BP/Amaco

Client: BP/ Amoco, Sunbury

Designer: Axis Design Europe

Office design can play an important role in integration following a company merger. After BP and Amoco merged, Axis Design Europe was commissioned to upgrade facilities at the 1930s Sunbury site so they would meet the expectations of Amoco staff from the US. The 1900m2 project centred on better staff amenities – an increasingly important consideration in employee retention. The main change, completed earlier this year, was the creation of a 500-seater staff restaurant plus adjoining 150-seater coffee shop, a light and airy room with fabric banners hanging in the 8m-high space, and red leather banquette seating. On the first floor, an old theatre was transformed into six flexible meeting rooms and the company cybercafé, all with lots of frameless glazing and chunky ash doors. The reception building and site entrance areas and coffee areas were also improved. Axis Design’s design director Anthony Lloyd says the new environment helps employees accept the changes that would inevitably occur after the merger. ‘Improvements to facilities for BP/ Amoco provide a more humanistic environment, encouraging staff interaction and enhancing staff morale,’ he says.