Harpenden Building Society

Harpenden Building Society appointed RI to design and deliver a new flagship High Street branch that would re-define its customer experience and visibly reinforce its commitment to the local community. With a newly appointed CEO and a wider rebrand underway, the Building Society wanted to evolve from a traditional banking environment into a modern, welcoming space—without losing the trust and familiarity valued by its long-standing customers. The Harpenden branch needed to support a more personal, customer-led service model, provide privacy for sensitive conversations, appeal to a broader demographic, and strengthen Harpenden Building Society’s presence on the High Street at a time when many banks have withdrawn from physical locations.

We delivered the project under a single design and build contract, taking responsibility from early briefing through to completion. The internal layout was completely re-planned to create an open, accessible and welcoming environment, incorporating a comfortable waiting area, self-service kiosks, private consultation rooms and improved staff facilities.A prominent community wall was introduced to showcase local initiatives, events and partnerships—positioned to be visible both from inside the branch and from the street. The shopfront was refreshed to maximise visibility on this prominent corner site, including new signage and digital display screens enabling real-time updates to rates and offers. Through a collaborative value-engineering process, our account team reduced the build cost by £92k retaining the core design intent while delivering significant commercial savings. The programme was also accelerated to complete ahead of Christmas, minimising disruption and preliminary costs. The completed branch now acts as a blueprint for Harpenden Building Society’s future estate, supporting staff training, customer engagement and long-term growth.