A New Workplace for Larcier-Intersentia

Imagine your landlord suddenly terminates the lease of your workplace. The first reflex is probably to call your real estate agent immediately. But how do you find a workplace that evolves with your way of working and organizational needs? And what impact does a move have on your employees? These are questions we at Meliopus are happy to tackle. Every (forced) change is also an opportunity to do better. The case of Larcier-Intersentia is a great example of this.

The Client

If you are looking for legal or tax information, chances are you will find it at Larcier-Intersentia. This brand group has been the reference in Belgium and Luxembourg for legal and tax expertise for over 175 years. They have grown from a scientific publishing house to a knowledge partner supporting academics and professionals through training, software applications, and publications.

The Assignment

While we were working on the national housing study for Larcier-Intersentia, unexpected news came from Mortsel. The owner of the company building had decided to terminate the contract. The team in Mortsel had to move to a new workplace within nine months. No time to lose. We took on the challenge of finding a site that would better meet the current and future workplace needs of the organization.

Our Approach

1 | Analyze and Define

The search for the right workplace stands or falls with a thorough pre-analysis of organizational needs, even with a tight deadline in mind. Here are some of the studies we conducted for Larcier-Intersentia Mortsel:

• Employee survey: We gauged the employees’ attitudes towards the current workplace and their needs and desires for the future one.
• Activity profile analysis: We investigated which activities (and to what extent) were performed in the office.
• Occupancy survey: We tracked the occupancy rate at the office for two weeks and mapped out the use of workstations, meeting rooms, and other zones.
• Mobility study: What impact does a move have on the commuting of people coming to the office? We made an estimate for each employee.

With these insights as a guide, we drew up a Program of Requirements. We determined the required area and defined the qualitative conditions of the new building.

2 | Locate and Realize

Thanks to the extensive preliminary research and Program of Requirements, we were able to refine our search to the maximum. And it paid off! We found an office building in Berchem and completely adapted the workplace to the organizational needs. The client chose to switch to an activity-based flexible working system.

We fully aligned the physical work environment with their diverse activities and flexible way of working, including quiet zones, informal zones, meeting rooms, a coffee corner, etc. Identity also played an important role in the design. Larcier-Intersentia wanted to shed its “dusty” publisher image and embrace a dynamic, inspiring look. The result speaks for itself!

3 | Evaluate and Optimize

Last but not least: change management. A move is only successful if everyone is on board and stays on board. To see how employees experienced this change, we conducted a second employee survey. Additionally, we played a workplace game with the entire team, discussing the expectations and behavior of colleagues. It turned out that there was a need for a feedback culture. This is not surprising, as a flexible work environment—with more shared spaces—requires good agreements and a healthy dose of assertiveness.

The Result

The move was successfully completed within nine months. The evaluation survey was clear: overall satisfaction saw a huge increase. The new workplace not only scored better in terms of mobility and experience but also fostered a stronger team spirit. Bonus: thanks to the move to the office in Berchem, a surface area reduction of no less than 35% was achieved. Mission accomplished!