Morgan Lovell designs new ‘European home of fanatical support’ for Rackspace

Designed to represent one of the most stimulating workplaces designed in recent times, Rackspace’s new HQ consolidates its previous two offices in Stockley Park into a single building.

The new offices house the company’s 620 ‘Rackers’ (the name adopted by Rackspace for its loyal staff base) into 100,000 square feet of space in the Hyde Park Hayes development. Living up to Rackspace’s corporate strapline of “The Home of Fanatical Support®”, the new offices are intended to uphold the company’s reputation of being one of the best places to work in the UK. As such, Rackspace has recently been ranked in both The Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ list and The Financial Times ‘UK’s 50 Best Workplaces’ for six years in a row.

After creating Rackspace’s previous Home of Fanatical Support at Stockley Park, Morgan Lovell already boasts a wealth of experience in creating workplaces that seem more like an extension of home than a corporate workhouse. The company’s office design concept hinges around the belief that happy staff, working in an inspirational environment, are more productive staff. Previous clients to have benefited from one of Morgan Lovell’s office transformations include ITV, Skype, Hat Trick Productions and TalkTalk.

Spread over four floors, the theme of the new office design is definitely one of ‘home’. The ground floor has a garage-style area where the focal point is an old Mini, making it a fairly novel place to hold a business meeting! The first floor has the fresh and funky style of a retro lounge, while Morgan Lovell designed the second floor to have a more traditional, library-type feel with its Chesterfield sofas and armchairs, mahogany furniture, parquet flooring and oriental rugs. The office is topped off on the third floor with a courtyard ‘garden’ complete with picnic benches, a light and airy space that makes the most of the glass-roofed atrium.

The talking point of the whole design is the 10 Downing Street boardroom, where a cardboard cut-out of Prime Minister David Cameron invites you through a replica of the famous black front door. Morgan Lovell have designed every aspect of Rackspace’s new home to encourage creative thinking, stimulate decision-making and cultivate a positive attitude.

The best thing about the new office has is the reaction of Rackspace’s staff. The Rackers were so impressed by their new home that they made a film of the move in the style of a music video, with themselves as the stars and posted it on YouTube. As an endorsement for Rackspace’s decision to do something a little bit different, it doesn’t get much better.