Steven Leach Group has designed the new offices of tech corporation GE, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From an initial brief of designing and construction of 5 floors of fit out, the brief for this project grew to deliver 7 floors following the full integration of GE’s recent and significant acquisition, Alstom. The new office houses multiple GE businesses that include Power Services, Oil & Gas, Healthcare and Lighting. With a brief to deliver an agile workplace for an organisation that is described as a “Global Digital Industrial” company, the finished product provides a strong representation of the GE brand, culture and future.

Whilst the overall space requirements grew during the implementation of the project, so did ISG’s role which ultimately has seen ISG design and deliver all of the audio visual solutions within the space, procure white goods and café infrastructure and through its sister company provide move management services. The office has been designed to provide an agile solution with non-assigned desks for large swathes of the office. This has culminated in an office accommodation solution that sees 5-6 different types of workspace that could be utilised by employees comprising benches, 120 degree workstations, sit-stand workstations and more informal spaces.

Focus has been placed on employee wellbeing within the fit out solution with ergonomic Haworth Zody task chairs being utilised. Working within the parameters of the maximum density requirements in Malaysia, each floor has been designed to accommodate a maximum of 125 fixed workstations. Each floor also incorporates a blend of project desks and sit-stand workstations to encourage collaborative work practices. The main reception floor is located at Level 38 within the building and boasts a futuristic looking appearance which is augmented by two NOC’s located as a backdrop to the area.

These NOC’s provide critical oversight of GE’s Power and Oil and Gas businesses whilst also acting as showcases of GE’s work processes and value proposition. In addition to this, a large integrated touch-screen video wall of 138“ diameter provided by 9 No. 46” LCD TV’s and an interactive display stand, which allows visitors to get to know GE’s business further. Additional complimentary design statements are made through the provision of two curved glass meeting rooms at the end point of the reception/ waiting area that complete a dynamic visitor experience.

As part of a public facing meeting suite, the reception area annexes onto an area with a main meeting room, two further meeting rooms and the company training facilities. These areas are visually connected via a company timeline wall whilst all are heavily AV enabled. Located adjacent to the reception is the Tech Café and main server room. This area provides internal support to all GE employees whilst also showcasing GE’s technological prowess. The server room is glass fronted and houses examples of the latest IT lean technology whilst the Tech Café itself houses an IT vending machine (a machine that vends IT consumables).

Within the brief, acoustic privacy and technology availability remain two of the main brief requirements and this is achieved through the use of JEB X Series double glazed office front and door solutions thus achieving high STC ratings. Within each and every enclosed office, meeting or huddle rooms space, flat screen technology has been utilised to create a truly connected workforce whilst sit stand desks allow versatility in the use of the rooms. Branding is prominent throughout the space with each floor containing large graphics depicting the GE business line located on the floor – this ultimately providing a sense of location and brand identity within the 7 floors.

Design: Steven Leach Group

https://officesnapshots.com/2017/04/05/ge-offices-kuala-lumpur/