National Highways Workplace Transformation – Wakefield and Leeds

Creating workplaces for a changing organisation

Bowman Riley has worked with National Highways to create engaging, inclusive and flexible workplaces that support collaboration, wellbeing and new ways of working.

Our relationship began with the transformation of an industrial unit at Calder Park, Wakefield, into a vibrant two-storey creative hub. The success of this project led to our appointment to develop National Highways’ Leeds city centre office, carrying forward key design principles while responding to the character and requirements of a different workplace.

Wakefield – a creative hub

The Calder Park office was designed to encourage creativity, collaboration and staff engagement, with a strong focus on wellbeing and the principles of the WELL Building Standard.

A striking double-height reception leads into a vibrant social space, with a media room, bleacher-style presentation area, innovation hub, breakout spaces and flexible meeting rooms.

The central office spine incorporates quiet working rooms, acoustic booths, informal seating and collaborative workspaces, creating a variety of environments to support different ways of working.

The design takes inspiration from National Highways’ role and visual identity. Chevron patterns, bold colours and road-related graphics create a distinctive environment, while planting and biophilic elements contribute to a more welcoming workplace.

Leeds – an agile city-centre workplace

Following the success of Wakefield, Bowman Riley created a new agile working environment for National Highways’ Leeds office.

The brief placed particular emphasis on accessibility and inclusivity. Materials, colours, textures and graphic details were carefully considered to create a welcoming environment for all users.

Elements of the Wakefield design were carried through to create continuity between the two workplaces, while the Leeds scheme has its own softer, more contemporary character. A flexible town hall space with moveable walls provides an adaptable setting for meetings, presentations and events.

The 120-workspace office combines a mid-century retro influence with contemporary architectural details, rattan, planting and National Highways’ brand colours.

Sustainability was also embedded within the design, including the reuse of existing flooring and the specification of recycled and lower-carbon materials and manufacturers.

Environmental graphics

Our Creative team worked alongside the interior designers to develop bespoke environmental graphics for the Wakefield workplace.

Large-scale maps, illuminated messages, bespoke wall coverings and graphic interventions bring personality to the office while creating a consistent visual language throughout the building.

Each graphic was designed in response to its setting, helping distinguish social and dining areas from quieter workspaces while reinforcing National Highways’ identity.

One client relationship, two distinctive workplaces

The National Highways projects demonstrate Bowman Riley’s ability to develop a consistent design approach while tailoring workplaces to their location, building and users.

From transforming an industrial unit into a creative hub in Wakefield to creating an inclusive agile workplace in Leeds, our work has helped National Highways create environments that support its people, its brand and the way it works today.

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See our other commercial office projects.