Financial Times

Trickett Associates had discovered, in undertaking their initial study, that conditions in the Editorial Department were near to insufferable - poor lighting, no sound control, inadequate ventilation and no air-conditioning. Consequently, the deep Editorial space became very overheated, especially in the middle. The journalists themselves were convinced that nothing could be done to resolve a conflict of needs between, on the one hand, 'collaborative hubbub' and, on the other, conditions for concentration. They were very sceptical, too, about the chances of solving the other environmental problems. To establish appropriate groupings and working adjacencies in the Department (with the news - desk and Communications Centre at the hub) Trickett Associates needed to renew all services and every surface within the interior. The most striking visual component of the design was the blue and red colour scheme. The invisible triumph was the control of the working environment.

The FT's own architecture correspondent, Colin Amery, commented: "Trickett has succeeded in making an almost unworkable building function effectively at its heart. Noise, light and air are now properly controlled, and the flow of copy and information is much eased by the design of the room. Even the journalists admit that it works." After five years of use, the UK Press Gazette, in making a general survey of news rooms, commented: "The most comfortable offices are at the Financial Times - a model of thoughtful design."

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