Selfridges department store on Oxford-Street in London?s Marylebone has been a shopping haven for fans of respected brands for 111 years. In those years, the company has evolved and changed hands many times, most recently in 2003 when it was acquired by the British-Canadian Galen Weston family.

As retail has changed dramatically over those years, so have the requirements of how and where the company?s executives, buyers and merchandisers work. The company?s head office, in the Selfridges building on Duke Street, has now, after two years of overhaul, emerged in a completely new form.

To re-think the 19,700 square-foot (1,830 sq. ft) office space, Selfridges hired its go-to architect Alex Cochrane. Cochrane?s office has designed, for example, Selfridges Men?s Designer Floors and Personal Shopping areas, as well as the world?s largest eyewear department in Selfridges new Accessories Hall.
The new offices focus on maximizing flexibility and encouraging cooperation between the various departments. No-one has a permanent spot among the 125 works stations as everyone gathers their belongings at the end of the work day and stores them in their personal locker. In the buying and merchandising area this makes particularly perfect sense as most of the team members in this group have very busy travel schedules, are used to nomadic life and don?t require a permanent office.

Separate, more enclosed areas exist in the form of pink-glass phone booths and sound-proofed blue-fabric-panel...