Clifford Chance

In order to allow Clifford Chance to release ca. 400,000 ft2 from its current HQ in Canary Wharf, the legal operating floors needed rethinking to tighten the density and to bring in more fee earners and support staff per floor. This required a rethinking of the whole building.

The first move was to shift the legal floors to the high rise, as they had the best views across the city and Greenwich, leaving the client experience on the Ground Floor and Level 1 (receptions and waiting areas, meeting suite, training suite, and fine dining), and a third of the top floor (30th) for multi-function spaces. These floors were reorganised to allow an increase of density from 1:10.6 person/m2 to 1:9.8 person/m2. Adding internal double offices into the deep open-plan spaces increased the average double offices count.

The new breakout areas replaced the smaller tea points which include a tea making station with zip taps, variety of tea and dedicated tea bag disposal drawers, integrated trays for sugar, removals, a bean-to cup machine and integrated recycling strategy. More importantly, the breakouts opened up to the floor and integrate to the floor entrance with bright and contemporary booths that complement the preparation facilities and can also be used for small informal meetings. The new breakouts are larger; this is achieved by opening them to the forefront, each side of the lift lobby.

The new legal floor design is more efficient and maximises the area and use, allows for more offices; new, bigger offices with meeting space; more meeting rooms; brighter and clean breakouts and better connected support amenities, as well as continuous circulation encouraged and facilitated with the new concept of rings around the building core and through the breakouts. The design, as well as the construction process, happened during full occupation and operation of the HQ.