Sport Singapore
Designing a shared space for all:
A journey of discovery
DISCOVERY WORKSHOP
Sport Singapore is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, which aims to inspire and transform Singapore’s community through meaningful and accessible sport activities. To emulate this spirit of community and active living, Sport Singapore wanted to convert a large space at their headquarters into a recreation area for their staff.
We invited several stakeholders of Sport Singapore to participate in an afternoon workshop to generate data points, establish common grounds and design priorities, and to consolidate actionable ideas for the interior design team.
Determining the objectives
The first part of the workshop helped the participants determine and agree upon the objectives of the recreational space. What is its purpose? How will this space help the staff and the organisation? It was decided that the three objectives were to (1) champion staff well-being; (2) set an example of how fitness and wellness can be integrated into a work environment; and (3) create opportunities for bonding.
Understanding the users
We then sought to find out the various profiles of potential user groups to map common interests and see how to best utilise the space to suit as many common needs as possible.
Prioritising the functionalities
With the information gathered, participants listed the functionalities that are most desired so that the whole space could be appropriately divided into different “zones”. The identification of “must-have” and “good-to-have” zones helped them allocate space in a feasible manner.
Detailing zone features
Next came the fun part, where stakeholders used visual stimuli and examples to pick the specific features that they wanted in each zone. For example, in the “fitness zone”, many expressed interest in having a rack storage system instead of a storeroom, and in the “wellness zone”, they saw the need for comfortable seating such as beanbags, and mirrors for yoga sessions.
Exploring zone layouts
Finally, each stakeholder had a go at designing their own space and providing their relevant justifications. This allowed everyone to imagine their ideal recreation room design, giving key decision makers a more wholesome idea of what is truly wanted.
In conclusion
Space planning is never easy, especially for multiple end users of diverse backgrounds, needs and wants. Pinch Design wanted to help the client understand better what and who they were designing for – not just through random brainstorming, but through actual verbal and visual ideas from the end users themselves. The incorporation of ideas and feedback helps to create better value and ownership of a space that all users can be proud of and to call their own.
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