Introduction
The Avent Interiors team were excited to assist when a landlord client, Swiss Life, needed assistance refurbishing an office suite at the Bull Wharf building in the city centre. The suite needed to be brought up to standard for any potential new tenants.
Swiss Life is one of Europe’s leading insurance groups and required a property which was ready to move into in the centre of Bristol. The space needed to be practical, polished and have distinct zones, especially meeting space which was well acoustically treated.
The Challenge
The before pictures say it all. The existing space was a textbook example of an office that simply wasn’t up to the standard that modern employees and visitors expect. It featured a tired white grid ceiling with outdated fluorescent strip lights, beige carpet throughout and an undifferentiated open-plan layout with no real sense of arrival, zoning or character.
This would be an issue for any clients moving in, but when welcoming valuable clients to their office space, Swiss Life needed somewhere which would be comfortable, impressive and, most importantly, allow for privacy.
On the other hand, the building itself had great potential. At Bull Wharf the first floor particularly benefits from tall arched windows that flood the space with natural light. The original design was actively working against those strengths. The drop ceiling was hiding the building’s structure, and the absence of any colour, materiality or spatial variety made it feel like a very off-the-shelf solution.
For most potential tennants, confidential conversations are part of daily life; in the original office design, this would have caused a practical problem. The existing layout also offered no meaningful acoustic separation and no quality meeting environment.
Project Goals & Requirements
The refurbishment project has to achieve several goals with the end design. For one, it had to create distinct, functional zones within a compact 1,000 sq ft footprint. These would include open-plan desking, a private acoustically treated meeting room and a breakout area with a kitchen.
Other specific key requirements included a glazed meeting room with full acoustic treatment; open-plan desking with integrated power and data; a fully fitted kitchen and breakout zone; fresh M&E throughout, including Daikin HVAC, fresh air ventilation, DALI lighting and a certified fire detection installation.
Solution & Implementation
Avent Interiors managed the project end-to-end, delivering a full turnkey solution.
The first and most impactful decision was removing the suspended ceiling entirely. Exposing the concrete soffit added height, revealed the building’s structure, and let the arched windows do what they were always meant to do.
The new layout introduced proper zoning for the first time. A double-glazed acoustic partition with a fire-rated glass door formed the meeting room — fully treated with acoustic tiles, liners, a Daikin cassette and fresh air ventilation. The open-plan area mixes desking runs, high-table seating and a lounge breakout, with three carpet tile colourways doing the heavy lifting on spatial definition.
The final design focused on creating three main areas, including a welcome/breakout area, a meeting area and an open-plan office area. The breakout area anchors the social end of the floor utilising matt grey handleless units, a stone-effect splashback, integrated Bosch appliances and herringbone LVT.
All M&E was replaced in full: DALI linear fittings, LED panels, Daikin ducted systems, certified data, and fire detection. The window frames were spray-painted black to tie the exterior into the new interior palette.
The Result
The finished result was a stark difference from the original fit out. A space that was dull, dated and functionally inadequate is now a sharp, well-considered workplace that plays to the building’s strengths and architecture.
The space is now an office with a strong sense of identity, exposed structure, bold colour blocking, mixed flooring, and quality finishes throughout and all the practical infrastructure a regulated financial services business needs. Private, acoustically treated meeting space. Flexible open-plan desking. A social kitchen and breakout area that people actually want to spend time in.
Conclusion
Bull Wharf is a great example of how Avent Interiors assists landlord clients. Taking a space that’s being held back by its current fit out and helping transform it into something that attracts and retains quality occupiers.
If you’re a landlord with office space in Bristol or the South West that needs bringing to market, we’d be glad to help. Contact us today to arrange a site visit.
