Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr

Historically, law firms tend to have a cellular office set up with the emphasis being on privacy and hierarchy. This creates a largely closed environment with little to no interaction between team members or departments.

In order to effectively roll out our planned workplace evolution, we took on the challenge to first understand CDH’s unique identity and internal dynamics. The next step was to guide them in the discovery of the best approach to their new space that would satisfy their operational requirements but also address considerations such as;

1. How do we encourage our staff to want to be in the office?
2. How can we still provide a flexible work environment that our staff have become used to and come to value during lockdown?
3. How can our firm answer to the needs of the current generation and retain world class talent?
4. How do we do all this without losing our company spirit and important features such as mentorship?

These key considerations from this forward thinking and dynamic firm required thorough evaluation. Our process included intensive rounds of research, workshops, educational presentations and open conversations at every level of staff complement.

The evolution of CDH’s workspace saw the ushering in of a Hybrid Working environment, accented with Activity Based Working principles.

The workspace itself is technology-centric and features bespoke design for each department. The design is tailored to their specific needs, ranging from their type of filing requirements to their internal communication requirements or need for local libraries.

Each of the four work-floors follow the same intuitive layout and begin the employees journey through shared spaces we refer to as ‘Plaza’s’ where multiple departments can come together for a coffee or quick meeting.

This ABW (activity based working) set up, encourages communication and collaboration, allows for different environments for individuals and teams to work from, and opens up the workspace removing perceived barriers between departments and the workspace users.

The implementation of world renowned hybrid-workspace-support software Condeco has changed the way CDH uses their space by giving employees control over the flexibility of their work day.

The software allows team members to book a seat or reserve a quiet room or meeting room, in their preferred area ahead of time. It also allows users to locate colleagues anywhere in the building and also be able to see through a heat map where the most populated, and hence also where the most quiet part of the building is.

This allows flexibility, higher workspace productivity and all important analytics to help CDH better plan the use of their new office, tailoring it to the behavioural patterns of their employees.

While our design work is complete at 1 Protea Place, Sandton; thinkspace will continue to observe and guide CDH through their journey, shifting and adapting where required as their needs change and as the world changes around them.

ClientCliffe Dekker HofmeyrLocationSandton, JohannesburgCategoryCommercialArea6415m²Circa2023