A global tech firm is preparing to move into the City of York Council HQ.
And it aims to transform one floor of West Offices on Station Rise into a hotel-style workplace, complete with snack bar, breakout zone and contemplation room.
Business intelligence and software firm Anaplan is proposing to make big changes to the former council office space.
Under their plans, the second floor would become a “home from home” for its workers, with a sense of “luxury and escapism… to tempt people back into the office environment whilst also raising productivity and creativity”.
City of York Council moved into the specially-converted West Offices in 2013. But it revealed in 2021 that it would probably allow council staff to continue to work from home after the pandemic – and had earmarked an extra £350,000 income from renting out freed-up space in its HQ.
Anaplan was founded in 2006 by Guy Haddleton and Michael Gould in Michael’s converted cowshed near York. In one of the biggest deals ever involving a York company, the software giant was bought by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo for £8 billion last year.
Although the company’s HQ is now in San Francisco, its research and development arm moved into offices in the Bonding Warehouse in York in 2014.
Anaplan’s plans to transform the second floor of West Offices is all about creating a modern, relaxed workplace that would tempt people away from home working.
Its proposed breakout room would come complete with banquettes, curved booths and a kitchen area. A proposed contemplation room would boast textured wallpaper, and there would be ‘boss modular work pods’.
Design documents state: “Following the pandemic, the workplace as we knew it changed with a significant shift in priorities for workspaces and the principal drive being wellbeing.
“Demand for unique and inspiring spaces is on the rise and workplaces have now become more of a destination point, a home from home and a showcase for companies striving to offer the very best and a unique experience for their employees.”
That has led to the ‘hotelization’ of work spaces, which blur the lines “between workplace, hospitality and leisure design”.
“The ‘Anaplan Way’ continues to create a positive and inclusive culture that will empower employees in order for them to grow and thrive within the business,” the company says.