When Condé Nast International made the decision to move to new offices in London due to the expansion of its digital team, it wanted to create a cultural change and improve the way teams worked together. The client brief was to create an office environment that showcased its digital imagery, supported collaborative working, and removed the silos often created within a working environment.

Architects MCM worked with a ‘move team’ and came up with the idea to create an auditorium in the new stairwell linking the two floors of the Adelphi building in London’s Strand that would become Condé Nast International’s new home. Lead architect Deepak Parmar knew there was one product that would give them the finish they needed, having seen Christie Bricks at the London Stock Exchange.

“We needed a product that would provide photo-like quality, fit into the restricted space we had to work with, and allow for easy maintenance,” Parmar said. “Once we decided on the media wall, we wanted to create the illusion of the area being even larger. For this we added a giant mirror on the ceiling above the new stairwell. The wall and the mirror have become the beating heart of the building. The mirror reflects both the digital canvas of the wall and the print library based next to the wall and captures the very essence of Condé Nast past and future.”

The media wall had to be beautiful, but also practical, and the goal was to create a simple user experience. To achieve this, the technology solution needed to be intuitive, open, approachable and reactive, with interactive support for all, across all functions.

“You shouldn’t need loads of training, it should just work, the solution should be clear enough that my mum could do it,” said Lynnette Lawrance, project manager at Conde Nast International. “The interface is so straightforward that anyone can use it. We made it so everyone in the office can link to it with their laptop but also any visitors could just share with their phone using AirMedia. The moment I knew we had achieved our goal was
a couple of days after the wall had been installed and I came into the office and found a group of 30 people on the stairs using the screens to troubleshoot some code. I remember thinking, YES we’ve done it!! Since then we have had to give The Well (as it is now known) its own Outlook Calendar as so many people are using it!”

MiX consultants were engaged by Condé Nast International to deliver a detailed design for the space, including the IT infrastructure, wireless network and audio visual design. These designs were developed using a British standard known as the RIBA stages. Phil Hallchurch, AV consultant at MiX Consultancy, also used the AVIXA ANSI/INFOCOMM V202.01:2016 standard to ensure the screen had the optimum image quality.

“The heart of the new Conde Nast International office is the LED media wall located on both level 8/9,” said Hallchurch. “As this solution is such a focal point of the office, it was imperative that the users experience the best possible solution with no downtime. Christie was chosen as the LED manufacturer due to their flexibility to provide design, support and installation services to Conde Nast International. Christie helped develop this solution from concept all the way through to deployment and the result speaks for itself. Crestron was used throughout the office to provide best-in-breed video distribution and control which helped keep the user experience the same, no matter which meeting room was being used. The easy to use icon control panel meant that anyone, be it staff, guest or the cleaners (who have been known to use it to watch TV in the cafe) could operate the screens throughout the building.”

Throughout the office, the same “it should just work” concept has been implemented in each meeting room, reception area and breakout space, all being managed with the uniform, easy to use icon interface.

Meanwhile, what the ‘move team’ initially thought would be a space for large company meetings and a showcase for digital imagery has evolved into a fully immersive space for the entire organisation.

“The impact has been two-fold. The media wall is not just arresting in its beauty, it has become a place where teams spontaneously meet to hold presentations and get feedback from others. We saw an instant change in how people worked,” said Aidan Geary, director of operations at Conde Nast International Digital.

“The Well, as we call it, has created a connection between the editorial team and other employees, bridging the gap between each department and helping connect the generations. We use Dropbox to post Snap Chat images to the screen and it’s been great to get feedback from other staff who can get to see what we do and why we do it,” said François de Montremy, motion graphics designer at Vogue International.

“Everyone involved in this project worked amazingly hard to ensure the outcome not just impressed but would continue to impress for years to come, Prior to the installation we carried colour calibration on site with Vogue Internationals head of photography Gaby Cove. This wasn’t a case of ‘good enough’ it had to be perfect from the bottom to the top of this impressive media wall,” said Nathan Chivers, project manager at Focus 21 Visual Communications.

“We take huge pride in our photography. It is a significant part of Condé Nast’s reputation for being one of the world’s leading publishing houses. The media wall displays our content beautifully and is a wonderful new way to showcase what we do to our team and visitors,” said Gaby Cove, head of photography at Vogue Inernational.

“The change has been amazing,” said Scarlett Fillingham Burrows, team assistant at Conde Nast International Digital. “It used to take me at least 20 minutes to set up the company meetings, now it happens instantly. We’ve also been using the area for company events. It’s so easy now to put music on through Airmedia from someone’s phone or drop some images into the Dropbox. It just makes company events more fun. The other thing I’ve noticed is how much closer its brought everyone. Often as you walk past a meeting on the stairs someone will ask your opinion on something they are showing on the screen. I love that its giving me more involvement and I’ve definitely got to know more people.”

Online tours

A 360-degree virtual tour can be seen here: http://pb360.co.uk/conde-nast-tour/cn-tour.html

A virtual reality tour which requires a VR headset or Google Cardboard is available here: http://pb360.co.uk/conde-nast-tour/cbd/cn-tour-cb.html