A community focused global HQ for Checkout.com

What does community mean in the context of the workplace? For Checkout.com, community means a feeling of being home, collaborating, creating good times and supporting one another. This is exactly the atmosphere they wanted for their HQ, but in order to achieve it, they needed to find the right space first.

After testing the water in a temporary central London office, Checkout decided that up-and-coming Shoreditch was a better fit for the company. With its vibrant atmosphere, bustling streets and trendy residents, Checkout felt it was a no brainer to relocate to the area - all they needed was a company to help them find the perfect office space! Enter Modus.

After a thorough search, we found an exquisite 80,000 sq ft space in the brand-new Wenlock Works building, right in the heart of Shoreditch. The ultra-modern, Crittal-glazed building was everything Checkout had hoped for, so without hesitation they snapped up the third, fourth and fifth floors.

The kitchen, coffee bar areas for team socialising and get togethers 

Finding inspiration in spaces with a sleek, minimalistic design and monochromatic colour palette, Checkout’s CEO was looking for a design which could combine this with their objective to make the space collaborative and community-focused ultimately taking their office and business to the next level. The building’s modern-industrial exterior provided a brilliant visual composition of form and function and the team were able to draw on these features bringing them into the office, creating a consistent visual experience throughout.

For the third floor, the CEO wanted to create a visually impactful, collaborative and communal area that encouraged the team members to engage with each other. Additionally, he wanted it to function as an event space where he could give regular presentations to the whole company.

Huddle rooms, comfortable banquet booth seating and breakout areas can be found on the third floor 

Upon entry to the third floor, you are immediately greeted by a large, open plan workspace and lots of collaboration zones, including a dropped floor laptop station and elevated team area. These are accompanied by handy smartboards so the team can come together for brainstorming.

As you progress through the space, you are captivated by a stunning feature staircase that connects all four floors. The arresting raw steel instantly draws the eye, and, behind it, you can see a feature wall with black and white photos of the staff with colourful neon lighting and signs. This adds a human touch to the space and the team have commented they loved creating it.

The feature staircase that connects all four floors

The amphitheatre is also a striking attraction. Among its key features are a magnificent podium stage; a dropped floor area with tiered seating, bean bags and comfy lounges for a homely feel; and a large blank wall to project presentations on.

To further instil a sense of community, we introduced a trendy team coffee bar. We got inventive with the integration of soft, muted colours and played with shapes to make the area really pop. The coffee bar can also be transformed into a DJ booth for events held within the office.

The ultimate collaboration area

As the CEO loves reading, he also wanted a library on the third floor. With this in mind, we introduced a quiet, comfortable area for him and his team to be in and concentrate. In fact, they liked it so much that we replicated it for them on the fourth floor.

Like the third floor, the fourth and fifth floors champion collaboration and establish a sense of community with scrum areas, presentation screens, teapoints and desking. These spaces allow the team to come together to brainstorm ideas and socialise.

Elevated, collaboration zones, perfect for team brainstorming sessions

Throughout these scrum and collaborative zones, we used raw industrial elements to keep the interior design consistent with the exterior. To counterbalance the harsh raw elements, however, we introduced soft and warm timber finishes.

A visually stunning, collaborative office space

Through the dedication and creativity of our design and project teams, we have created a space that fits Checkout’s brief perfectly. With the multiple scrum zones, pods and breakout spaces, the new office has a buzzing community spirit that’s the mark of a productive, fun workspace. Furthermore, the Checkout CEO was delighted to see we achieved the cool, modern-industrial design he outlined in the brief.  

 Come and take a walk around their new home here.