Building on our 30-year relationship with Sony Music Entertainment UK, MoreySmith helped secure their new location in Kings Cross, bringing all their labels and teams of almost 900 people, together under one roof.

Engaging with the entire company from the outset, MoreySmith adapted several strategies to gain a thorough understanding of the aspirations and functional requirements of the new space. Conversations, interviews and surveys were reinforced with data gathered from time and motion studies monitoring the use of the office. Findings were collated to provide a clear direction for the project.

Health and wellbeing were an essential part of the design and aspirations of the team. The new workplace boasts improved acoustics, increased natural light, access to outdoor space and biophilia as well as a variety of environments sensitive to neurodivergences.

The autonomy gained during the pandemic meant people had the opportunity to work where and when was most efficient to their tasks and moods. MoreySmith ensured the choice of space was still available within the office, considering the sensory experience throughout. The building features approximately 90% more plants than the average provision and the 122 linear meters of preserved foliage equates to the length of four blue whales.

Conscious decision making was evident throughout all stages of design, build and management. Reclaimed materiality used included timber flooring and recycled leather wall cladding. Furthermore, 352 items of furniture were reused from Sony’s previous sites.

Design proposals were sympathetic to the variety of companies using the building, from a heavy rock music label to a classical concert producer. Each was given its own unique identity with tailored material palettes, furniture schemes, graphic design and branding. Managing the independence and feeling of “home” for each company was innovatively balanced with the practical requirements of flexibility. Instead of building physical walls between each team which would limit the adaptability, angled meeting rooms were constructed to naturally form a separation.

An in-house events space provides a multifunctional environment to host playbacks, performances, talks and fitness classes. Previously, Sony Music hosted around 4 events per month, compared with 35-40 per month over Sept-Dec 2022. Community initiatives have also been set up cementing Sony Music’s principles and values.

Artwork was celebrated throughout with pieces selected or commissioned to represent the diversity of the company. MoreySmith worked closely with ArtSource to procure a piece with Bob and Roberta Smith that reflects around the mirror-clad boardroom overhanging the café, that poignantly reads “There is still music, there is still hope.”

MoreySmith’s pre-Covid vision of a creative, flexible and collaborative workplace required little alteration, Sony Music were already aspiring to create a workspace centred around their people.