yvonne gordon

EBS Direct Office Fitout

EBS opened its Direct Office on the corner of Dublin’s Liffey Street and Abbey Street in April of this year. A new departure for the EBS brand and unlike a traditional building society or bank branch, the Direct Office is a dynamic showcase that promotes EBS’s financial service offerings to both existing and potential new customers. Yvonne Gordon reports.

The EBS Direct office was designed by Bunni Adamson & O’Connell, an established firm of designers in both interior architecture and exhibition design, in collaboration with Enterprise IG, brand and identity consultants for EBS who advised on the branding strategy and theme throughout the project.

According to both firms, the main commercial objective for the design of the EBS Direct Office was to create a distinctive and engaging environment that would work well for both customers and staff, and that would build brand awareness and promote the services provided by EBS Direct. The environment also had to demonstrate EBS's commitment to progressive thinking and technology and as the office would be for appointments only, it was important that the design would not encourage customers to call in.

The design theme centres on the idea of a financial stock exchange. Stock exchange environments are bustling with activity and technology. This analogy has been adopted for the EBS to promote it as a financial expert, technology oriented and with access to immediate information.

The impression of a busy 'trading floor' has been achieved through the use of innovative, flexible and cost effective materials. A mixture of media was used in the construction of the space, including TV, video, projection, internet, screen savers, data display, intelligent lighting, printed material and state of the art fixtures and fittings.

A central hub has been created, with ticker-tape type screens over head, displaying information on current rates and products. Overhead TV screens project video images of EBS’s product offering to both the staff and the public outside and the staff themselves are equipped with headsets, adding to the technology-oriented theme.

This busy and energetic environment, with the buzz and hype of the stock exchange, is visible to passers-by – a new idea for the company. It is located in a high profile space, which has heavy passing traffic and pedestrian footfall and which will be on the LUAS route.

Large colourful polycarbonate screens with ‘soft’ (rather than hard-sell) branding messages, are positioned on a roller system and located around the floor space and windows. These mobile graphics allow the environment to be flexible and positioning them on the windows provides a vehicle to deliver the EBS brand message as well as providing visibility into the workspace from the street, but removing the exposure to the staff working within. The screens can be criss-crossed to create a new graphic. The graphics, along with video content and multi-media installations, were designed by Enterprise IG and the screens were printed by Fire (formerly Photographics). There is also moving imagery projected onto the back wall – again for subtle brand messages

One of the windows serves as a community window, providing awareness of EBS's commitment to the community. This community area which in a previous branch incarnation was a community notice board, has now been updated technologically and shows videos of EBS’s involvement with community projects, such as local football leagues and the company’s sponsorship of the ‘Three Peaks’ race.

Bunni Adamson & O’Connell worked closely with the client and staff throughout the project design, allowing the Direct Office staff to shape the environment to suit every aspect of their working needs. For the workstation design, a prototype was made and each staff member was asked to test it out. After discussion with all involved, an average or norm of all the tastes and preferences was found, which was used in the design.

Although the designers wished to create a sense of drama and theatre in the office space, it was important to provide a motivational and productive working environment for the staff. The desktops are constructed with a steel frame and laminate top, onto which a print has been added. This allows the workstations to look fresh and not bulky or clumsy. There are low polycarbonate divider screens between workstations. The chairs selected were comfortable and totally adjustable, allowing ergonomic support for each part of the body.

Bunni Adamson & O’Connell liased closely with the EBS on how the team interactions would work, and this led to the design of an open space with no partitions between work areas, to allow eye contact between staff. There are smaller breakout areas for meetings around the ground floor and also on the upstairs level.

As well as containing semiformal meeting areas, the upstairs floor also houses administration staff. The designers were aware that they were creating a dynamic innovative environment for the ‘front line’ staff downstairs in the Direct Office and it was important to make the upstairs staff feel as important. The upstairs is thus linked to downstairs with a large staircase, to avoid any sense of isolation between the two floors.

The upstairs semiformal meeting spaces are casual in design, contrasting with the traditional pressured environment of the bank manager’s office with a big desk.

"We had the unique opportunity to create a direct operation that was new, exciting, challenging and very different from existing call-centre design and management," says Olive Bolger, Manager of the EBS Direct Office.

"Call centres have become so impersonal due to the growth of telesales and online transactions. Lots of call centres are designed like ‘hatcheries’. With this project, we have created a visible call centre, where a customer who is phoning the centre can now visualise where they are ringing. It is less impersonal than other call centres and emphasises the human perspective to the brand. It also empowers the staff," adds Siobháin Bunni of Bunni Adamson & O’Connell.

"The design challenge was to improve the existing environment and to create an experience that engaged both the customers and staff. Staff involvement was critical to the project’s success, as they needed to feel personally responsible for developing and shaping their working processes and environment. It’s the staff who possess the key knowledge and information that is critical to the future development of high quality customer experiences," concludes Olive Bolger.

© Yvonne Gordon