Squarespace Office HQ

Project Description

This 1,700m² office fit-out for Squarespace’s International HQ over two floors provided an opportunity for innovation with regard to M&E design from Ethos Engineering as the design was completed on a phased basis to ensure minimal disruption to live tenants.

The main office spaces were dedicated open plan office space lined with cellular spaces for meeting rooms, solo spaces, etc. The top floor provided a large break out area, including canteen space, games rooms, bar and patio area. It also featured a re-heat kitchen for re-heating food prepared off-site. There was no kitchen canopy installed, instead a dedicated extract fan was chosen for this space. This allowed for the removal of odours and condensation from the space while preventing the migration of smells to adjacent spaces.

Ethos Input

Ethos Engineering were commissioned to provide full mechanical, electrical and audio visual design for the building. Ethos carried out the design of the mechanical systems (domestic water, heating, ventilation, A/C, drainage & BMS controls) and electrical systems (general services, lighting & emergency lighting, new CAT6 structured cabling system, audio visual system, fire alarm system, & new communications room).

Unique / Key Features

The client requested exposed M&E services and only black and white to be used throughout the design (walls, floors and ceilings). This led to innovation from our engineers as the noise from the mechanical plant had to be minimised, therefore all A/C units were specified to include acoustically lined return air plenums, to achieve optimum NC levels throughout.

Custom-manufactured plenum boxes were installed to provide for a unique finish to exposed grilles. The black and white theme led to innovation where lighting design was concerned. The overall project required detailed co-ordination and communication with the client technical advisors located in the United States while liaising with the local design team.