Immobel France intends to improve the way of working to encourage an integrated approach. With Immpulse, it is developing a design thinking methodology in the service of office projects. More agility for higher-quality projects!

Based on the premise that the development processes for office projects could be improved to better cater to user expectations, Immobel France uses a co-creation approach. “We wanted to create a methodology by bringing together, from the start of the project, all the people who have something to contribute to it. To move from a prescriptive to a more collaborative process,” explains Julien Michel, Managing Director of Immobel France Tertiaire. “For Immpulse, this means bringing together, for a few days and in an immersive manner, both internal - developer, technical services person, marketing manager - and external stakeholders - brokers, landscape architect, services manager, communications agency. We may also invite a historian, a sociologist, a representative of the municipality concerned, etc.” 

Different profiles that contribute in a constructive manner to the development of the project and that, in a few days, allow for a programme sheet, a veritable roadmap for the project, to be produced, which is then sent to the project manager. There are several benefits to this approach. “The first positive aspect is a human one: by involving everyone, we create a very seamless mindset in the team. Everyone witnesses the entire design cycle and understands its challenges. This lack of segmentation creates a desire to understand each other and an urge to work on developing an excellent project,” Julien Michel adds. “Then, as a consequence of this mindset, the projects are transformed. More ambitious, they are more in line with user expectations. By assessing their needs much earlier, we can adapt the services, the sizing and the surface areas of meeting rooms. This translates into considerable time savings for the design and into financial savings for the project.” 

Already tested on the Saint-Antoine and Montrouge projects, the methodology has won over the organizers and participants. “For Saint-Antoine, our first project involving the conversion of a car park, in the Marais district, the involvement of a historian and a marketer enabled us to realize the benefit in retaining the route in the car park. We therefore opted to retain the structure - we even transformed the ramps into terraces - a more sustainable solution that maintains the character of this unique location,” Julien continues. “For the Montrouge project, the co-creation process led us to make the project’s outdoor spaces accessible to the residents of the neighbourhood, who will enjoy access to a suspended garden. Immpulse solutions that were found thanks to our willingness to innovate and encourage our creativity.”