Something for the weekend: An office’s location and its amenities often form part of the decision-making process when an individual is considering a new job, but how far would desk-delivered luxury beverages rank up an employee's list of office enticements? Enstar Capital is pulling out all the stops for its latest Soho office development, installing food lifts so that future employees can sip champagne at their desks at the simple touch of a button.
The £100 million, 46,750 square foot site, based across adjoining 40 Beak Street and 1-3 James Street in Soho, London, will feature hotel-style luxuries. This will include food lifts that deliver champagne, cocktails, sushi or caviar to employees from restaurants based on the ground floor. Staff will be able to enjoy food from Sticks n Sushi and the Orient Express-inspired, English-Russian restaurant Bob Bob Ricard.
With 15,500 square foot of Grade A office space, the opulent workspace at 40 Beak Street will also showcase spa-style bathrooms that are modelled on the Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan, uniformed valet staff, a concierge desk, private terraces and balconies, and ‘light speed’ lifts that will be able to whizz staff to meetings on different floors in a mere two seconds per floor.
The Beak Street office complex, designed by architects Stiff and Trevillion, is due to be completed in March 2018, with public artwork by sculptor Lee Simmons adding the finishing touch.
Enstar Capital is no stranger to this level of luxury; the Beak Street development is the third ‘lifestyle’ project it has undertaken. Its first development to include special food lifts is based on the Strand in Covent Garden, while its 2015 Mayfair development is home to champagne and food lifts, as well as Armani-style bathrooms complete with gold effect toilets and bespoke luxury interiors.
Simon Lyons, chief executive officer at Enstar Capital, said: “40 Beak Street will be the finest office complex in Soho, built to last a 100 years and currently the largest construction project currently taking place in the locality. The new building will be fitted out to a luxurious residential quality, and should the occupier wish, food lifts, drink buttons, comfort cooling and bespoke interiors can form part of the specification.”
Here at Employee Benefits, we are wondering what impact such an indulgent office environment could have on work-life balance? Who wouldn’t want to treat themselves to champagne and sushi for dinner? We would certainly love to have a look around this show-stopping office, just a stone’s throw away from our own Soho base...
