Meet John Mooney Global Brand Creative at ASOS

How have the changes to the building supported ASOS's culture and sense of community? I think it's interesting to give a little back story. The central core of the building was the last phase to go live, and once this area was launched and opened up, the collaboration between the businesses and the team started. Truly like spacelab_ has envisaged it. We opened that space the week before we went into lockdown, so it's quite interesting that more and more people are starting to come back to the office. So you can really see how it generates that kind of collaboration. It's a shame because we haven't got as many people back into the building, but it's also good as it gives the whole space an opportunity to get settled in and get used to it. The new workspace is great, the hive is functioning exactly as we expected it, the stairs and the auditorium space are perfect for town hall presentations, and the lounge/ coffee area is probably the most used as an informal catch-up space. As a fashion brand, it also allows us to bring the clothes out so everyone can see them. It's been very special to see how it will help develop our brand. How is the space an extension of your brand personality and values? It totally is. There will always be cosmetic tweaks here and there to update and upgrade, but the fact that the design includes neutral zones, black and white spaces with natural touches corresponds exactly to our brand. With the colourful nature of our products, we needed a neutral space; otherwise, it would quickly become chaotic, so we had to find the right balance. It has been great to see it come alive, and more than anything else, yes, it fits the branding perfectly, but it's also about the organisation's core values. How we bring people together, how we enhance the way they work, these informal catch-ups etc. And even though people are still working from home because of covid, this space gives them a reason to come to the office. What's your personal favourite thing about the new space? I think the big screen gives us a lot of opportunities. We can display our content and socials, do some events etc. For example, we have a new relationship with an e-sport team and will organise monthly events where the team will come and play games. I think the screen, stairs and the zone around it are just an excellent way to bring people together. Also, I don't know the data, but I think the catering and the selection we have helps get the employees to eat inside the building. As a fast-paced, organic business, how has the environment helped your team (and others) to do great work? Everything has been cleaned down, and it's less cluttered. Therefore, there is more space and communal areas, and everything feels more connected. You can see the difference with the rooms that are not fully refurbished yet, it makes a dramatic difference. From your perspective, what were the project's creative challenges and/or learnings? The one thing that always sticks in my mind is the notion of value engineer. From my perspective, creatively, I had to ensure that the space looked as beautiful as possible while respecting the budget. But it's always difficult when you are in a position where there is a need for a value engineer, and some of the decisions won't align with the design. It's also kind of tricky because, on a building of this magnitude, you forget how long it can take to do things, and you also have to keep in mind the people, how they're going to be moved around and how it will disrupt their work. Additionally, the place will always need to be adapted, so the question is how we adapt and change the space while retaining the design and credibility of what was produced. We had this conversation early on with spacelab_ making sure that we've got suppliers for everything, so if something needs to be changed or replaced, we have the right resources. One question we ask everyone, unrelated to the project: if you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? That's an interesting question to be asked right now. I think everyone feels under pressure and strained. I sit in this chair in a fairly fortunate position based on the lifestyle I've got and the job I've got, and still, as a man, husband, and father, I still worry about cost rises. But as I said, I'm in a fortunate position, so I just think about the difficulties that other people will go through, whether it's national insurance changes, interests, inflation, electricity prices rising etc. But also the impact of the pandemic, what it will cause in terms of jobs and roles, supply chains, cost of materials, etc. And then you throw Ukraine and Russia into the mix, which will make it worse. I think the world is a hard and ugly place at the moment, which is why we need to try to improve it. Even from an Asos perspective, we are doing our best to give people a little bit of joy during this time and create a good experience, and we hope that if we pour all our energy and efforts in, we can make a small difference.