Case study
Engineering inclusive & forward thinking workplaces with Arup
Case study
Engineering inclusive & forward thinking workplaces with Arup
Case study
Engineering inclusive & forward thinking workplaces with Arup
Meet Arup
Our first client and titans of their industry, Arup are an award-winning engineering firm headquartered in Fitzrovia, London.
Being consistently ahead of the curve is Arup's bread and butter, which includes their commitment to creating truly inclusive environments that allow everyone to flourish. This has seen them create, and now execute on, their Global Access & Inclusion plan, which seeks to increase both their organisational accessibility, alongside the accessibility of the clients they work with, and the services that they offer them.
To truly realise this goal, Arup sought to build an accessibility guide to their office network that was easy to use and understand, highly detailed, and able to integrate with their existing systems. One that allowed them to not only share, but celebrate, their onsite accessibility and to keep information about this updated in real-time to build a truly inclusive office network for all.
Our first client and titans of their industry, Arup are an award-winning engineering firm headquartered in Fitzrovia, London.
Being consistently ahead of the curve is Arup's bread and butter, which includes their commitment to creating truly inclusive environments that allow everyone to flourish. This has seen them create, and now execute on, their Global Access & Inclusion plan, which seeks to increase both their organisational accessibility, alongside the accessibility of the clients they work with, and the services that they offer them.
To truly realise this goal, Arup sought to build an accessibility guide to their office network that was easy to use and understand, highly detailed, and able to integrate with their existing systems. One that allowed them to not only share, but celebrate, their onsite accessibility and to keep information about this updated in real-time to build a truly inclusive office network for all.
Our first client and titans of their industry, Arup are an award-winning engineering firm headquartered in Fitzrovia, London.
Being consistently ahead of the curve is Arup's bread and butter, which includes their commitment to creating truly inclusive environments that allow everyone to flourish. This has seen them create, and now execute on, their Global Access & Inclusion plan, which seeks to increase both their organisational accessibility, alongside the accessibility of the clients they work with, and the services that they offer them.
To truly realise this goal, Arup sought to build an accessibility guide to their office network that was easy to use and understand, highly detailed, and able to integrate with their existing systems. One that allowed them to not only share, but celebrate, their onsite accessibility and to keep information about this updated in real-time to build a truly inclusive office network for all.
The challenge
Having signed up to the Valuable 500 in 2020, Arup needed a tangible, and actionable solution that would allow them to document and convey accessibility information for their UK offices – starting with their London HQ.
Clearly showcasing Arup's London campus and all it has to offer is no mean feat! The campus is a sprawling site, newly split across two buildings, and housing over 2,500 staff. This makes capturing, maintaining and updating accessibility information for the site difficult, and conveying this to the staff body an important challenge for Arup's Facilities Management teams.
Alongside their onsite staff, the offices also regularly host events and conferences for guests and visitors from across Arup's employee and client networks. This makes the provision of accessibility information for the site crucial to meeting their goal to provide a truly inclusive experience for all users of their spaces, providing people with peace of mind and confidence when visiting their central London offices.
Ultimately, Arup were seeking a way to create a truly inclusive experience for their disabled staff, visitors and future talent; one which prioritised lived-experience and usability of the space and celebrated the diversity of their staff body.
Having signed up to the Valuable 500 in 2020, Arup needed a tangible, and actionable solution that would allow them to document and convey accessibility information for their UK offices – starting with their London HQ.
Clearly showcasing Arup's London campus and all it has to offer is no mean feat! The campus is a sprawling site, newly split across two buildings, and housing over 2,500 staff. This makes capturing, maintaining and updating accessibility information for the site difficult, and conveying this to the staff body an important challenge for Arup's Facilities Management teams.
Alongside their onsite staff, the offices also regularly host events and conferences for guests and visitors from across Arup's employee and client networks. This makes the provision of accessibility information for the site crucial to meeting their goal to provide a truly inclusive experience for all users of their spaces, providing people with peace of mind and confidence when visiting their central London offices.
Ultimately, Arup were seeking a way to create a truly inclusive experience for their disabled staff, visitors and future talent; one which prioritised lived-experience and usability of the space and celebrated the diversity of their staff body.
Having signed up to the Valuable 500 in 2020, Arup needed a tangible, and actionable solution that would allow them to document and convey accessibility information for their UK offices – starting with their London HQ.
Clearly showcasing Arup's London campus and all it has to offer is no mean feat! The campus is a sprawling site, newly split across two buildings, and housing over 2,500 staff. This makes capturing, maintaining and updating accessibility information for the site difficult, and conveying this to the staff body an important challenge for Arup's Facilities Management teams.
Alongside their onsite staff, the offices also regularly host events and conferences for guests and visitors from across Arup's employee and client networks. This makes the provision of accessibility information for the site crucial to meeting their goal to provide a truly inclusive experience for all users of their spaces, providing people with peace of mind and confidence when visiting their central London offices.
Ultimately, Arup were seeking a way to create a truly inclusive experience for their disabled staff, visitors and future talent; one which prioritised lived-experience and usability of the space and celebrated the diversity of their staff body.
The solution
Enter, Sociability.
In early 2021, we were approached by Arup to help deliver an Accessibility Management System for their London offices. Working closely with the Arup team across the past few years, we collaborated to design and build a product that would allow them to:
inform all users of the site, whether guests or employees, of the facilities they could expect to find and where to find them;
integrate this information into their existing systems and processes – from their website to their internal Sharepoint – to ensure that this information was readily available where Arupians would expect to find it; and
interact with their staff and visitors both by sharing live updates about the accessibility of their spaces (eg. if a lift or entrance was out of order) and by fielding feedback from users on what was and wasn't working across their sites so that improvements could be made efficiently and effectively.
Today, we're proud to showcase our accessibility guides for Arup's two London offices – 8 Fitzroy Street and 80 Charlotte Street – and thrilled to see the impact this is already having on disabled staff, visitors and guests.
Enter, Sociability.
In early 2021, we were approached by Arup to help deliver an Accessibility Management System for their London offices. Working closely with the Arup team across the past few years, we collaborated to design and build a product that would allow them to:
inform all users of the site, whether guests or employees, of the facilities they could expect to find and where to find them;
integrate this information into their existing systems and processes – from their website to their internal Sharepoint – to ensure that this information was readily available where Arupians would expect to find it; and
interact with their staff and visitors both by sharing live updates about the accessibility of their spaces (eg. if a lift or entrance was out of order) and by fielding feedback from users on what was and wasn't working across their sites so that improvements could be made efficiently and effectively.
Today, we're proud to showcase our accessibility guides for Arup's two London offices – 8 Fitzroy Street and 80 Charlotte Street – and thrilled to see the impact this is already having on disabled staff, visitors and guests.
Enter, Sociability.
In early 2021, we were approached by Arup to help deliver an Accessibility Management System for their London offices. Working closely with the Arup team across the past few years, we collaborated to design and build a product that would allow them to:
inform all users of the site, whether guests or employees, of the facilities they could expect to find and where to find them;
integrate this information into their existing systems and processes – from their website to their internal Sharepoint – to ensure that this information was readily available where Arupians would expect to find it; and
interact with their staff and visitors both by sharing live updates about the accessibility of their spaces (eg. if a lift or entrance was out of order) and by fielding feedback from users on what was and wasn't working across their sites so that improvements could be made efficiently and effectively.
Today, we're proud to showcase our accessibility guides for Arup's two London offices – 8 Fitzroy Street and 80 Charlotte Street – and thrilled to see the impact this is already having on disabled staff, visitors and guests.
"It shows places nearby where you can get into. That’s been really useful for when someone goes 'Oh, should we go for lunch?' and I don’t know the area. It’s good to be able to be a bit more confident; branching out because you’re not always having to suggest the same places."
Lara Clarke – Graduate Access & Inclusion Consultant, Arup
"It shows places nearby where you can get into. That’s been really useful for when someone goes 'Oh, should we go for lunch?' and I don’t know the area. It’s good to be able to be a bit more confident; branching out because you’re not always having to suggest the same places."
Lara Clarke – Graduate Access & Inclusion Consultant, Arup
"It shows places nearby where you can get into. That’s been really useful for when someone goes 'Oh, should we go for lunch?' and I don’t know the area. It’s good to be able to be a bit more confident; branching out because you’re not always having to suggest the same places."
Lara Clarke – Graduate Access & Inclusion Consultant, Arup
The outcome
"I was introduced to Sociability through an Arup colleague, and they highlighted what a wonderful system this is. It enables us to share with potential new employees, clients and early careers the accessibility information of our offices, giving them the comfort to be able to plan a visit and navigate our buildings. Working with the Sociability team was also a good opportunity to review our facilities and to tweak and make improvements where we could.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team, they are collaborative, understanding, and open to assist and advise.
There are a great deal of properties that can do very little for accessibility. So, it is important for people to understand limitations prior to travelling, so that alternative arrangements can be made. No one should have to struggle with access."
Steph Welch, London Office Leader & Head of Workplace Facilities Management
"I was introduced to Sociability through an Arup colleague, and they highlighted what a wonderful system this is. It enables us to share with potential new employees, clients and early careers the accessibility information of our offices, giving them the comfort to be able to plan a visit and navigate our buildings. Working with the Sociability team was also a good opportunity to review our facilities and to tweak and make improvements where we could.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team, they are collaborative, understanding, and open to assist and advise.
There are a great deal of properties that can do very little for accessibility. So, it is important for people to understand limitations prior to travelling, so that alternative arrangements can be made. No one should have to struggle with access."
Steph Welch, London Office Leader & Head of Workplace Facilities Management
"I was introduced to Sociability through an Arup colleague, and they highlighted what a wonderful system this is. It enables us to share with potential new employees, clients and early careers the accessibility information of our offices, giving them the comfort to be able to plan a visit and navigate our buildings. Working with the Sociability team was also a good opportunity to review our facilities and to tweak and make improvements where we could.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team, they are collaborative, understanding, and open to assist and advise.
There are a great deal of properties that can do very little for accessibility. So, it is important for people to understand limitations prior to travelling, so that alternative arrangements can be made. No one should have to struggle with access."
Steph Welch, London Office Leader & Head of Workplace Facilities Management
