With high ceilings, open spaces and an amazing view of the south side of Hong Kong, the new headquarters of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group – which brings Lane Crawford, Joyce, Pedder Group and ImagineX Group together under one roof – breaks down physical barriers to allow individuals to work and interact more freely.
“We didn’t want an ‘office’! We wanted to take the word ‘office’ out of our lexicon. We didn’t want a precious space where individuals would feel uncomfortable – nothing expensive or foreboding. We didn’t want traditional space design – nothing monotonous or samey, but at the same time we still needed the space to be functional and useable. We wanted a space to create in and gather as a community,” said Jennifer Woo, Chairman and CEO of The Lane Crawford Joyce Group.
The new headquarters, which was unveiled in September 2012, is a bright, airy and relaxed workspace – the antithesis of a conventional cubicled office. “It is more of a creative workspace
where fashion lives. We are in a business of innovation and a business of fashion creation so the headquarters needed to give that first impression, something I certainly think we have succeeded at,” she continued. “We didn’t want anything to be a limitation or a hindrance to delivering excellence. The words I used were: real, humble, comfortable, spacious, usable, modern, open, flexible, balanced and conscious.”
She added the open environment was created to facilitate communication and collaboration. A partition-free, wirelessworkspace offers staff the freedom to choose their work environment,from communal to solitary based on their specific needs.
Strategic location
Traditionally, the Lane Crawford Joyce Group occupies prime retail spaces in the heart of the business district, but its new home is located in Wong Chuk Hang, an industrial and residential area on Hong Kong Island. “Initially it was a financial move. The decision was made during the recession in 2008. The idea was to move to a financially less costly location and bring the four companies together for the first time,” Woo explained. concrete jungle. Working in this space with its stunning views of the South China Sea and lush greenery allows you to breathe,” she said. The area is also expected to be transformed from an industrial warehouse area to a vibrant commercial district, with the completion of the Mass Transit Rail in 2015.
The headquarters covers seven floors, each floor measuring approximately 25,000 square feet. “It is home to 880 employees, who are involved in all aspects of the business from creative to financial. The only Hong Kong based staff of the group who do not work in the headquarters are the team members from the stores themselves, but they visit for training and other events,” she said.
While the basic structure, materials and palette are common to all floors, each company’s creative teams customize their space through furniture procurement and special highlight areas, which characterise their unique identities within the group family.
Antiques and vintage furnishings sourced from across the world include a set of 1930s portable library steps, a 1930s coat rail from a British railway station, 1920s travel trunks, original Thonet wooden chairs from a French bistro, early 20th Century school tables and chairs from France and an 18th Century serving table. “I visited many antique markets, stores and auctions and chose quirky antiques that fitted this brief to fill the spaces. There are many bare walls throughout the space so I sourced a number of beautiful antique benches, mainly French and English from the early 20th century which have been placed along these,” said Ross Urwin, creative director of Lane Crawford Home & Lifestyle.
Key highlights
One of Woo’s favourite spaces for the headquarters is the multi-purpose wellness room, which provides a quiet zone for massages, kinesiology, group yoga, Pilates, tai chi classes, meditation and deep relaxation. “I love the wellness room which is programmed to focus on nothing but the non-business related health of our organisation. It is a space to educate people about nutrition and other ways to live healthier,” she said.
The new headquarters marks a new era of collaborative partnership across the companies. “My ambition for The Lane Crawford Joyce Group is to build a community of individuals who come together to achieve a singular vision. Our new head office is the hub for that community – this is a home where innovation, creativity and fashion live,” Woo concluded.