Take a tour of the Inmarsat’s largest facility in APAC set up in Singapore

It takes open-concept office design to a new level.

Global mobile satellite communications services provider, Inmarsat, has just opened its new Singapore office last month. Spanning over 1,700 sq metre, the facility located in Toa Payoh is the company’s largest in the Asia Pacific region.

The new facility which occupies 27% more space than its old premises provides a new solutions lab, demonstration capabilities, training rooms, a knowledge centre and support centre, in addition to enhanced production and storage facilities.

According to Inmarsat Asia Pacific regional director Catherine Lim, the solutions lab will enable customers to test their hardware and software products while the demonstration lab will be equipped with the terminals and solutions that the firm has been successfully deploying across multiple industry sectors on a global basis. It is intended to support product demonstrations and end-user training, and promotes closer collaboration between Inmarsat partners and their customers in the region.
Larger rooms and facilities, meanwhile, will be available to accommodate training for internal staff, external customers and stakeholders. Inmarsat’s knowledge centre will offer workshops and project activities for technicians and university students.

Lastly, Inmarsat’s support centre provides all levels of customer support.

Inmarsat’s new office takes a modern office concept aimed at achieving better staff interaction. All operations personnel are sitting together and more meeting rooms are made available for staff use and external meeting. At the new office, Catherine said that logistics flow is improved while warehouse and production flow is optimised. There is also a space for an antenna farm.

Changing the typical ‘office structure’ to an open concept was not an easy task, especially that there are different stakeholders and not one single figurehead to make an overall decision, according to Catherine. “We used to have offices for senior managers and directors. But now everyone has the same desk and sits in an open concept,” she explained.

Communication and endorsement from head office was the way to go. Catherine said that they made more rooms for private sessions for staff that needs them during the course of business. In addition, modern furniture and design are incorporated.

Further, thanks to a project team covering the important stakeholders, each of them is made responsible for his or her own area (with functional connection to head office). “For example, IT networks, operations networks, corporate development, finance etc. At the same time, we kept communications closely knitted with weekly meetings involving the contractors the London office. It took the entire team a lot of effort and commitment,” she explained.