Unilever Emerging Markets Global HQ: Workplace as a Catalyst for Growth & Innovtion

Design Research & Change Management Rollout | DEGW x Unilever (2010)  | 145,000sqft / 1,200pax

BACKGROUND  |  Unilever’s Developing & Emerging Markets (D&E) is responsible for the FMCG giant’s future growth in the most dynamic market places around the globe. To stay ahead of the evolving lifestyles and aspirations of its 200 million customers, D&E needs faster exchange of market knowledge across its myriad regional and category groups — a new environment that makes internal branding, empathy and new collaborations an everyday experience.

PROCESS  | Leadership visioning workshop, space utilization study, shadowing, stakeholder interview, business unit adjacencies workshop, design review sessions with architects, and change readiness report to enable immediate implementation of new protocols and behavioral guidelines.

RESULT  | Recognized by the leadership team as a strategic asset for talent attraction & retention (video), the new D&E HQ now has a 6-story central staircase connecting the otherwise compartmentalized groups and a new suite of spaces supporting 1200 staff’s diverse work preferences and projects while using only 1000 desks, saving $4.8million USD each year in operations.  

Vertical & Horizontal Zoning

FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION & VISUAL CONNECTIVITY are enabled through the creation of an internal atrium with staircase and services