Rugby League

Flexiform has recently completed the office design and furniture installation for the opening of a new headquarters for Rugby League (RL) in England on Manchester’s Etihad Campus, providing an all-in-one package from office design to installation and aftercare. Located in the impressive sports centre, Rugby League’s primary aim was to create a bright and contemporary office space with a wow factor, that could show off the history of the sport and update the way they work – as the governing body, the Rugby Football League, comes together with Super League in a single headquarters for the sport.

The new agile office design has facilities for all its staff including a reception space, cellular offices, collaboration zones, modular offices, breakout spaces and a mixture of formal and informal meeting spaces.

Project Data

CLIENT : Rugby League
LOCATION : Manchester
PROJECT LEAD : Rob Waterhouse
PRODUCTS : Pico Desks, Freestor hinged door storage cupboards, planters, task chair, Flexi-Grid shelving, Flexi-Work meeting chairs, sofas, Additions 2 Tables, Additions Chrome Pedestal Base Table, Freestor Accent Lockers, Actualize Task Chair, Valido lounge chair, reception counter.
WORKSPACES : Open Plan Office, Reception, Meeting Rooms.
SERVICES : Office furniture supply, manufacture and fit out, visualisations, bespoke furniture, office space planning design and interior colour scheme recommendations.

Why did Rugby League choose Flexiform?

Flexiform’s high-quality products, lead time, service package and proximity to the site was a huge selling point for Rugby League. Being a Yorkshire-based company, it gave RL reassurances that we could solve any install issues fast, minimise transportation emissions, and give great access to come to see the factory and the showrooms, helping them make design and product decisions. We also supplied a Pico bench desk to their existing offices for staff members to test over a long period of time, helping give Aaron at Rugby League confidence in the products:

“The ability to physically view a lot of their products at their Bradford showroom and factory made the decision-making process so much easier. This combined with their flexibility on configurations and finishes made for a great finished ‘product’. The quality of the products they offer is excellent and with the comfort of the warranty they provide, I have no concerns about product longevity.” – Aaron, Rugby League

Office Furniture & Interior Design

To help create the office space, RL used our in-house Space Planning and Interior Design team who provided 2D plans and 3D renders to help visualise the space. This allowed Aaron (RL) to create a cohesive design, bringing together any 3rd party graphics and the blue and red colours from the logo with sofas and office booths throughout the office.

As the client needed to accommodate a large amount of staff, we supplied our Pico bench office desks with Freestor Accent metal lockers and storage top planters to add a touch of biophilic design. Throughout both floors, the Pico desks were split up to create quick-access collaboration zones, using office booths, lounge chairs and sofas. Further filing storage was added at the periphery of the office with Freestor hinged door storage cupboards, these large capacity lateral storage units are a great way to add much-needed filing cupboards without taking up a large footprint.

Office Meeting Rooms

To provide formal meeting spaces we installed a number of our Additions 2 Table with a premium Nebraska Oak top for a luxury boardroom feel. The meeting tables were also fitted with cable management and in-desk electrics to allow for video conferencing and laptop charging. To complete the set-up, we installed our Flexi-Work meeting chairs with a 5-star castor base, integral arms, a bright white shell and upholstered seats to match the colour scheme. A boardroom sideboard offered storage and an elegant finish to the room.

Reception Furniture

Within the Reception area, Flexiform installed a bespoke curved reception counter within the entrance, additional formal meeting rooms to the left, and an informal meet & greet/ collaborative area to the right. This collaboration area featured sofas, coffee tables and Valido lounge chairs for guests to wait, relax or chat, with a bespoke FlexiGrid media centre partitioning the area from a large Additions 2 collaboration table. This flexible workspace allows staff to collaborate with each other, or provide a space for ad-hoc workers who are dropping in.

Office Furniture Installation

As with all Flexiform installations, RL was given a dedicated project manager (PM) and an installation manager on site to ensure the fit-out ran to schedule and to fix any issues that came up. To manage this process all projects have phased deliveries with components delivered to the site at the right time to maximise efficiency and ensure the workspace is clear of obstacles. During this installation, our PM scheduled for 4 days of installations and an extra day of snagging, installing the desk framework and electrics first, followed by storage, meeting tables, and then seating.

“The mark of a good company is how they handle issues along the way. Flexiform dealt with anything that came up quickly and to my satisfaction, resulting in no cost increase or importantly, delay to the project schedule.” – Aaron, Rugby Football League

The end office furniture installation certainly hits the brief of a wow-factor office! To see Aaron’s full testimonial, please visit our Client Testimonials Page.

Rugby League

Project Data

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