Bristol Citizen Service Point

— Bristol City Council

Challenge & Solution

We worked with Bristol City Council to design a space that would facilitate the council delivering services to its citizens in a more modern way, focusing on a shift to online and self-serve whilst retaining access to face-to-face interaction for those with complex requirements.

Alongside the physical design of the space the Council has embarked upon a redesign of processes, the challenge for the spatial solution was to be able to accommodate these changes and initiatives moving forward. Not only within the council but also to enable partner organisations to use the space for related services.

The decision to collocate the back office teams focused on customer service delivery at the council’s 100 Temple Street office has provided a more joined up and cohesive end-to-end process for citizen service delivery.

There has now been a shift away from queuing at a desk to being greeted by a floorwalker has enabled a much more open and less restricted space. Visibility across the space has meant a more light touch approach to security and a more welcoming environment for citizens.

To offer future flexibility the small number of meeting rooms and fixed elements are provided around the perimeter of the space to create a large open area within which a series of mobile elements such as freestanding meeting pods and furniture booths can be located in a range of configurations. Mobile technology enables staff to choose a setting most suitable for a citizen’s needs, this has led to a lesser requirement for booking rooms and greater capacity provided through a variety of settings, maximising the usage of space.

Self service elements are located at the front end of the space enabling quick transactions with support readily available from nearby floor walkers. Deeper into the space more discrete areas are provided for dealing with complex cases which may require interaction with more specialist support from staff. Public Wifi is provided throughout the space and citizens are encouraged to bring their own device, further encouraging a more responsive digital service.