Yorkshire Housing Leeds

A destination for connection, inspiration, and collaboration

Yorkshire Housing commissioned a flagship hub in Leeds that would go beyond a conventional office to better reflect its values, culture, and flexible ways of working. IE supported the project through furniture specification, delivery and installation, helping shape an environment with quiet, collaborative, and social settings, while achieving more than 20% cost efficiencies against the initial budget.

For Yorkshire Housing, this Leeds office transformation was never about creating a standard corporate workplace. The brief was to deliver a flagship destination that would support connection, inspiration, and collaboration while staying true to the organisation’s purpose and personality.

The finished hub spans 15,000 sq ft across two floors, and all 900 employees can access it as part of the housing association’s flexible approach to office use. Staff choose how and where they work, meaning the space had to do more than provide desks; it needed to offer people compelling reasons to come together, collaborate, focus, and reconnect.

Taking a varied approach to design

The design focused on variety, identity, and usability. Rather than defaulting to a one-note office scheme, the project introduced a wide mix of settings to support different work modes. IE’s role in product selection and furniture strategy helped turn the wider design vision into practical, high-traffic spaces that people would genuinely want to use.

The workplace also embraced more expressive features to make the environment feel memorable and unmistakably Yorkshire Housing. Flowing waterfalls, bespoke cave wall installations, and a fully functioning kitchen built inside the shell of a Yorkshire Housing van create a space that feels more welcoming and experiential than a traditional office. These elements give the project a strong sense of character, while the furniture strategy grounds the scheme in day-to-day functionality.

Acoustic privacy was another key objective. Meetings, focused work and podcasting all needed suitable settings, so privacy solutions had to perform well, look right in the space, and remain commercially viable.

Sourcing highly specified furniture within budget constraints

One of the project’s central challenges was sourcing a diverse, highly specified furniture package within budget. Furniture specification had to be enhanced while still delivering savings, a balance that demanded careful selection and clear procurement discipline.

Leveraging 13 suppliers, IE took a pragmatic, insight-led approach to specification. Rather than choosing a single range, we mixed various products from across suppliers to balance design quality, acoustic performance, and cost.

The project also demanded responsive delivery support. We provided temporary first-floor occupation before creating a seamless transition that kept costs and disruption to a minimum. This demonstrates well-executed front-end specification and on-site project management.

Project partners

• Designer: Ingo Interiors
• Fit Out Contractor: ICON Interiors
• Photography: Midi Photography 

A workplace destination people want to be in

The final result is an attractive shared hub, rather than a mandated destination, with strong occupancy already noted, particularly on peak days. The space offers genuine choice in how it is used, with quiet, collaborative, and social settings available alongside pod spaces for meetings, focused work, and podcasting, supporting a broader range of behaviours than a conventional desk-led layout.

Commercially, the outcome is equally strong. The project was delivered on time and on budget, with minimal snags, and achieved cost efficiencies of over 20% against the initial budget while still enhancing the final specification through careful product selection and expert market insight.

Most importantly, the new hub aligns with Yorkshire Housing’s culture and ways of working, demonstrating how consultancy, specification expertise, and delivery discipline can deliver a distinctly human workplace outcome.