A project by BDG architecture + design to provide a 33,000 sq foot London headquarters for 280 employees of fintech company Paymentsense over two floors of the Brunel Building in Paddington.

BDG’s brief from card payment technology provider Paymentsense was for a new London office with a level of comfort to show its workforce how valued they were, while preserving the creative entrepreneurial edge that had enabled it to grow from start-up to one of Europe’s largest Fintech businesses in 12 years.
Working with the founders and employees to understand their needs and work culture BDG created a calm, light-filled, inspiring space with domestic touches – rugs on timber floors, extensive planting - that make it feel like the ideal home from home, and a relief to return to after a year of cramped homeworking.
A simple colour palette and uncluttered design underscore modernist touchstones such as the Rietveld Utrecht armchairs and a central staircase inspired by Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoie.
The planting throughout the floors is a counterpoint to the Brunel building’s industrial finishes and exposed services: hedges sprout from the storage cabinets, beds of jungle plants grow in the meeting rooms, adding to the sense of wellbeing. The openness of the floors makes social distancing simple until Covid restrictions ease.
Sustainable materials have been used wherever possible, respecting the building’s BREEAM excellent rating.
To serve the incubator model of Paymentsense’s project teams – who work in autonomous “units” of eight to ten to develop new apps or payment systems – BDG provided adaptable, hackable space. A kit of parts allows each unit to configure and reconfigure its working space throughout the day, moving digital screens, team boards and tables to create ad-hoc meeting spaces in the open floor.
Breakout spaces punctuate the floors, encouraging employees to work wherever suits them, promoting water-cooler exchanges and collaboration at points such as the oak-slatted kitchen, which has with a barista on hand so nobody need suffer a bad cup of coffee.

“You guys were the dream team! And you really pulled off something very special. It’s all so beautiful and yet so functional. So respectful of the building architecture, yet so warm.The journey of discovery was most enjoyable for Jan and me. And the discovery continues every day that we are in the office and our eye lands on a small but beautifully executed detail... or when we simply kick back and admire the delicate balance you achieved of everything we ever wished for (and so often struggled to articulate). A massive thank-you.”
George Karibian, owner and founder, PaymentSense