In 2020, WaterAid relocated to a 24,000 sq ft office in Canary Wharf on a 15-year lease, designed as an agile and flexible workplace to create a great environment for WaterAiders.
The organisation adopted a 60/40 hybrid model, with 330 UK-based staff splitting their time between home and office.
Like many organisations, WaterAid has faced challenges in defining an effective post-pandemic way of working. Office attendance has been uneven, with midweek peaks putting pressure on meeting and event spaces, while other days remain quiet.
With 40% of the workforce having joined since the pandemic under the expectation of hybrid working, WaterAid has made significant efforts to encourage office attendance through events and internal communications. The organisation is now reviewing its wider approach to flexible working – considering not just where people work, but also when and how work happens.
360 Workplace was appointed to undertake a comprehensive workplace strategy review to reassess WaterAid’s workplace needs.
The review began by validating the original design principles from the 2020 relocation to Canary Wharf and assessing how well the existing space supporteds WaterAid’s hybrid model and organisational culture. Particular attention was paid to ensuring inclusivity for all staff, including neurodivergent employees and to aligning workplace design with evolving trends that support collaboration, flexibility, and wellbeing.
The team explored future workspace requirements by developing scenario models to assess the impact of reducing the office footprint at some point in the future should the organisation decide to relocate. 360 Workplace also evaluated WaterAid’s technology infrastructure to determine what changes would be needed to better support high-performing, globally connected teams. Alongside this, employee engagement and leadership visioning workshops were carried out to understand the behaviours, attitudes, and cultural shifts required to make the hybrid model successful in the long term.
Through this process, 360 Workplace helped WaterAid articulate a clear workplace vision: “To create a welcoming and inclusive workplace that invites everyone in – both within and beyond WaterAid – and that is easy to use, enabling connection, collaboration and shared purpose.”
Based on the insights gathered, 360 Workplace delivered a strategic roadmap with practical recommendations to improve both office use and employee experience.
A key people-first recommendation was to introduce coordinated anchor days across teams, enabling better collaboration and balance across the week. The strategy also proposed replacing team-owned desk zones with a “free address” approach, where employees can book desks near those they work with most, while zonal areas are defined by work type – such as quiet, focused, or collaborative zones.
The strategy identified the need for more private spaces to reduce pressure on meeting rooms. We recommended ergonomic upgrades to furniture and improved lighting and acoustics to support focused work and minimise noise transfer. Technological improvements included creating AI-enabled hybrid meeting spaces and establishing a global AV blueprint for consistent experiences. Additionally, a new Hybrid Meeting Playbook was proposed to ensure best practices around etiquette and experience were embedded globally.
WaterAid is now equipped with a robust and flexible workplace strategy that supports its mission and values, providing the insight and tools needed to make confident decisions about how and where its people work.
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