Branded, Not Just Nice-Looking
A branded interior carries the brand's values through the whole experience, including how the operation works. Colours, materials and posters are only part of it. The way a customer is greeted, where they wait, how they move from one service to the next and how staff are positioned all say something about the brand.
It should feel like what the customer expected from your advertising and marketing. When someone has seen a promise of simplicity, warmth or expertise, the branch has to deliver it the moment they walk in. That match is what connects with their emotional trust centre, because people trust a brand that behaves the way it speaks. What you promise elsewhere is exactly what they find inside.
Can be attractive and still say nothing about who you are. It photographs well and tells the customer nothing about the brand behind it.
Is recognisable without a logo. Customers know which bank they're in from the layout, the feel and the way the service works.
The Empty Shell
We start with the site's immediate surroundings: the location, the approach, the neighbours and the features of the building. They tell us who walks past, how customers arrive and what the branch has to stand out from. Inside, every space has features that make it friendlier and more engaging, such as natural light, views and good proportions. We decide where the operational elements go so they support those features and never take them over.
Then we picture the customer's journey in four moments, and design every stage of it to make the task quick and easy while engaging the customer in a way that supports the brand promise.
- From outside. The branch has to attract people and build interest before they've even reached the door.
- At the threshold. The route in has to feel obvious, without any signs telling them where to go.
- As they step in. The first impression has to capture their business and confirm they're in the right place.
- Once they're well inside. The space has to make the task quick and easy, and keep engaging the customer in a way that supports the brand promise.
We then balance the functions, stations and offerings so the space is well used and gives the business a real benefit.
Brand vs Operations
We start with how your branch actually runs. We work with your operations, facilities, IT and customer experience people throughout, and we learn how customers queue, how staff move, how cash is handled, where the strong rooms, secure areas and storage rooms sit, and how your digital interventions will change the way the branch works.
Those requirements go into the concept from the first sketch. Queue positions, service points, staff areas and secure zones are drawn into the plans alongside the brand elements, so nothing has to be squeezed in later. We plan the balance of services and interaction stations around your busiest and quietest times, so the branch works as well at peak as it does when it's calm.
We test the design on pilot sites before it goes further, then apply it branch by branch. A stratification matrix sets which components each site receives according to its size and importance, so the design fits each branch's operation. During construction we inspect the work against the design and give your team what they need to build it consistently.
The result is a branch that is efficient for your staff, clear for your customers and recognisably your brand.
In Practice
Access Bank in Nigeria is the clearest example of this thinking in action. The bank's strategy was digital self-service as the main way customers bank, with our scope a digital-only branch concept and a single team member whose role moved from processing transactions to advising and building relationships. We designed the space around that decision: instead of starting with counters and transaction desks, the branch was planned around customer independence, with open planning, intuitive journeys and integrated digital touchpoints. It welcomed customers who were new to self-service, at a time when most branches were still built around queues and teller lines.
We designed it as a set of components: self-service zones, digital touchpoints and advisory space, combined in different mixes across the network depending on location and customer profile. The direction proved sound. Access went on to invest heavily in digital channels and soon launched Access Express, a self-service electronic branch format requiring minimal human intervention.
Banks vs QSR
The starting point is the same across sectors: strategy, then the customer journey, then consistency across the network. The difference is what the space has to do. A quick-service restaurant works on speed, appetite and repeat visits. It has to be efficient, reflect the brand and make the meal feel like an occasion. A bank works on trust, clarity and privacy. Customers come to sort out something that matters to them, so the space has to make them feel safe, guided and looked after. Security, queue management and confidential conversations shape a branch in ways they never shape a restaurant.
QSR work also tends to include creating the identity itself. With Big Square, Pizza Mojo and Kilimanjaro, we designed the identity and then rolled it out across 14, 8 and 26 locations. Sites can be tricky too: for Vivo Energy we designed two restaurants on an awkwardly shaped petrol station site, with parking, a drive-thru and delivery bays. Restaurants there became a recognised food destination.
Diagnosing a Failing Branch
We start with the feel. Does the branch feel like what the bank is promising? We walk in as a customer would and pay attention to that first impression. If it doesn't feel right, we work out where it's missing the mark and why.
Then we trace the cause. Sometimes the layout works against the journey. Sometimes the space still describes an earlier version of the business, or the operation is fighting the design. After acquisitions, one bank can end up with several different looks under one name. We check the branch against the strategy and against the rest of the network.
That is the starting point of our brand and environment alignment review, which gives you a clear, independent view of where your spaces support your strategy and where they don't.