British Airways

Client: British Airways Human Resources recruitment, at Cranebank

Designer: Tilney Shane

British Airways Human Resources recruitment premises The Rivers not only has to function as offices and interview suites but also communicate through its design the right brand image to the thousands of potential employees that pass through its doors.

Previously housed in inadequate accommodation in two offices divided by a busy road, BA HR recruitment was allocated new 930m2 offices in a former industrial building. ‘They wanted a much stronger image. Even though not everyone will get a job at BA, they are all potential customers,’ says Tilney Shane’s director Kathy Tilney, charged with creating an atmosphere that would put anyone, from school-leavers to senior management at ease. The standard of The Rivers matches that of BA’s acclaimed Waterside offices, using the same Abak office system by Herman Miller and the fundamental internal ‘street’ with informal meeting and relaxation areas.

Tilney Shane divided the space into three zones – assessment of applicants, support workspace and a career consulting area, linked by the ‘street’, used as circulation and to express an openly democratic working environment. The assessment zone is deliberately warm and soft in feel, with a café and lounge to help candidates to relax and contemporary, domestic-style furniture. Interviews take place in rooms radiating off the street, which are bounded with curved walls and have colour schemes in soothing greys, greens and taupes. This contrasts with the upbeat, bold colours used in the public areas.

The support workspace has the same concepts of flexible working as at Waterside, with ‘touchdown’ zones, hot-desking facilities, personal storage drawers, quiet areas, café and library facilities.