The Professional Footballers’ Association
Partnering with workplace design and build company, Claremont, as well as working closely with site teams, we helped the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to truly embody their home city of Manchester, as well as their motto ‘for football, for life’.
The winning goal: Celebrating both the vibrant history of football, while creating a space that would be enjoyed by staff and players alike for years to come.
The brief
The PFA were currently operating out of three different buildings, so this move to a singular space was a key opportunity for everyone in the company to come together and collaborate, celebrating their shared love of football; We had to ensure the space catered for both the staff and players, with plenty of opportunity for modular working, learning, and event hosting. Our team needed to successfully translate Claremont’s design scheme into practical and actionable graphic, signage, and acoustic solutions.
The solution
With the legacy of football at the heart of this project, every detail honed in on ‘the beautiful game’. We curated elements to best highlight the PFA’s love of football, taking into consideration the functionality of the space when making material choices.
For example, we used various samples from the chosen lighting company to develop ALTO ceiling tiles that would sit perfectly within the hexagonal lighting structure. Not only did this look visually striking, but acknowledged how the space would benefit from acoustic treatments, particularly when the modular partitioning would be opened up to create an open-plan event space.
Every single opportunity to include PFA and football detailing was taken; The PFA logo was incorporated into many designs, from the optically clear manifestation, to wallpaper and wall vinyls. We also created a floor vinyl of football pitch markings, as a focal point in the kitchen seating area.
Beyond the framed memorabilia and signed shirts, we brought history to life with a wall of vinyl ‘bricks’, each one etched with the name of a PFA award winner. Inspired by Manchester’s architecture and the tradition of fans purchasing engraved bricks during stadium constructions, this lifelike ‘history wall’ was the perfect nod to the very same heritage the PFA celebrates – the people who are part of football’s legacy.
The result
The PFA now have a central office that, like their motto, is ‘for football, for life’. The space is functional both as a day to day collaborative workspace, and also as an event space capable of wowing guests. For staff and players (and anyone who simply loves football) this is a space that truly celebrates the sport and it’s heritage, with even the smallest details reiterating this.
A combination of ARTWORKS graphics and signage, alongside ALTO acoustic treatments, brought together a colourful, bold, and intentional theme, that didn’t compromise on functionality. The ALTO elements ensured that collaborative zones had effective sound absorption, and open-plan areas were acoustically treated to accommodate events and larger groups of people.
