EcoOffice: Visit to SEPA Arbroath

On Wednesday, Paula, Christina and myself took a trip to Arbroath to interview one of the members of staff at SEPA's Arbroath offices. We tried to put together a selection of questions that the brief had not answered, and although he was very helpful, we have been left with some questioned still unanswered.

One of the main aspects that we were unsure about tackling, was a potential laboratory in the fictitious Dundee branch. Unfortunately, Arbroath is such a small office, it does not have such a facility. We were told however, that Aberdeen offices had recently opened their new building, which had labs. As a result of finding this out, we are currently deliberating wether or not to visit, as time is also becoming a factor.

The building itself in Arbroath was an old doctors surgery, and was reasonably old. Due to this, there was little sustainable aspects, and pretty much what you would imagine any office environment to be like. Coffee rings on desks, paper mounting up in piles, and the odd indoor plant to brighten things up. We also timed our visit just as it was being painted, with eco friendly paint I hope!

One of the questions we asked was if there was a running theme throughout the offices, and the answer was basically they would like to have the SEPA logo colours incorporated throughout. It's a teal colour, not unlike some of the typeface on my blog. This I assume, is not difficult for us to use during the remainder of our task.

A lot of our answers were based around what SEPA do as an organisation, and not so much about design itself. Although at first I was unsure as to how much help this may be, I have come to realise that the better we understand how they work, the easier it is for us to understand how to improve working conditions - and only after this, incorporate the sustainability factor. One of the things that is a result of this was realising that office employees also have a role out with the office itself, as they sometimes visit sites. An offshoot of this is that they also use equipment on site that in Arbroath's case, is currently kept in garage space some 10 minutes away. This is food for thought, as equipment space was not a requirement of the initial brief.

A lot of the facts that we were told can be found on their website, including annual pdf reports, documenting statistical data regarding SEPA's office emissions.

All in all it was a useful trip as it let us get an insight into how they work, although ultimately a trip to their Aberdeen offices would also be beneficial.