New year, new view: our move to a new head office brought the opportunity to shape a workspace both for today’s working and for tomorrow
At the start of 2024, NaughtOne’s head office moved to a new, custom-designed workspace at Central House in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The move culminates an 18-month journey to design an office embodying the NaughtOne ethos of absolute simplicity and infinite possibility, both in appearance and for the team and visitors using it.
“From the very beginning I wanted it to feel like an inspiring, beautifully interior designed space, like a destination rather than an office,” says NaughtOne Managing Director Nadean McNaught.
The pared-back aesthetics of the workspace allow the possibilities of NaughtOne’s furniture to come to the fore. Different zones offer both privacy and sociability, satisfying all the needs of contemporary hybrid working to create what Nadean describes as: “a warm and welcoming destination that people would want to leave their homes to come to, somewhere to collaborate, somewhere to hang out.”
Nadean first visited the potential new HQ in May 2022 and was struck by what the newly renovated Central House, which also boasts LEED sustainability certification, had to offer. “Immediately as I walked in there was chatter, the smell of coffee, a warm welcome from reception. The building just seemed to greet us,” she remembers. The prospective office itself was an empty shell but, “I immediately saw the windows, the treetops, so much light.”
The design of the new office was led by NaughtOne’s Creative Director Stephen Floyd and Samantha Davis, Design Manager for Branded Environments.
“We’re trying to fill the gaps of what people don’t have when working from home,” Samantha says. “Some people need to have a place to concentrate. Some people miss socialisation and collaboration. We have to support both.”
Bathed in light from large windows running along two of the walls, the buzzy open-plan desk areas are complemented by private phone and meeting rooms. A large kitchen area encourages congregation and there are ample power points everywhere. “We want people to feel that the whole office is their home,” Stephen says.
NaughtOne’s style is present even before entering the main office, which is approached through a striking dark grey corridor bearing the maxim: “Absolute simplicity, infinite possibility”.
“Sam and I talked about that entry point as almost a palette cleanser, where you’re leaving Central House and transitioning into NaughtOne world,” explains Stephen.
This is reflected in the balance between the confidently minimal architecture, with white walls and an industrial-style ceiling, and the colour pops and appealing forms of the furniture. Mostly NaughtOne products with some pieces from the wider MillerKnoll family, these include the Pippin and Percy chairs and Symbol sofa, and the adaptable Morse table system.
Less visible but equally important, elements such as automatic LED lighting and careful temperature control make the workspace as energy efficient as possible.
Meanwhile, Sam highlights the gallery wall of NaughtOne products as a signature touch. Some frames have been left empty, “knowing that there will be new stories to tell within these frames. It lends itself to saying, there is so much more to come.”
