IAR102-Workplace Precedent Presentation: ASOS

·       The company I chose was ASOS. It is an online fashion and beauty retailer. It has about four locations in the United Kingdom. They also they have a 24-hour customer care office based in Hemel Hempstead, UK. Their central distribution center is in Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK which is where they ship their products from. And they recently added locations in US, France, Germany, Australia, and China. Their online site targets customers all over the world including the USA, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia to name a few. The clientele is between 18-34 years old including both men and women. They retail fashion forward clothing, accessories, and beauty products.

     

       The workplace I am focusing on is located in their main HQ in Camden, London in an Art Deco building called the Greater London House. Art Deco is a term that describes the decorative art style of the 1920s and 1930s. It’s characterized bold geometric shapes and strong colors. It was used mostly in household objects and architecture of the time. This building has an Egyptian-style theme with two large feline statues at the main entrance and boldly painted columns.

·    ASOS launched in 2000 and saw steady growth online and within the physical company itself between then and now. Its HQ were re designed and refurbished by Martha Nicholson Hart from MoreySmith in May of 2013. The areas they worked on were the café, reception, event space, press showroom, team collaboration and meeting rooms. This renovation took 20 weeks to complete and the total area was 100,00 sq ft space.

·      Many different departments are housed here including:

a.  finance

b.  buying and merchandising

c.  design and garment technology

d.  marketing and production

e.  customer care

·      Just about all are group work settings aside from customer care. The staff is made up of 1200 people starting from about age 23 on up of both men and women with women making up most of the staff (women to men ratio is 2:1). Staff are expected to be ambitious and have sophisticated skills so that they can thrive in the fast-paced environment and perform above and beyond the company’s challenging expectations.

·      Different types of furniture, fixtures, equipment needed would be

1.     Chairs (sitting, meeting, groups)

2.     Tables (writing, meetings, discussions)

3.     Adequate lighting (natural and artificial)

4.     Display boards

5.     Reception desk (telephone)

6.     Computers (a place to house and keep safe, secure)

7.     Projection equipment (runway, photography studio)

·      In conclusion I would love to work here! Not quite sure where I would fit in as an interior architect. The design of this space is already beautiful and functional. I would imagine any position that you would work here would have inspiration fueled by the décor alone. You can see below some pictures of the post renovation of this workspace.