The Instant Group delivers hyper-flexible and agile workplace for Pru Life UK

The company wins at the Real Estate Asia Awards 2022.

Over the past two years, the pandemic has forced companies to rethink how people use the traditional office, as governments urged employees to work from home and hybrid working became the norm overnight. Embracing the unique challenges this posed for companies, The Instant Group envisioned and delivered a new state-of-the-art workplace for Pru Life UK, known as PRUHouse, winning the Flexible Workspace Initiative of the Year - Philippines Award at the Real Estate Asia Awards 2022. 

The awards programme recognises major breakthroughs, innovations, and key players in the real estate industry in Asia. PRUHouse sets Pru Life UK apart from the competition with a workplace that takes a bold step into the future of work and helps position Pru Life UK at the forefront of the insurance business across the globe. 

Facing escalating real estate costs against an ambitious growth plan, coupled with the pandemic and hybrid ways of working, Pru Life UK is moving away from traditional agency offices into clever and flexible spaces focused on the needs of its members. As the leading life insurer in the Philippines, this progressive approach to the workplace will help Pru Life UK stay at the top and attract great Gen Z and millennial talent. 

Pru Life UK engaged The Instant Group via its Managed Office Solution to create a fully customised solution which provided the insurance company with a unique way to acquire space – on time and on budget – incorporating brand and office specifications while Instant assumed both the lease and management of the space.

The Instant Group established a deep understanding of agent and leadership needs through a series of interactive workshops involving 280+ agents, both in the development of the initial real estate strategy and the design development of PRUHouse.

PRUHouse gives Pru Life UK ‘hyper’ flexibility and agility in the workplace by moving the property model from space entitlement to an experience-led model. The space is not a place where agents sit five days a week, but rather an ‘experience hub’ where agents can get together, collaborate, problem-solve, and brainstorm ideas in an inspiring and energetic environment that fuels both business growth and social connection through community. This has allowed drastic reductions in space allowance in the first PRUHouse.

The new flexible workspace gives agents and branch managers multiple works and social environments including an amphitheatre, huddle rooms, meeting pods, Instagrammable areas, a digital community wall and a full-service offering café operated by a leading Philippine community coffee brand.

In addition to the search and delivery of PRUHouse, The Instant Group also worked with a specialist consultant in experience and innovation design, The XMakers, to create a unique brand language for the space. This included the creation of a whole new bespoke PRUHouse language, typeset and graphic solution, design and manufacture of custom apparel, PRUHouse crockery and Pru playlists.

The Real Estate Asia Awards 2022 is presented by Real Estate Asia. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's innovative real estate developments, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].