Office Principles has completed a full service project for DER Touristik UK, parent company of the premium worldwide travel company Kuoni, at its new offices in Dorking, including designs to reflect the company’s collaborative culture as it looks to expand in the UK market.
The contract, which comprised of workplace consultancy, office design, project management, fit out and relocation, was completed by the award-winning design and workplace consultancy in just under 16 weeks.
Work on the 30,000 square foot space included a tea point, a coffee bar, an ampitheatre, all mechanical facilities, bathroom facilities, floors and ceilings and the introduction of DER Touristik UK and its consumer travel brand Kuoni, across all three floors.
In order to engage its team from the outset, the travel company, which is the UK division of one of the biggest travel groups in Europe, enlisted Office Principles’ workplace consultancy services to play a part in the process. The office interiors specialist then ensured that some of the ideas generated by 250 staff members were incorporated into the fit out, tailoring the design to to make the space relevant and user-friendly.
Rachel O’Reilly, head of communications for DER Touristik UK explains what the travel expert is working to achieve with this new space: “Our Kuoni brand has a strong retail present throughout the UK so we have more than 300 co-workers and partners expected to visit, and use, these offices, from all over the UK and around the world, so our main aim was to create a dynamic and inspirational workspace that would embrace our whole team, providing space for training and development.
“Office Principles has provided us with a creative and strategic working space, with a real wow factor, and we’re delighted with the outcome.”
Joint managing director of Office Principles, Cyril Parsons comments on the detail of the project: “The team worked hard to co-ordinate the installation of commercial services in the coffee bar, while managing other specialist aspects of the project and ensuring that individual works, such as the boxing in of exposed steel, was completed as quickly as possible to enable the timely progress of the full project.
“Ultimately, we were lucky to work with a client as responsive as Kuoni and we enjoyed a balanced, and healthy, working relationship with the team there.”
Office Principles has a strong and varied commercial portfolio which includes blue-chip brands such as Exterion Media, Telegraph Media Group, Visa Europe, GE Capital, Fitness First, Tata Communications, ResMed, Direct Marketing Association, Land Securities, Mothercare, and Spencer Ogden.
