Autex Design Office & Cafe

With the rapid expansion of the Autex team, the need for more office space and a central cafeteria to replace four small lunch rooms became apparent. As 250m2 of a 500m2 storage building on-site became vacant, converting it into an open-plan workspace and cafeteria meant that there were no ground works or land costs required.

The vacant storage building was to be transformed into a two storey, multiuse workspace and café –complete with design offices.  Additionally the Autex acoustics products had become very popular in the market and this required an area to show case the variety of products within a live office environment. The design team also needed space to create and collaborate with a private workshop/laboratory complete with a 3D printer to enable the testing of new products.

As the storage building on the site of the head office became vacant, converting it into a weather tight closed-in building meant that there were no ground works, roofing or land costs required.  Using the height of the structure to our advantage, we were able to transform the available 250m² footprint into 500m² of functional space over two floors – while the remaining 250m2 space continued to be used for storage.

Through adapting the original features to fit the new building requirements, the project was sustainable both economically and environmentally. Autex interior acoustics products have been used throughout the building to create a beautiful acoustically sound environment that encourages comfortable productivity, whilst simultaneously functioning as a showroom and event space.

The renovation of an existing and vacant shed into a global design office, cafeteria and function space has brought a wealth of benefits to the business – both financially and socially. The newly built office space eliminates the need for leased premises for staff who were previously located off site, reducing travel time and associated costs.

The new Autex design office and café are a high value asset for the business, with the value exceeding pre-build projections.  The world-class, open plan layout of the design office encourages collaboration between the design and marketing teams, whilst also ensuring integration with the rest of the Autex team. The use of Autex products throughout the build allows it to function as a showroom, displaying their innovative products in action.

The Autex Café provides subsidised food for all employees, reducing time spent off site during the lunch hour; with a thorough menu boasting nutritious food, staff no longer suffer sugar highs and lows, leading to increased productivity and overall wellbeing.  The savings for staff through having access to cheap, healthy food ensures higher staff retention – with benefits that flow through to the staff’s entire family.  The café has also replaced 4 smaller kitchens/lunchrooms throughout the work site which has reduced waste and opened up additional office space.