Ultimate Wellness Workplace: Inside Wise’s Expansive, Employee-Focused HQ by HLW
International architecture and design firm HLW has completed the interior design and fit-out of a relocated headquarters for global technology company, Wise, in Shoreditch, London – Worship Square. Inspired by its Estonian roots, the firm’s new offices balance a focus on wellness with agile workspaces that create environments for teams to grow, thrive, and collaborate.
The five-storey, 83,000 sq ft workplace is a 40 per cent footprint expansion on Wise’s previous HQ and is now home to a team of over 1,000 employees. Focused on providing employees with wellbeing and innovation spaces, the design features a sauna – a nod to Wise’s Estonian roots – nap pods, massage chairs, and a fitness studio.
Arrival at the office is designed to create an impactful first impression, from team gatherings in its event space and amenity-rich kitchen, to bonding and recharging in restorative spaces such as the games area.
Matching the dynamism and pace of a global fintech company, workspaces at Wise are flexible and adaptable in configuration, with ‘neighbourhoods’ along windowed façades which provide agile workspaces. Booths and breakout rooms enable private work and focus, and pivotal to Wise’s operation are bespoke device and research labs, for product development and user testing respectively.
Open, naturally lit communal meeting spaces, as well as a terrace and café, fitted with comfortable textiles and soft furnishings, encourage conversation and collaboration. A statement staircase – in unmistakable Wise green – is a focal feature.
Throughout, bold colours, texture-rich materials, and striking graphic artwork pay homage to artists originating from Shoreditch.
For employees, office saunas are spaces for cross-team socialising and relaxing as a team – and a powerful icebreaker for all teams. In the UK, the number of public saunas has jumped from 45 in 2023 to 147 so far in 2025 – tripling in the space of two years – according to the British Sauna Society.
The design of the office complies with the UKGBC Net Zero Carbon Framework through a Whole Lifecycle Carbon Assessment, Embodied Carbon Assessment, NABERS, Operational Energy and Design for Performance. Low-carbon material choices – including a shift from steel to GRG – reduce embodied carbon by 11 tonnes.
Pendrick Brown, Managing Director, London, at HLW, said:
“The new Wise HQ balances the restorative with the collaborative, designed for the needs of a dynamic team, with agility and adaptability in-built from the ground-up. A variety of bespoke spaces – flexible set-ups, ‘neighbourhoods’, and labs – ensure that each employee has the tools they need and a place that works for them. Honouring Wise’s Estonian roots while celebrating Shoreditch as an epicentre for design and craft, choices in texture, colour, and graphics are bold and playful.
“From nap pods to massage chairs, Wise’s team – at one of the world’s fastest growing, profitable tech companies – is proof that office saunas are far more than just hot air.”
Images by Hufton + Crow