Creating a Flexible Law Office

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08 June 2022

With real estate being one of the highest costs for law firms after salaries, how can workplace managers create a valuable space where legal professionals actually want to work?

According to office design company Oktra, lawyers, on average, are expected to bill 1,500 to 2,000 hours a year. And even with the rise in hybrid working models, any modern law firm must have appropriate spaces to meet clients and colleagues. An added challenge is that this space must be able to facilitate both collaborative group work and discreet meetings.

As Barbara Dunn, Principal and Studio Director at Gensler, says: “Attorneys can do heads-down work in small focus rooms or even at home, but it’s critical that the legal workplace of the future support the kinds of interactions and collaborations that do not work well remotely.”

Studio Reaktor, an architecture firm based in Prague, was asked to do just that.

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Studio Reaktor turned the well-worn old cliche of a dark, stuffy barristers’ chambers with high pile carpets and leather club chairs on its head.

Their client, Allen & Overy has 44 offices worldwide, and wanted a refined space for lawyers, who need focus rooms and teamwork spaces and who often work from home, but need frequent access to modern technology. A space that reflects the legal practice of today – a service that is often just one part of complex consulting services offered to startup projects, big acquisitions or small IT revolutions.

Picture: a photograph showing a high table and stools. Image Credit: http://studioflusser.com/en/about/

Post-It Notes As Design Inspiration

Another design inspiration was the process of fine-tuning a contract, and the act of studying precise legal wording. The use of highlighter pens and post-it notes during contract drafting inspired the office’s orientation system, leading the way to individual people’s rooms.

Picture: a render showing several pencil drawings of cabinets and windows. Image Credit: www.studio-reaktor.com

Corners as meeting spaces were also very important. In the middle of the offices, around the vertical circulation core, the designers placed the “Cloud”.

Picture: a render showing a floorplan, with the "cloud" at the centre. Image Credit: www.studio-reaktor.com

Picture: a photograph showing rounded corners of desk spaces. Image Credit: http://studioflusser.com/en/about/

All photographs are credited to http://studioflusser.com/en/about/. Drawings are credited to www.studio-reaktor.com. Additional word are credited to Jakub Heidler and Jan Kačer.

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 08 June 2022

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