Step into Yorkshire Housing’s Leeds office and it quickly becomes clear that this is not a typical workplace. Waterfalls flow, walls curve like caves, and a fully functioning kitchen sits inside the shell of a Yorkshire Housing van. The space feels expressive and welcoming, more like a shared home than a traditional office.
That atmosphere reflects the organisation behind it. Yorkshire Housing exists to help people find a place they are proud to call home, offering not just housing but support that helps individuals and communities thrive. As the largest housing association based solely in Yorkshire, its new flagship office brings those values inward, creating a space designed to support people, culture and the many ways work actually happens.
Location: Leeds, UK
Industry: Housing
Location type: Office
Office/Space size: 1,394 m²
Number of floors: 2
The design and build partner: ICON
Reseller: Insightful Environments
Photos: Mike Dinsdale
A workplace shaped around people
Designed and delivered by ICON, the office was imagined as a cultural home for the organisation rather than a corporate headquarters. Spread across two floors, the layout reflects Yorkshire Housing’s values by supporting everyday work without the traditional office stiffness. Insightful Environments supplied the furniture and Silen pods, turning the initial vision into a series of practical, high-traffic spaces.
Across the office, different areas support different needs, from collaboration and informal conversations to quieter moments of focus. The variety allows the space to adapt to people rather than the other way around, with sustainability considered throughout in line with Yorkshire Housing’s wider commitments.
The art of mixing and matching
Meetings, focused work and podcasting all needed a place in the new office, making acoustic privacy essential. Yorkshire Housing had used office pods before, so expectations around performance and usability were already clear. Design mattered just as much, and so did staying within budget.
Rather than choosing a single pod range, the team took a mix-and-match approach. They were drawn to the design of Silen Space pods, especially their curved corners and strong presence in the space. To stay within budget, they combined them with Silen Chatbox pods, creating a solution that worked both visually and financially.
The result is a set of privacy spaces that feel cohesive without being uniform, tailored to different uses and seamlessly integrated into the wider interior. One pod is now used for podcasting, while others support everyday meetings and focused work.
Mission accomplished: a workplace people enjoy using
The result is an office that feels inviting rather than corporate, expressive without being excessive. It supports the full range of everyday work, from collaboration to quiet focus, with pods that are used for everything from meetings to podcasting.
If there’s one takeaway, it’s this: you do not have to choose just one type of workspace solution. By mixing Silen Space and Chatbox pods, Yorkshire Housing balanced design, performance and budget in a way that feels natural to the space.