Strategy and Design
Great workplaces start with the right thinking. We turn strategy and insight into a design that works for your people.
Speak to one of our strategy and design experts
Strategy and Design
Change sits at the heart of every new workplace project. We help you understand what you really need, then turn that insight into a clear brief and the confidence to move forward.
Strategy
Our robust strategy is built on hard evidence and deep analysis. We explore how your people work, benchmark against data and pressure-test every option, so you can make decisions with lasting confidence.
Design starts here, not after. Every brief we build is shaped to give your design and delivery teams a clear, evidence-based foundation to work from reducing risk and cost further down the line.
Design
Design translates insight into space, and here, we have a bias for the bold. We develop concepts shaped around how your people think, move and connect. Along the way, we challenge assumptions and build in flexibility for the future.Â
Great design moves through stages. We take an idea from first spark to finished detail; concept, technical resolution and visualisation all working together, so nothing gets lost between vision and delivery.Â
Every discipline here reports to the same goal: a space that looks right, works harder and holds up under real, everyday use.Â
Brands that trust us
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Alston and Bird
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checkout.com
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Computacenter
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Inspired Education Group
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Revolut
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The National Gallery
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Tide
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Xero
Our strategy and design work has been recognised by leading industry awards.
| Image | Award name | Description | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Mix Awards 2024 - Winner | Design and Build Project of the Year, for Hoxton Farms, a pioneering laboratory and workplace in London. |
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 | Mix Awards - Shortlisted | Project of the Year, Workplace Interiors over 70,000 sq ft, for Revolut's global headquarters in Canary Wharf. |
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 | Mixology - Finalist | Workplace of the year, transforming a historic Grade II listed building into a vibrant, eco-conscious workplace community. |
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 | Mixology - Finalist | Workplace of the Year, for EFG International, a global private banking group. |
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 | FX Awards - Shortlisted | Revolutionising a London-based fintech leader, Tide's workspace: a tale of AI driven design, social innovation and inclusive comfort. |
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 | Better Future London Design Awards - Winner | Revolutionising a London-based fintech leader, Tide's workspace: a tale of AI driven design, social innovation and inclusive comfort. |
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 | London Construction Awards - Finalist | Commercial Project of the Year award for Stellar Entertainment, a video game development studio. |
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 | Mixology - Finalist | Workplace of the Year for Statkraft, Europe's largest generator of renewable energy. |
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 | London Design Awards 2025 - Silver - Winner | Awarded Silver at the London Design Awards for a project delivered for Pax 8, a leading global cloud marketplace. |
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 | Mixology - Finalist | Project of the Year, Positive Impact finalist for a project delivered for Hoxton Farms, a pioneering laboratory and workplace in London. |
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Our latest news and insights
The Space Between
Creating Collaborative Spaces for Research and Innovation
Workplace Design Trends Shaping the Middle East
Sustainable Refurbishment for Local Authority Buildings
How to minimise disruption when refurbishing a school during term time
AIS is entering a new chapter
Time to Debrand?
Bringing Clarity to Complex Education Projects
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Do I need to use AIS for both strategy and design, or can I choose just one?
Either works. Many clients come to us for the full journey, but you can engage us for strategy alone, design alone, or bring us in partway through a project already underway elsewhere.
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What's the benefit of using one team for strategy and design instead of two separate providers?
Fewer handovers, fewer gaps, and a single point of accountability. Because the same team carries the thinking from brief to finished space, nothing gets lost in translation between “what we found out” and “what we built.”
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How long does a combined strategy and design project typically take?
It depends on scope, but early strategy work including real estate feasibility typically runs alongside the start of design thinking rather than finishing before it begins, which shortens the overall timeline compared to a fully sequential process.
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Can AIS take over a project that's already had strategy work done elsewhere?
Yes. We regularly pick up projects at the design stage, working from an existing brief or strategy output, though we’ll always sense-check it against our own analysis before design begins.
