Household interiors reflect Yahoo! brand

Yahoo! Europe is to roll out its first branded workplace design, created by UK retail design specialist Household.

The consultancy was appointed last summer after a three-way pitch to extend Yahoo!’s brand personality into its European headquarters in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue. The design will now be adapted by Household for the Web company’s Paris and Munich offices.

‘Our challenge was to find a way of telling stories about who Yahoo! is and what it does. We achieved this through dramatic imagery of people, icons to reference the London location and through chatty dialogue that refers to products and services,’ says Household graphics director Christine Sellwood.

Yahoo! moved into its five-floor London headquarters last year, to accommodate its acquisition of e-commerce company Kelkoo in March and sponsored search provider Overture, which it acquired in 2003. The offices house approximately 700 staff.

‘It is important that our work space both encourages and reflects who we are – a leading innovative Internet company,’ says David Sawday, head of corporate communications for Yahoo! Europe.

Household’s design has been trialled in the offices since December last year, ahead of a decision this month to extend the format to other European locations.