Summary sheet
sectorInsurance
area25 000m²
placeIssy les Moulineaux // Mairie
delivery2022
Engaged Expertises
- Architectural Concept.
- Experience Design.
- Concept & Storytelling.
- Furniture and Decoration.
CNP
Issy les Moulineaux // Mairie // 25 000m²
sectorInsurance
Reimagining interiors to be more open to the world.
CNP Insurance has a presence in Europe and Latin America, providing cover to more than 50 million policy holders. CNP is the 2nd largest insurer in France, with more than 3,000 employees. Given the strength of the brand and the number of employees, the insurer needed a new head office in 2022.
At Factory, we worked with CNP to fit out their head office. Our key mission was to embody CNP's vision through its premises: openness to others and to the world.
Reinventing CNP's future premises: a major ambition.
Factory supported CNP by integrating new professional approaches at the heart of its workspaces.
With the move planned and construction in Issy les Moulineaux (Paris region) of the premises already underway, CNP contacted Factory with a major problem: how could these two business premises, which were almost too spacious for the group, be used intelligently?
As a key player in the new eco-neighbourhood of Issy Cœur de ville, CNP saw things on a grand scale: the two buildings of 7,500m2 provide accommodation for 25,000. Our architectural and creative response was based on two main expectations. The first was to support CNP in its transformation, by integrating new professional approaches at the heart of its workspaces.
The post-pandemic world has changed, and so has the world of work.
As the world of work has shifted, managers and employees alike have to consider new parameters. Hybrid working, new ways of collaborating and quality of life now need to be fully integrated into planning and design considerations.
Our aim was to put employees' needs back on the table and design offices adapted to their new uses.
Hybrid working, new ways of collaborating and quality of life now need to be fully integrated into planning and design considerations.
The second expectation, which largely drove the strategic response, was to think about the right way to use these large spaces without creating relational distance.
Encouraging innovation, collaboration and cross-functional exchanges between employees was a real challenge in the light of the dizzying amount of space.
Shaking up the established order to start anew.
Our task began with a project that was already well advanced. But how do you carry out a two-month internal audit on a project that's already underway, without impacting on the work in progress and the delivery schedule?
At Factory, we have a culture of taking on challenges, no matter how arduous. We took this new challenge very seriously and rolled up our sleeves.
Because we see our role as much more than just operational, our first response was a strategic audit and proposals for organisational restructure. The recommendations arising from our preliminary internal audit paved the way for a profound change in working habits in and in the day-to-day working lives of employees. At Factory, the free flow of people and energy is an essential part of our approach to designing workplaces favourable to collective and individual success.
"The free flow of people and energy is an essential part of our approach to designing workplaces favourable to collective and individual success."
It is an insight we gathered from collaborative studies carried out on workspace occupancy rates, on which we based our recommendation. Our suggestions were to develop a culture of flexible offices and to abandon closed offices in order to open people's minds. It's a challenging recommendation for many companies, but one that's completely in line with the growing use of teleworking.
From planning to action: the foundations of success.
The countdown was on.
3 and a half months of collaborative work to audit, strategise and implement the project in 25,000m2 of office space. Faced with such a challenge, our motto was "nothing is impossible".
Once we'd laid the groundwork for the transformation, we had to bring CNP employees on board. Armed with our Design & Build by Factory method, and with the support of our long-standing partner Fabrique Spinoza, we were able to launch a major change management operation.
"In this type of high-stakes project, the involvement and empowerment of employees and managers is a sine qua non for success."
Using an active listening approach, we began by working on a global, projective assessment of the real impact of the transformation. This detailed study required immersion in the day-to-day lives of employees, as well as in management culture.
Our objective was to understand the existing professional custom and practice, in order to better reinvent them. As a major challenger and a firm believer in our culture of excellence, simply waving a finger in the air is out of the question for Factory. In this type of high-stakes project, the involvement and empowerment of employees and managers is a sine qua non for success.
Convinced, above all, that performance lies in the emotional involvement of everyone, we worked hard to get every stakeholder on board. More than just a large-scale project, this challenge was a real human adventure and a collective success story.
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