Heureka Office | JIri Lizler

Prague, March 15, 2022 - The hybrid work model combining home office with office work has become a reality for many companies during the pandemic. What's more, it's clear that a return to the original setup is not going to happen. In addition, there are a number of surveys that confirm that employees do not want to go back to the office. The question then arises, how to adapt offices to current needs and how to make them more attractive to employees who have become accustomed to the home office? For the online shopping guide Heureka, the interior design studio Hezkey has created new offices in Prague and Liberec prepared just for the hybrid style of work.

650 m2 (offices for the programming department and relaxation areas for the whole company in the Prague and Liberec offices)

Implementation date: 7/2021

The course of the pandemic shows that the home office concept, which the vast majority of companies use, has its downsides. A recent survey, for example, found that shared space with colleagues has an irreplaceable place in company culture and its absence has a detrimental effect on teamwork. But how do you lure employees used to working from home into the office? This and other tasks related to the effective use of office space are dealt with on a daily basis by the interior design studio Hezkey.

For Heureka, Hezkey has created new offices in their headquarters in Prague and in their offices in Liberec (about an hour from Prague) for their programming teams and redesigned the existing relaxation zones into multifunctional spaces suitable for employee relaxation, collaborative work, a joint workshop, or even a yoga class. Thanks to flexible and modular furniture and equipment, the space can then be easily converted into a company-wide meeting space for more than 50 people.

Offices for Heureka's growing team

The client, the popular online comparison site Heureka, needed to provide comfortable facilities for 270 people sitting in offices in Prague and Liberec due to the ever-growing number of employees. "Over the last year, we have welcomed 89 new employees in the Czech Republic and needed to ensure more efficient use of space. Even before the pandemic, we supported the home office and the move to online working was not a problem. Nevertheless, a meeting is still important to us and one of the conditions was to enable Heureka employees to meet comfortably in person," explains Martina Chloupková, Head of HR across the Heureka Group, and continues.

Multifunctional offices and smart offices

"The aim of the redevelopment was to accommodate the growing number of employees and to introduce a smart office - employees do not have a permanent place, but book the available one, or use the space in the common areas such as the relaxation room to work," says Pavel Mrázek, founder of Studio Hezkey, adding: "The main requirement was to make the space flexible and multi-functional and to support the airy interior and high standard of Heureka's corporate culture and create a place where employees feel comfortable working."

It is the zoning of the space that is key for employees. "We have made the working environment more attractive by giving it order and functionality for different activities. There were discreet areas for phone calls or important meetings, but also nooks and chill-out zones where people can meet and have fun. We make sure that employees are not disturbed during various activities. The materials used correspond to the purpose of the particular place. For example, we install acoustic ceilings or noise-absorbing panels where it is supposed to be quieter," says Mrázek.

The aim is not just to make the office space more attractive: "Creating pleasant working conditions has an impact not only on the comfort of employees but also on their efficiency and their ability to work in a focused and collaborative manner," Mrázek reveals.

Offices in the home office era

The interior works with the specifics of today's times: the days when the same number of people sat in the office every day are over. Our common goal was to create an interior in which an all-company meeting can be organized efficiently, but most of the time around 50% of the employees sit in it.

At a time when it is common to work from a home office and freelancers come in for a meeting once in a while, we need to think about making sure that the office is not "dead" during the normal working day.

Having a choice

Being able to choose where one works today helps the work dynamic. In addition, a lot of the work at Heureka is done in teams, so it is important to be able to bring the team together, or create space for a joint workshop or quick "sync".

In addition to open space, two new types of workspaces have been created. The "workshop room" is a room with a community table that can be easily rearranged - this creates a space for a joint workshop or meeting alongside the workstations. The "Flexi meeting" has tables on wheels that can be moved quickly to free up space.

The offices are also full of less formal seating, whether it's bar stools or lounge nooks. The most acoustically pleasing solutions for making phone calls are high acoustic chairs and phone booths.

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ABOUT HEZKEY

Hezkey is not just another interior design studio, it is involved in the design and implementation of interiors that allow companies to fully transition to a hybrid work format. It designs flexible office concepts with an emphasis on maintaining or recreating the performance delivered by specific teams, to create the ideal conditions just for them.

What led Pavel Mrázek, the founder of Hezkey Studio, to establish the studio was an identical need that many companies have today: to find a professional partner for interior design and its implementation. In 2013, he solved the confusion by assembling his own team, which today is behind more than 100 designs for offices, other commercial spaces and residential projects. For more, visit www.hezkey.cz.