Office design: the latest trends in workspace architecture
Office design: the latest trends in workspace architecture
Corporate identity is expressed through workspace design. Draw inspiration from the latest design trends and evolving ideas across the realm of office design. Attract the most eager millennials and accomodate the most seasoned experts into your team. Work it.
Apple Park
Foster + Partners
California, USA
Opened alongside the Apple keynote presentation announcing the launch of the iPhone X, Foster + Partners designed the $5bn Apple Park HQ in Silicon Valley, a loop of glass, aluminium, limestone and concrete. The building was designed in close collaboration with Apple chief design officer Jony Ive, and houses 12,000 employees in identical segments, as the building structurally repeats itself eight times as you move around it. The 50-60 storey main building, dubbed The Ring, is the hub of a huge construction effort, housing the 1,000-seat Steve Jobs Theater which features Poltrona Frau light-tan leather chairs, curved wooden floorboards and as much space behind stage as in front of it.
Photography: Mark Mahaney
Apple Park
Foster + Partners
California, USA
The office space in The Ring is, within limits, configurable. Teams can choose if they want to work in individual offices or open spaces. Each floor in each segment has a central area with an oak meeting table and glass whiteboards that open to reveal huge TV screens. More random interaction is intended and engineered to happen in the circling corridor and on the staircases (there are 32 in the building and they are a particular point of pride for Ive and the Foster + Partners architects). Each segment also houses a central atrium. The true hub of the building, though, is the café, with seating for 4,000 and one the biggest kitchens in the US. At the outside edge two 85 x 54ft moveable glass doors are designed to open the space up to the Bay Area’s natural benevolence.
Photography: Mark Mahaney
Amorepacific HQ
David Chipperfield Architects
Seoul, South Korea
When David Chipperfield was called to design a new headquarters for Asian skincare brand Amorepacific in Seoul, one of the primary concerns that emerged was creating a building with a strong identity; but one, which would be intrinsically connected to its surroundings forming a valuable part of the city’s fabric, in both a social and architectural sense. The building, which had been in development and construction for eight years, to Chipperfield, ‘mediates between the company and the city. It shows how a company can participate in a larger community’.
Photography: Noshe
Amorepacific HQ
David Chipperfield Architects
Seoul, South Korea
Inside, on the ground level, the visitor is led straight through to the heart of the building. This is the building’s main event space for art installations, concerts, lectures and other cultural activities, where the architecture was designed to act as space for social interaction. These activities will be surrounded by a variety of public facilities such as a museum, a library, a tea room and retail. A variety of functions occupy the levels above and lead to the company’s main workspaces on the upper floors. Here, connectivity is the name of the game, with flexible office space provides ample opportunity for meeting and working.
Photography: Noshe
Nuvola Lavazza
Cino Zucchi Architetti
Turin, Italy
Located in Turin, the Nuvola Lavazza started back in 2010; and not only does it involve the regeneration of an entire inner city neighbourhood and the restoration of a precious historic building, but it also represents the perfect balance of looks and function. Cino Zucchi’s Milanese architecture studio orchestrated the site’s cleverly designed master plan, accommodating workspace for more than 600 people, including research and development. Lavazza’s headquarters have always been located in the region and the internationally iconic Italian coffee brand has made its mark there. Now, taking things a step further, the company sank a significant overall investment of some €120 million into its new home.
Photography: Andrea Martiradonna
Nuvola Lavazza
Cino Zucchi Architetti
Turin, Italy
‘The new Lavazza campus represents a new way of addressing the relationship between a private company and the city it is based in, between a building and the public space that surrounds it’, says Zucchi. ‘In stark contrast to the concept of “zoning” found in functionalist town planning, this project revisits, in a contemporary light, the layering and the coexistence of various different functions typical of ancient cities, with a high quality environmentally conscious garden, a design school, two restaurants, an events venue, a museum and new generation work spaces. The sinuous and vibrant facades of the new offices and the trilithic porticos that lean against the historic buildings become the backdrop for a new park which in turn triggers the urban regeneration of an entire neighbourhood’.
Photography: Andrea Martiradonna
Bloomberg Headquarters
Foster + Partners
London, UK
Foster + Partners’ design for Bloomberg’s new European headquarters in London is the result of founder Michael Bloomberg working closely with Lord Norman Foster to create a progressive workplace of the future, a pioneer of sustainable design exceeding all other office blocks in its environmental credentials, and a stimulating place for its 4,000 employees to work. The formidable office is the first Bloomberg building that has been custom designed for the business, and it is also custom designed for its London location between Bank and St Pauls where the 3.2 acre site returns a lost part of Watling street back to the public realm, encompasses three public plazas and has a restored Roman temple beneath its sizeable mass.
Photography: Philippe Fragnière
Bloomberg Headquarters
Foster + Partners
London, UK
At the base of the ramp and height of the triple helix ‘Vortex’, rippled surfaces of milled and polished aluminium designed by artist Olafur Eliasson mirror the blurred movements of passersby. This piece is one of six new site-specific art commissions found throughout the building and site that offer up holistic moments of awe throughout the day – whether walking through the lobby at 7am with a flat white, or passing through the arcade that intersects the two buildings on the way to Cannon Street.
Photography: Philippe Fragnière
Maersk Oil Headquarters
PLH Architects
Copenhagen, Denmark
Conceived as a single volume featuring a striking curved corner on Copenhagen’s Amerika Square, the headquarters for Danish oil and gas company Maersk Oil was designed as an inherently sustainable space. Planned to encourage collaboration across the company’s diverse businesses, the space is aimed at improving the employees’ work life, while being flexible and functional. Rocking a warm, Scandinavian look of sophisticated simplicity, the offices are clad in light coloured timber – a seamless skin of ash acoustic battens that wrap the interiors unifying a coherent whole. This, and its white plaster finishes and large openings (including long strip windows and a glass-topped atrium at its heart), make for an impressively light interior that feels both stylish and serene.
Photography: Tomas Bertelsen
Maersk Oil Headquarters
PLH Architects
Copenhagen, Denmark
Cafes, informal lounges, benches and meeting rooms are strategically placed throughout the building to support interaction and socialising among employees. The central atrium is dotted with cognac leather seating and palm trees, which are arranged across a cool granite floor, ready to welcome visitors. These convivial hubs are juxtaposed by calm zoned desk areas across all floors.
Photography: Tomas Bertelsen
Lemon office
Lemon and Hesse Kleinloog Studio
Johannesburg, South Africa
In Johannesburg’s Kramerville district, multidisciplinary design firm Lemon set up an office in a raw, industrial building there – a former hydraulic-parts factory – that had so far miraculously escaped regeneration. The stucture’s brutalist character was ideal for the mixed-use hub that would combine offices with production facilities. The three-storey 1500 sq m former factory was redesigned by Lemon in partnership with Hesse Kleinloog Studio to accommodate administrative areas, manufacturing, production, and design offices. With the studio’s work spanning from graphic to product design, flexible spaces that could accommodate multiple uses, from the traditional, office workspace to the messy, industrial and handcrafted, were a must.
Photography: Sarah de Pina
Lemon office
Lemon and Hesse Kleinloog Studio
Johannesburg, South Africa
Collaboration and cross-referencing between departments is invaluable in the practice’s daily operations and values, so ‘it was critical to have the entire operation under one roof’, explain Lemon. The new interior is now designed to encourage communication between the company’s 46 team members. Not simply a workspace, the new headquarters also functions as a showcase of Lemon’s work. The overall atmosphere is one of understated luxury, with rich fabrics, dark colours and refined, clean lines. ‘Our belief is that beautiful and functional spaces improve the quality of life’, they say. ‘When conceptualising our own space, we wanted to demonstrate how our products could be used in our “perfect world, a theatre for our work".’
Photography: Sarah de Pina
Monotype London HQ
Ben Adams Architects
London, UK
Ben Adams Architects designed a new office for Monotype in London’s Shoreditch using decorative details to reflect the creativity of the company. The global typeface business known for producing Gill Sans and Times New Roman – and distributing modern fonts such as Helvetica and Frutiger – needed a bigger office to fit its expanding workforce and to suit its collaborative style of working. ‘We needed a flexible working environment,’ says Monotype creative director James Fooks-Bale, ‘A scalable space to allow for a growth in head-count and, more importantly, a space for different working environments: open-plan in places, but with defined quiet space and areas to spread out and collaborate.’
Monotype London HQ
Ben Adams Architects
London, UK
Designed to fit 32 workstations, the new 330 sq m space is versatile and adaptable. Bespoke plywood joinery divides the work space from the meeting spaces, which could in the future fit additional workstations. Designated meeting rooms with glass walls are named after the great type design fathers including Beatrice Warde, Stanley Morison, John Dreyfus, Walter Tracy and Tolbert Lanston and provide further space for collaborative working.
Rijnstraat 8
OMA
Den Haag, The Netherlands
Originally designed by Jan Hoogstad and completed in 1992 for the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in The Hague, this glass-enclosed, 140m long structure was one of the Netherlands’ first sustainable buildings. Its distinctive floorplan, resembling a two-sided comb, incorporated a series of glazed atriums that helped the air circulate to regulate internal temperature in the style of a concervatory. A recent redesign by OMA, highlights Rijnstraat 8’s original intention, while bringing it to the 21st century. Architect-in-charge Ellen van Loon drew on her experience in designing government facilities and theatres, making the building feel open and visitor-friendly.
Photography: Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA
Rijnstraat 8
OMA
Den Haag, The Netherlands
The idea of giving back to the city is key to the project. The first five floors now act as semi-public meeting areas shared with the neighbouring ministries. Situated just in front of The Hague’s Central Station, Rijnstraat 8 incorporates a ‘pedestrian highway’ used by thousands of people on a daily basis. This was created by enlarging an existing pedestrian passage through the building to the size of a plaza. Hofhaus, a cluster of cafes within the building, acts as a ‘city lobby’. Opening early in the morning, it will soon extend its working and partying hours to 2am, making Rijnstraat 8 available to the public for even longer.
Photography: Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA
Bestseller Headquarters
C.F. Møller
Aarhus, Denmark
Three years following the completion of Bestseller’s logistics centre in 2012, Aarhus-based architectural firm CF Møller created their second significant project for the family-owned Danish clothing company’s core operation. Located in the Aarhus port and surrounded by canals and lakes on all four sides, this complex functions as a 22,000 sqm commercial office for 800 employees, as well as a 24,000 sq m goods reception, car park and plant. Reflecting Bestseller’s scope and worldwide reach, the construction constitutes of a flotilla of buildings at different levels, ranging from one to 12 storeys. Devised as ‘a town within a town’, these are interconnected through several open-air atria, courtyards and roof terraces, all of which are reached by a bridge-like entrance.
Photography: Adam Moerk
Bestseller Headquarters
C.F. Møller
Aarhus, Denmark
Inside, the building’s ground floor is split in two halves by a strut-friendly runway ‘street’ and indoor plaza. From there, employees can access office spaces, showrooms, experimental store environments, photo and film studios, meeting rooms, an auditorium and a canteen. Natural stone lays the foundation for most of the interior, which is combined with dark oak to add warmth and texture. The office complex’s showstoppers are the many staircases interlinking the building’s many levels, with the opening look being the magnificent dark oak stairway found just beyond reception. Another stringent and rigorous design expression is the modular concrete steps with floating treads, as well as the cantilever concrete staircases featured outdoors.
Photography: Adam Moerk
Leblon Offices
Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Richard Meier & Partners Architects’s first office project in Brazil, led by associate partner Bernhard Karpf, is, with its crisp aesthetic, a significant addition to Rio de Janeiro’s diverse architectural backdrop. Hosting the new international headquarters of Vinci Partners, one of Brazil’s leading alternative investment and asset management firms, the Leblon building comprises a series of private interior courtyards, open office spaces and a collection of terraces, spread over 10 floors – three of which are subterranean. Meier and his team’s main aim was to connect the project to its context and Brazil’s architectural legacy of open, indoor/outdoor living.
Photography: Roland Halbe
Leblon Offices
Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A generous and bright lobby greets guests, appropriately welcoming them to the 74,270 sq ft space, featuring an abundance of glass, concrete and numerous vertical gardens. The building’s eastern wing was slightly removed from its neighbours, allowing space for the several internal courtyards dotting the site and supplying light to all office areas. The impressive design was also led by specific sustainability and flexibility requirements, making this a truly efficient office space.
Photography: Roland Halbe
Bezuidenhoutseweg 30
KAAN Architecten
The Hague, Netherlands
KAAN Architecten holds the contemporary working values of transparency and flexibility at the heart of its redesign of The Hague’s Grade I-listed Bezuidenhoutseweg 30 (B30), which has been transformed from a historic monument into a highly functioning working space for five distinct offices. Originally built in 1917, and designed by then-chief government architect Daniel EC Knuttel, the stiff neoclassical architecture of the B30 ministry building reflected the austerity of its time and the strict hierarchies of the government office. Later in 1994 it was then renovated, and partly demolished, by architect Hans Ruijssenaars.
Photography: Karin Borghouts
Bezuidenhoutseweg 30
KAAN Architecten
The Hague, Netherlands
Playing a role in preserving the history of the B30, KAAN worked with many original features of the building, while renewing and updating much of the design into an intuitive and less hierarchical design. Diverse spaces for employees and the public have been carved out including a restaurant, library, meeting and seminar rooms, a sunken auditorium and a café which opens up into the gardens with pivoting high-gloss aluminum framed doors. A light-filled public atrium, with a specially commissioned floor mosaic by Dutch artist Rob Birza, is positioned at the core of the building beneath a series of geometric light shafts that echo the original coffered ceilings.
Photography: Karin Borghouts
Cuningham Group Phoenix office
William Pereira, renovation by Cunningham Group
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Architecture and interior design firm Cuningham Group’s Phoenix office is a mid-century modern landmark designed by William Pereira. Completed in 1951, the Farmers & Stockmens Bank building is listed as a historic structure by the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. Cuningham Group, which has its head office in Minneapolis, had its eye on the building long before the lease on its previous Phoenix office was up. The Phonenix branch of the firm, which employs 40 architects and interior designers, specialises in local and international healthcare, multi-family and senior living projects.
Photography: CAPSPHOTO International
Cuningham Group Phoenix office
William Pereira, renovation by Cunningham Group
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Cuningham Group took charge of the interior design to bring it up to scratch to suit their working needs. ‘The open and flexible volume of the building interior was already ideal for a contemporary work place. Our goal was to preserve that, and augment with simple, contemporary design moves that respected the original architecture. The linear forms of the millwork, materials palette and furniture pieces were all intended to create an “updated mid-century modern” feel,’ he says. The light flooded, high-ceilinged former bank lobby provided open space for meeting and collaborating, while the mezzanine level created a more private area for work stations and an enclosed glass box which Cuningham Group added for client meetings. The architects converted the stone-walled bank vault into different spaces, while preserving the historic vault door and adding tubular skylights to bring natural light into the otherwise solidly sealed space.
Photography: CAPSPHOTO International
KAAN Architecten office
KAAN Architecten
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Due to an expanding studio, Rotterdam-based KAAN Architecten has relocated to new offices in the former De Nederlandsche Bank HQ, offering an opportunity to design a bespoke environment to suit its working needs and reflect its architectural philosophy. The robust brick facade of the building, which stands out beside taller structures along the Maas River near the Erasmus Bridge, was originally designed by Professor Henri Timo Zwiers between 1950–1955 and has an entrance hall decorated with mosaics by Dutch artist Louis van Roode.
Photography: Simone Bossi
KAAN Architecten office
KAAN Architecten
Rotterdam, Netherlands
KAAN Architecten partner Dikkie Scipio wanted to create a space which would encourage sharing of knowledge and also bring back to life the existing architectural identity of the building. Inside, the industrial-style concrete space has a wide rectangular plan of 1,400 sq m with high ceilings and large windows which cast light into the core of the building. Concrete columns delineate the space – as do vast connecting corridors between meeting rooms, informal spaces and an open-plan working area for the architects at the heart of the design.
Photography: Simone Bossi
Buenos Aires City Hall
Foster + Partners
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Combining a cleverly functional interior with an environmentally sensitive approach, the design for the Buenos Aires City Hall aims to provide the perfect home for the Mayor’s office, as well as the 1,500 employees working there, while making a positive contribution to the surrounding landscape and the wider area’s ongoing redevelopment. The exterior is defined by the building’s distinctive flowing roof canopy, supported by giant pillars. A deep overhang provides shelter for the entrance plaza and protects the glass facades from the elements. Internally, the temperature is regulated with the help of the roof’s concrete soffits and a chilled beam system, maintaining a cool environment even in high summer. Louvres fitted to the western and eastern façades lending a helping hand.
Buenos Aires City Hall
Foster + Partners
Buenos Aires, Argentina
The workspaces span four storeys, featuring staggered terraces and a visible open plan desk area that promotes communication and interaction between employees. The building’s full height glazing not only makes the most of natural light, but also takes advantage of its picturesque parkside location. The latter is mirrored in the interior design through the presence of leafy landscaped courtyards and elegant sheltered walkways dotted across the layout. The City Hall building covers an entire block within a previously industrialised area, south of the city centre. While designed as a workspace, the structure was also meant to become an active part of the area’s urban fabric. Apart from the office areas, it includes a cafe and a 300-seat wood-panelled auditorium, planned to house public events that will help stimulate relationships with the local community.
Wieden+Kennedy’s Shanghai office
Dariel Studio
Shanghai, China
For the redesign of Wieden+Kennedy’s Shanghai office, Dariel Studio stripped back the existing office space revealing the raw structural materials, then added new functionality and a sculptural framework to unify and inspire the space. At the core of the office, the symbol of the tree was used as a stylistic and conceptual design reference, reflecting the creativity and growth of the advertising agency – founded in 1982, Wieden+Kennedy now has eight international offices and a client base that includes major brands such as Nike, Heineken and Tiffany & Co.
Wieden+Kennedy’s Shanghai office
Dariel Studio
Shanghai, China
Over the existing central staircase of the three-storey office, Dariel Studio used overlapping split joint boards, criss-crossed horizontally and vertically to achieve a three-dimensional cubist formation, abstractly resembling the trunk and branches of a tree. This visual component of the office makes use of the open stairway to further unify the spaces across storeys, creating a compelling focal point. Thomas Dariel, principal designer and founder of Dariel Studio, worked closely with Yang Yeo, creative director of Wieden+Kennedy, to reflect the working values and practices of the studio through the office design. Communicating directly with clients and visitors, a white logo mounted on black powder-coated steel plate is positioned at the entrance, which is located in a courtyard, while inside at the reception wooden panelling is warm and welcoming.
The Office Group co-working hub
Stanton Williams and Universal Design Studio
London, UK
At the previous home to the Metropolitan Police at Albert Embankment, Stanton Williams have designed a workspace for The Office Group. Dreary cells have been replaced by light offices courtesy of Universal Design Studio, and a ground floor café run by young chef Luke Thomas provides a healthy alternative to the nearby greasy spoons and dingy pubs. ‘Generosity’ was key to Tintagel House in order to maximise light and optimise the spectacular river views. All 95,000 square feet consists of private and open spaces, decorated in a broad palette of materials that include listed elements such as wooden herringbone floors, swing doors and a red brick façade and contemporary terrazzo, brass and glazed tiles.
Photography: Charles Hosea
The Office Group co-working hub
Stanton Williams and Universal Design Studio
London, UK
There are a few hidden surprises too; on the top floor a hotel style suite with a sunken bath and kitchen can be booked my members and a door marked ‘cleaners cupboard’ leads to a speakeasy style salon where CEOs only can congregate. Landscaper designers Bradley-Hole Schoenaich created green space within and around the South London landmark and what was neglected section of riverside path has also been revamped.
Photography: Charles Hosea
#Cloud.Paris office complex
Philippe Chiambaretta
Paris, France
#Cloud.Paris is a 38,000 sq m office complex, located within walking distance from the Bourse and Opéra Garnier in Paris. Exane, one of major European investment companies, Blablacar, the leader in long-distance ride-sharing services, and the French division of Facebook are housed here, confirming the area as a hotspot for finance and digital businesses. Initiated by SFL, one of France’s oldest real estate companies (now expanding into prime office development), #Cloud.Paris was a major design challenge. Taking up a whole urban block, the site used to house the headquarters for the Credit Lyonnais bank and needed to be completely rethought.
Photography: Clément Guillaume
#Cloud.Paris office complex
Philippe Chiambaretta
Paris, France
Architect Philippe Chiambaretta, the principal at PCA - STREAM and the design brains behind the project, describes the site as a constellation of buildings from different periods, with obsolete technical infrastructure, narrow shapeless courtyards, and three ‘blind’ underground levels. Half of the existing structures on site were demolished and replaced by a design that brings all elements together. Extended below ground, new courtyards bring daylight deep into the lower levels of the complex, which hosts a conference centre and three restaurants. Bright white facades maintain the original grid while creating a crisp contemporary rhythm. The main entrance is located in the meticulously restored historic part of the facade. The atrium houses a flock of micro-architectural objects whose organic shapes were ‘modelled by the constant flow of people’, explains the designer. These pods offer different levels of privacy, suited for a quick chat, a phone call or an informal meeting.
Photography: Clément Guillaume