Synthesia’s new 20,000 sq ft London headquarters is located at Regent’s Place, in the heart of the city’s ‘Knowledge Quarter’. With Synthesia’s rapid growth, our design channelled that into a workspace that reflects the brand’s values and goals, cementing their reputation as a global AI leader.

Collaboration with Landlord and Occupier

With Synthesia’s new headquarters being a British Land asset, it was important that when designing the space, we collaborated closely with the landlord as well as the occupier. While it was imperative to translate Synthesia’s vision into the space, we also had to balance this with functional, future-proof elements that aligned with British Land’s standards and criteria.

This project exemplifies the balance we bring as a Design & Build partner working on behalf of both landlords and occupiers. In designing Synthesia’s new headquarters, our goal was to create a workspace that was fitting for the company as one of the biggest names in British AI, while ensuring it met British Land’s asset standards. To achieve this goal, we designed the space as a ‘knowledge hub’ for Synthesia, focusing on innovative, collaborative design elements that will facilitate this as they continue to grow on a global scale. From brand-led furniture, signage, and wayfinding to timeless, high-quality permanent finishes, every decision aimed to meet the client’s vision while ensuring flexibility for the landlord

Designing for Different Work Styles

Synthesia’s new headquarters is almost four times the size of their previous space — confirmation of their continued growth. It was an important part of our design that we prioritised how users of the space experienced different areas and, in turn, the varying ways in which these users work.

We designed flexible and purpose-driven zones, each with its own unique features that catered to different working styles and needs. ‘The Library’ space is designed for solo work, with an earthy colour palette of dark green and ecru that provides a calm, tranquil space to facilitate deep focus.

Whereas ‘The Spaceship’ facilitates spontaneous collaboration or team brainstorming, not only is this area placed amongst the main open plan area, to provide an easy flow of collaboration, but it is designed to look and feel like an ‘oasis’ amongst the desking. The circular shape of the space is mirrored through all aspects of this area, from the flooring to the curved furnishings, the sheer partition, and, of course, the bespoke light feature. These design aspects were chosen to amplify the area as a distinct collaboration space, and an alternative to a traditional desk. The large bay of windows provides great natural light to the area, and alongside the increased volume of planting in the area, fortifies the area as an ‘oasis’ for collaborative work.

In the spatial design, we also focused on how the flow of the floorplate affected the users of the space. On entrance to Synthesia, you are welcomed by a large breakout and social area, designed to feel stylish and refined with a soft colour scheme throughout. The main open plan area and meeting rooms are all placed behind this main breakout area, ensuring the ‘social hub’ of the workspace is not distracting to focused work. As well as this, we chose to place the main open plan areas and meeting rooms along the large windows of the floorplate, allowing the natural light to be focused in these areas and ultimately facilitate a working environment that boosts productivity, focus and wellbeing.

An elevated injection of the brand

In designing Synthesia’s new London headquarters, it was important to solidify their brand throughout our design. We wanted to make sure that the branding moments were done in a way that still felt consistent to Synthesia as a brand and as a company, one that is said to be leading the growth of Britain’s tech sector. The clear choice when it came to branding was to inject Synthesia’s ‘blue’ throughout the space; however, to ensure that this felt consistent with the overall design, we added the Synthesia ‘blue’ solely in the furniture choices, and in more subtle hues. This creates a more refined placement of the brand throughout the space, which, although it is still very much apparent, feels elevated and polished.

Another way that we introduced the Synthesia brand throughout the space was through the design strategy of their meeting rooms. While we wanted the meeting rooms to all feel distinct from each other, it was still important that they felt consistent with the overall feel of the office. We achieved this through creating a bespoke, neutral palette for each meeting room that leaned into the playfulness from their individual branding.

In the naming strategy of each meeting room, we incorporated Synthesia’s innovative and progressive company culture, opting for names such as ‘Pulse’, ‘Nova’ and ‘Spark’, evoking a futuristic and forward-thinking feeling; ultimately solidifying Synthesia’s brand ethos in a subtle way that is still true to the brand and company.

Whilst brand-led elements like tailored meeting rooms and creative wayfinding brought the Synthesia brand to life, we ensured this was done in an elevated way to avoid compromising or limiting the fitout for future occupiers.