How do we get our employees back to the office? The Antwerp DPG offices were almost empty post-covid.
At DPG Antwerp they were wondering..
How do we get our employees back to the office? How do we make them feel at home there? And how do we transform our work environment into a lively space that inspires and yields results? In 2021, still in the midst of the corona pandemic, DPG Media knocked on our office door with these questions. The Antwerp offices of the company, just over a year old at that time, were almost empty because employees, since Covid, have had different expectations of their work environment. And because those needs can only be met with well-planned spaces that create memorable brand experiences. Sounds like a job for Nachtraven, right?
How do you motivate your employees today to trade the comfort of home for the office?
And how do you ensure that the limited time they spend on the work floor is used optimally?
These are the two underlying questions from DPG, and many other companies, that we formulated an answer to. The answer was based on two pillars: perfect space planning and creating spaces with a soul. What was missing: a brand identity and an experience that aligns with it. The main ingredient of our answer was homeliness: as many colleagues as possible, as productively as possible in a cozy office.
From unused to productive and pleasant
Do all these interventions really work? Are the buildings being used more and are they yielding results? Well, when DPG contacted us in 2021, the occupancy rate of their Antwerp office building was 30 to 40%. Today it is a beautiful 80%, says facility manager Belgium & Netherlands Stijn Van den Acker.
The Four
The focus of the assignment was on the fourth floor of the office building. Elsewhere in the building, we made smaller interventions. We named the fourth floor ‘IV’. In an international work environment, this reference is clear to everyone. Sometimes you don’t have to look far. On IV we shook everything up. Together with DPG, we analyzed what experience the space needed to create and how it should function. From there, we worked on an overarching brand identity and ensured that the identities of the different teams could also be expressed. Thus, IV became a dining, relaxation, and event space and a place to work and co-create. And above all, a floor that breathes DPG, from every corner and with every piece of furniture.
In this project, Nachtraven worked intensively with DPG’s facility specialists.
On IV we had carte blanche and were responsible for the concept, design, and realization. For this, we worked together with the experts from Nearly New Office for space planning and our partners from Tailormate, Interhaus, and 2lite during the construction process.
Do you, like DPG Media, need a workplace with a soul? Where your employees love to come and which encourages them to get the most out of it? Let us know, we make it happen