- Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax Opportunities Trust commissioned BB Designs to develop bespoke joinery and commercial furniture design concepts for the Elsie Whiteley Centre in Halifax.
The work focused on the lobby and events space, ground floor co-working area, and top-floor co-working space. Our role was to create practical, furniture led concepts that supported flexible working, community use and a cohesive look across the building.
Where possible, existing materials were retained, including the original carpet in the upstairs co-working space, helping reduce waste and support a more sustainable approach.
- Site Survey
- Furniture-Led Space Planning
- Commercial Furniture Design Concepts
ZONE 01
Lobby & Events Space
BB Designs developed a concept to redesign an existing large planter into a more practical feature for the lobby and events space.
The client wanted to increase seating and support informal workspace use without adding more standalone furniture.
The proposed Planter Bench Unit combined the existing planting feature with stepped timber detailing, rotating seat pads at desk height, and a rounded upholstered bench seat below. This created a flexible furniture piece that could support events, informal meetings and day-to-day working.
By adapting the existing planter, the concept improved usability while supporting a lower-waste approach to commercial furniture design and increasing workspace rental opportunity.
ZONE 02
5th Floor Co-working Space
Communal Collaboration Table:
- Designed as the anchor piece of the co-working zone
- Encourages informal collaboration and community connection
- Enables hot desking opportunity
Cluster Workstations:
- 6 person workstations with integrated cable management
- Designed for flexibility and reconfiguration
- Provides a different price tier for coworking
Individual Workstations:
- Individual workstations with acoustic screen dividers
- Provides privacy within an open plan environment
- Individual desk rent – Higher tier option
Breakout & Meeting Zones:
- Hire able meeting room with organic shaped meeting table, coffee station and sound proof call booths.
Storage
- Refurbished Hire lockers providing security to tenants.
ZONE 03
Ground Floor Co-working Space
The ground floor co-working space was designed to create a natural, wellbeing-focused environment.
Storage & Partitions:
- Natural wood storage units on black steel frames
- Black framed glazed internal doors and partitions connecting lobby and co-working zone
Workstations:
- Natural wood flexible meeting table designed to move and create separate break out zones.
- Cluster tables for adaptable working and configuration.
- Booth working for a quieter focused experiance.
- Bar height co working hot desk station, for fly by working.
- Refurbished sound booths for private meetings and calls
