Universal was an integral part of the relocation of the British Red Cross to a new location in the City of London.  Prior to the move the British Red Cross wished to rewrite their corporate and facilities guidelines updating the core brand values and mission statement of the charity.  Employing the new guidelines as drawn up by Universal, the Red Cross hoped to promote the new HQ environment as a true reflection of the agency’s brand values. However, it was imperative the relocation was carefully managed in terms of the public perception of the spend as it was occurring during the time of the Tsunami global fundraising appeal. Here, Universal worked with the agency ‘The Team’ to ensure the new HQ identity would subtly project the public face of the charity and transfer the brand values across into the internal identity of the environment.

The British Red Cross’s brief for their new Headquarters was for a reception area, meeting suites and lecture room. Key to the project was to present the ethos and identity of the British Red Cross to the public as an open, professional and responsive organisation.

Universal’s response was to remove the personality of the previous occupant through a considered strip-out of redundant fixtures, fittings and finishes and a careful introduction of new finishes and furniture reflecting the key values of the client.

At the heart of the works was the creation of the flexible meeting area on the ground floor.  The desire to provide acoustic and visual privacy for the occupants while retaining a transparent and open image to the street led to a space framed by a series of glass and acrylic panels.  These were embossed with subtle images representing the organisation’s key values.  The enclosure was then lined with a semi-opaque fabric to allow users to adjust the degree of privacy.

The brief also called for a flexible signage system that could be updated in-house. The response was a bespoke system, which employed folded metal lengths as a hanger. This allowed Red Cross departments to easily move around the building as and when necessary. A secondary colour palette was developed and applied throughout. This enabled staff and visitors to readily distinguish between floors and for the signage system to remain flexible throughout.  A new language of folded planes was then introduced across all 8 floors to provide a narrative throughout the building.