A Smart Start for Smart Works
Interior Designer, Laura Baarda reflects on her role in designing the interior of the Leeds premises of the charity Smart Works blog. The charity dresses and mentors women looking to re-enter the workplace to help them look and feel their best ready for job interviews.
Associate, April Marsden and Business Development Manager, Samantha Jevons were approached by one of the trustees of the new Leeds branch to become involved in the interior design of the space within Mabgate Mills on the edge of the city. Enthused and inspired by the work of the charity, April and Samantha approached board director Caroline Fattorini, a long-time advocate of women in business.
We agreed to provide a full interior design service on a pro-bono basis including the sourcing and specification of decoration finishes and furnishing.
Personally, Smart Works really struck a chord with me, as I know after leaving university how daunting the whole interview process was and how underprepared I felt at times. Knowing that there is an organisation out there helping women feel empowered and confident, especially if they have been out of work for various reasons, is inspiring.
The concept we developed for the space is a ‘Leeds Loft’ look, which works perfectly with the industrial aesthetic of the building and the local area. We wanted to ensure that an element of the local area was included within the interior. Throughout the design process, I was keeping in mind the fact that this space needs to be really welcoming and feel like a home-away-from-home to ensure that the clients would come in and be relaxed and open to the experience at Smart Works. We created a lovely little waiting area that has soft seating (an almost living room style) as well as a cork wall for the pinning of inspirational quotes, images and thank you cards.
The dressing rooms are large and spacious with plenty of mirrors and good lighting to ensure that the women leave feeling confident and looking their best. We also included an open mirror area that is well lit with natural light for the stylists to work their magic but this is positioned at the back of the space to ensure the women don’t feel on show.
Once the designs were signed off with the client, we wanted to bring in a fit-out contractor and interior suppliers to bring the designs to life. We brought our principal designer on board and approached fit-out companies and Ultimate Commercial Interiors responded enthusiastically to undertake the works free of charge. We were also able to get the Building Control works provided free of charge from Assent. A sofa was donated from Ralph Capper and Oldfield lighting also provided wonderful decorative light fittings at cost.
Photo credit for final image only Liam Nathan Studio. https://liamnathanstudio.com/
We are not finished yet….
I am currently working on creating a backdrop for all of their social media posts within the space building on the ‘Leeds Loft’ aesthetic. The Leeds skyline image in black and white as a backdrop will ensure that the women are centre of attention in all images. This is being kindly worked up by Sign Lead Designs.
Hope you enjoyed my Smart Works blog, please read our case study for more information.