' included acoustic panelling in a design of police tape and a living wall feature to reference the police services. The 'Braidwood Room' also received a redesign to match the fire services, the 'Nightingale Room' which reflects the NHS and health services, and finally the 'Cromwell Room' to highlight the military services. Each of the rooms were designed to be used as a formal meeting room or an informal casual meeting area. On top of this, all rooms featured small props as a nod to each of the services they represented.
BLC now has a workplace that showcases its own caring culture. BLC teams say they find it easier to work together, and managers believe that the environment is better aligned to their business aims. The company is not just living its values, it’s built those values into the fabric of the building.
Blue Light Card Office, Leicester
