12th Jun 2026
Specsavers
Creating a unified workplace that brings together people, wellbeing and performance
Specsavers Nottingham: A Unified Workplacde
As a major UK employer, Specsavers has long been committed to Nottingham as the home of its support office operations. With continued growth and a clear ambition to invest further in the city, the business recognised an opportunity to rethink how its support office could plan for future growth, whilst better supporting its people, culture and long-term vision.
When Blueprint met Specsavers, the team had just acquired Cirrus East, a building adjacent to Cirrus West, their home of 20+ years. Having taken the opportunity to double their space in Nottingham, the question for Specsavers was what to do with it.
Both buildings had reached a stage where key mechanical and electrical systems were approaching end of life, with core areas such as toilets and stairwells also in need of refurbishment. To make the most of the new space available, the refurbishment programme needed to align with the business’ long-term plans.
Together, we explored the organisation’s wider ambitions, future growth plans and the scale of investment envisioned for the support office estate. Through a series of leadership workshops, a clear vision emerged: the business wanted a seamless environment centred around connection, wellbeing and performance.
Creating a Connected site
A key priority was establishing how the two buildings could operate as a single, connected workplace.
Cirrus East was identified as the natural focal point. As a larger and more prominent building, it would become the primary reception and arrival point to better reflect the scale and ambition of the organisation.
A new ground-floor link was implemented to physically unite the two sites and bring Specsavers’ vision to life. Internally, the architecture was reconfigured across several structural interventions, creating a connected campus with seamless movement between buildings.
Creating a destination for colleagues
Through several workshops with various teams, we gained a deep understanding of the physical, emotional and cultural drivers shaping how Specsavers operated and how its people wanted to work in the future. These insights helped us shape a workplace that genuinely reflected the organisation’s culture and vision.
Connection and shared experience shaped the overall design of the building, beginning with the creation of a vibrant ground-floor hub. First impressions are now defined by a new statement reception, leading into a series of colleague-focused spaces designed to enhance everyday experience and wellbeing. These include a catered restaurant, an informal work lounge, and a dedicated wellness suite and gym.
To make collaborative work easier, business functions and teams were carefully distributed across the upper floors, informed by operational relationships, required adjacencies and flexibility for future growth.
DEsigned for community and comfort
A new restaurant, Contacts, is positioned at the heart of the site to provide colleagues with freshly prepared breakfast and lunch options, supporting both wellbeing and everyday convenience. This space takes full advantage of the building’s distinctive form, showcasing panoramic views across Nottingham, which creates a bright and uplifting setting.
Complementing the restaurant is Xchange, a dedicated work lounge designed around choice and flexibility. The space allows colleagues to drop in and benefit from a variety of work settings tailored to different modes of working, such as focused work on individual tasks or hybrid meetings.
Building a culture of wellbeing
Rather than treating wellbeing as a policy alone, a dedicated Wellness suite was incorporated into the new workplace design to support physical health and mental wellbeing.
New facilities include:
- ‘Nova’, a gym facility with a table tennis table.
- ‘The Nest, a space dedicated to group training sessions.
- A wellness room, for first aid and personal health needs.
- ‘The Nook’, a space for mindfulness, prayer and reflection.
The function and physical environment are designed to ensure colleagues feel seen and supported.
These spaces send an important message: inclusion is not an afterthought. By providing space for individual belief systems and personal reflection, alongside spaces that support physical health, the workspace offers a genuine sense of belonging and wellness.
A truly inclusive space
Specsavers’ mission is to help people live better lives through improved sight and hearing, and it was essential for the new workspace to reflect this. Supporting human comfort became the leading design principle of the experience we wanted to create.
We considered a wide variety of colleague and visitor profiles throughout the design process, enabling us to make informed decisions that support as many cohorts as possible.
Vision was taken into consideration with thoughtfully designed flooring pathways and light trail lighting to provide intuitive visual wayfinding, alongside correct colour contrast and braille signage.
Hearing is supported throughout the space, with hanging acoustic panels introduced to control for reverberation and design informed by a thorough soundscape of the activities and behaviours across the floors.
Biophilic design elements are also featured throughout the ground floor to bring a sense of calm and connection.
A workplace built for growth
Through close collaboration, Blueprint translated Specsavers’ values into a physical environment that balances performance, flexibility and human care. The result is a unified workplace that not only supports business growth, but reflects a culture rooted in connection, wellbeing and inclusion.
Sustainability also played a key role in the transformation. By decarbonising and enhancing existing buildings rather than building anew, the project prioritised low-impact design and retrofit strategies.
Thoughtful material choices, adaptive reuse of space and investment in long-term flexibility ensure the workplace is designed to perform responsibly today and into the future.
“What makes this project special is that every space has a clear purpose. From the arrival experience and work lounge to the wellness suite and conference hub, each element was designed to strengthen connection, support wellbeing and give colleagues greater choice in how they work. The result is a workplace that genuinely reflects Specsavers’ culture and values.”