Office design: the latest trends in workspace architecture

Architecture | 30 Mar 2021

Whether we are currently in the office or not, corporate identity is expressed through workspace design. For your home office, draw inspiration from the latest design trends and evolving ideas across the realm of office design. Work it.

Block722 studio, Greece

Block722

A refined workspace created by architecture studio Block722 for their own use, this Athenian interior makes the most of an existing office unit and long views of nature and ancient ruins in the heart of the Greek capital. By gutting the space to rebuild a flowing, open interior that fosters collaboration, the architects created generous, light filled spaces. Calming colour tones, natural materials and a sense of balance prevail. Artworks and craft-led bespoke items, such as pieces by Greek contemporary artist Pantelis Chandris, local artisan Serpetinis, a fabric woven by Athens based textile artist Chrysa Georgiou and sculptural pieces by French artist Benoît Averly, enrich the daily experience of working there for the some-30 staff. Photography: Giorgos Sfakianakis

Citi Wealth Club, Singapore

Ministry of Design

Created as offices and centre for Citigold members and private clients, this banking hub in Singapore is the brainchild of local studio Ministry of Design. Set in an existing building that has been transformed, the new space is an immersive experience, wrapped in greenery and striking city views. A generous, glass-enclosed atrium features a thriving indoor conservatory, which becomes the perfect space to meet people, relax but also host events and presentations. Specially designed pods within it, clad in Kvadrat Remix 3 fabric panels, Aural Aid veneer panels, and kitted out with curved LG OLED TV screens, provide a more private option for work and discussion. Photography: KHOOGJ

100 Liverpool St, UK

Universal Design Studios

The interior design of parts of a Hopkins Architects building in the City of London, this project, by Universal Design Studios, tackles the entrance lobbies and the second floor lobby, main reception, café, informal meeting and flexible
work areas. ‘Universal’s focus for the lobby areas was to create active and usable spaces which are inviting and encourage dwelling, as such a range of seating and furniture is used throughout to accommodate different modes of working from informal meetings and focussed work to team collaboration,’ say the designers. The project includes a striking, colourful, ceramic art piece by Lubna Chowdary in the ground level entrance lobby. Photography: Charles Hosea

Community Information Centre, USA

Efficiency Lab for Architecture

This some-10,000 sq ft office space is an example of clever adaptive reuse in San Jose, California. The design, for the Community Information Center by Brooklyn practice Efficiency Lab for Architecture, forms part of a larger development project that will transform an existing office park into a learning campus. This centre, the first phase of this ambitious project, acts as an information hub and contains a reception/lounge area, an 80-person presentation room, meeting rooms, interview rooms, and staff offices, all within a modern, open plan design. Photography: Blake Marvin

Office in Paris, France

Louis Denavaut

Interior architect and designer Louis Denavaut has turned his hand to almost anything from retail, to residential and art spaces. His latest work, an office interior in Paris’ Matignon neighbourhood, responds to a brief that dictated the combination of ‘cutting-edge technology with contemporary aesthetics.’ Set in an existing, period building with an empty floorplate and large windows, Denavaut’s space mixes warm woods, geometric compositions, careful lighting and linen curtains to convey domesticity and comfort, while maintaining sharp, modern lines and materials. Photography: Depasquale+Maffini

Runxuan Textile Office, China

Lucien International, Masanori Designs

Sometimes building designs take their visual cues from what’s going on inside them. This was the case with a new textile company’s headquarters in Zhangcha, the well known fabrics producing urban hub in Foshan, China. Designed by Lucien International - Masanori Designs, the new building combines pure white tones with an undulating facade that mimics the movement of textile. With the curved tile facade dominating the first floor, where offices are, the ground level is left clean and simple, visible from the street through large glazed expanses. Minimalist white office furniture within blends effortlessly with the similarly pared down architectural features. Photography: Yun Ouyang

Publicis Groupe, USA

Elkus Manfredi Architects

Created as an ‘activity-based’ workspace, the brand new Publicis Groupe offices are designed by Boston based Elkus Manfredi Architects. The international communications company needed space for its some 1,500 employees in the city. The architects consulted the users in co-creating the space in a process that touched upon anything from furniture, culture and work settings. The office now occupies five restored historic buildings, topped with a modern glass addition. Interiors feel bright, flexible and contemporary. Photography: Eric Laignel

Wotton Works, UK

Simeon Anderson, Caireen O’Hagan, Corinne Quin

A new, sustainably minded office space has just opened up in London, in a relatively unlikely place - the northern neighbourhood of Cricklewood. Created by Simeon Anderson with the help of ex-Ilse Crawford studio designers Caireen O’Hagan and Corinne Quin, Wotton Works is a live/work complex set in a former aircraft parts factory. Its vast size - a lovely feature inherited from the building’s past industrial use - meant the designers could fit flexible office space alongside residential units. This brand new hub is just a 15 mins train ride from central London.

Studio Anton Hendrik Denys's AEtelier office building in Belgium's industrial zone

AEtelier, Belgium

Studio Anton Hendrik Denys, with Steen Architecten

Combining the region’s industrial heritage with a wild, green garden, this office building is a refreshing piece of architecture that brings together clever, sharp contemporary design and nature. The project, designed by local designer Studio Anton Hendrik Denys in collaboration with Steen Architecten houses an IT consultancy’s headquarters. The brief outlined the refresh of an existing structure in an industrial zone in central Belgium. The architects obliged, stripping away the original building and transforming it using softly reflective, undulating, silver-coloured aluminium panels. A lush garden complements the architecture through contrast. Photography: Hannelore Veelaert

Work & Co, Copenhagen, Denmark

Aspekt Office

Creating a space where ‘employees can feel at home’ was a top priority in this office interior redesign by Danish multidisciplinary studio Aspekt Office. The space, for digital company Work & Co, is situated in a century-old building in the Danish capital’s historic city centre. The designers brought the interior into the 21st century by working with its bare bones and layering natural materials, sharp, contemporary lines and a Scandinavian sensibility. Features range from communal meeting areas to private booths and a generous, shared kitchen. Oak wood and soft textiles take centre stage to wrap this inviting interior in homely comfort. Photography: Rasmus Dengsø

No 31, Shanghai, China

Neri&Hu

Neri&Hu and Design Republic’s new home is an imaginative, adaptive reuse of an existing commercial building in Shanghai. The famed Chinese architecture and design office is an expert at bringing existing architecture back to life, having done so with its previous locations. Its latest base sits within a small complex of ex-industrial buildings in the bustling Jing’an Temple area. Avoiding major structural alterations, the team reworked proportions and treatments, adding key elements inside and out, such as glass-brick surfaces and a black metal window frame. As a result, the exterior feels sophisticated and updated. Inside, the existing concrete post and beam frame was left intact and exposed, creating a rough, industrial feel. Sleek, modern ‘pods’ were added within where necessary to create different types of space, such as meeting areas. Photography: Hao Chen, Fangfang Tian

22 Handyside Street, London, UK

Coffey Architects

The latest addition at London’s King’s Cross area is an angular office building by Coffey Architects. The structure sits at 22 Handyside Street and is a luminous and generous 36,000 sq ft building; yet its cleverly composed form and broken-down volumes and façade articulation make it feel boutique. These elements were designed to follow the movement of the sun throughout the day. The eco-conscious office design now aims for BREEAM Outstanding certification. The three-storey building is a lightweight concrete and steel composition featuring large windows. The façade also includes surfaces of embossed and perforated anodised aluminium panels that create a translucent effect, adding colour and texture. Photography: Tim Soar

the office and showroom for Maruhon in Fukuoka is a curved wooden structure

Maruhon, Fukuoka, Japan

Takenori Katori / Katori archi+design associates

Maruhon, a Japanese manufacturer of natural wood for interiors, has just unveiled its latest office and showroom, designed by architect Takenori Katori and his Tokyo-based team. The project, located in a verdant part of the city of Fukuoka, makes the most of its client’s expertise to create a fascinating timber structure that elegantly showcases what wood construction can achieve. Inside, working with skilled, experienced carpenters, the architect composed a striking, double-height library displaying over 400 sample boards. A two-storey atrium at the building’s heart helps the users orientate themselves and leads to the various parts of the boutique, 70 sq m structure. The exterior is clad in Japanese cedar planks that have been stained with natural plant dyes. The sensitive design recieved full certification from the Forest Stewardship Council. Photography: Loop Photo Creative /Hiroshi Mizusaki,goto photo office/Akito Goto

The Panagram, London, UK

Buckley Gray Yeoman

A glazed front leads to an unexpected colourful reception area in this renovation of a tired 1980s office interior in London’s Clerkenwell. Designed by architects Buckley Gray Yeoman, The Panagram is a workspace interior that was conceived to offer a twist to conventional office design. Here, graphic tile grids and brightly painted architectural elements (such as the primary yellow column in the entrance foyer) meet colourful lifts and curtains, terrazzo, bespoke quirky wooden details and lots of planting. Different zones within the building (for instance, private versus communal, co-working versus quiet areas) are clearly marked by differences in colour or material. There is even a highly customised wooden staircase with a tree growing out of it. Photography: Jack Hobhouse

snohetta's le monde office building in Paris is an ultra-sustainable undulating structure

Le Monde Group HQ, Paris, France

Snøhetta

Bringing the 1,600 or so employees of Le Monde Group under a single roof, this new headquarters in Paris was designed by celebrated international architects Snøhetta. The bold, architecturally dynamic building is defined by its sleek façade (made of 20,000 pixelated glass elements) and undulating form that brings to mind an abstract bridge, creating a new plaza underneath it. While improving urban connections around it and adding to the public space, the structure is also sustainably minded, ensuring maximum natural ventilation and lighting is possible. Inside, it includes all-mod-cons needed for a 21st-century office, such as flexible workspace and break areas for staff, two auditoriums, and a planted roof terrace. Photography: Marwan Harmouche

thonik office in amsterdam has a stripy facade

Thonik HQ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Thonik, MMX Architects

Graphic design studio Thonik has unveiled a new, custom-made office building in Amsterdam, created in collaboration with MMX Architects. The result is a highly graphic six-storey building on the city centre’s only post-war urban boulevard – the Wibautstraat. Three floors are dedicated to the practice, two to a high-end omakase restaurant and sake bar that draws you in at ground level, and the top floor (and rooftop) is soon to become an events and discussion space. The most striking thing about the building is the combination of floor-to-ceiling windows that bring the city in and open up the interiors, and the façade’s stripes – the effect is dazzling, but it’s also radical in its simplicity and highly detailed and elegant in its execution. Photography: Ossip

Additional writing: Giovanna Dunmall

Douglas House for The Office Group note design studio

Douglas House, London, UK

Note Design Group

The latest space of TOG (The Office Group), Douglas House, has launched with interiors by Note Design Studio. The new six-floor office building on Great Titchfield Street in London is filled with personality, and uses its bold design to make a difference to the work experience of its users. Note refreshed the existing 1930s structure by creating a series of surprises within, defining different areas through colour and design gestures, underpinned by the studio’s contemporary, clean aesthetic. An undulating glass-block wall runs the entire length of the ground floor. Elsewhere, warm, natural materials mix with statement primary colours in compositions that are eye-catching but not too distracting. Photography: Simon Bevan

SPACE10, Delhi, India

Kevin Curran, programme lead, SPACE10

The sustainability-focused design and research practice responsible for fascinating collaborations with Ikea, Barkas, Effekt architects and many more, has opened a research and design lab in south Delhi. Designed as a public-facing platform for cross-disciplinary creatives to experiment with prototypes, the studio is located inside Chhatarpur’s Dhan Mill Compound, a growing hub for emerging design studios, artists and young professionals. Kevin Curran, programme lead at SPACE10, wanted to combine ideas from Scandinavian and Indian design traditions together in the space. He involved local materials and craftsmen in sourcing materials and furnishing – for example, plant pots were handmade 200m from the space and ceramic figurines were made by Aman Khanna from Claymen, whose workshop and gallery is 50m away. Curran also brought a slice of the Copenhagen HQ with them, by painting the staircase in the same bright blue. SPACE10 has previously popped up in New York, London, Shanghai and Nairobi. Photography: Deepshikha Jain

Euroboden, Berlin, Germany

David Kohn Architects

David Kohn Architects (DKA), working in collaboration with Nord Studio, has converted a listed Belle Époque interior into a new office for developer Euroboden. Located at Tempelhofer Ufer, the office inhabits the principal floor of the landmark Palais Eger built in 1881, a grand villa designed for a wealthy timber merchant featuring high ceilings, timber panelled walls and marquetry floors. Within these decorative spaces, the architects added colour, new materials such as Marmoreal (a nougat like engineered marble designed by Max Lamb for Dzek) as well as contemporary furniture. Inspired by Sir John Soane’s house museum in London, DKA wanted to capture an air of ‘productive domesticity’, where both work and cultural events could play out. Photography: Will Pryce

Takram, London, UK

Sam Jacob

For design innovation studio Takram’s London outpost, Sam Jacob Studio has created a ‘raw yet refined’ space defined by a composition of frameworks and armatures acting as workspace, storage and partitions. White horizontal planks are supported by a series of objects and material fragments assembled through a method of stacking and piling. The result forms a material library of textures and shapes – cement board sits alongside marble panels, concrete next to timber, orange tinted acrylic tubes and reflective chromed pipe. Meanwhile powder coated steel frames create a skeleton of a kitchen and workshop space, and are also used for custom furniture such as the long main office table. As an international design studio, we value ‘collective openness’ and celebrate different viewpoints and skillsets – we wanted to reflect this into space through material usage,’ says Yosuke Ushigome of Takram.

NYC based wellness company Nureca Inc's office design by Noor Architects in Chandigarh

Nureca Inc, Chandigarh, India

NOOR Architects Consultants

This office for NYC based wellness company Nureca Inc occupies the first floor of Chandigarh’s commercial Madhya Marg. The brief required a mix of private offices, open plan work areas, break out space and a café and pantry for staff. The material palette reflects modernism, offset with vernacular twists. White terrazzo floor with specially sourced colourful chip glass from the historic town of Firozabad in India, was combined with brass millwork and a lattice for the reception, baked terracotta and red brick. Noor Dasmesh Singh, principal of NOOR Architects Consultants, brought together this confluence of styles to reflect the various layers of the brand itself through the design. Photography: Andre J Fanthome

Consensys, London, UK

Neiheiser Argyros

Consensys, a blockchain software start-up, required a new office design for their five storey building to suit a growing team of diverse workers. Architects Neiheiser Argyros decided to approach the building by devising a new atmosphere for each floor – from the colour palette and mood, to the style of working. All the floors have in common a central ‘object’ that sets the tone for the floor, inside which are meeting rooms and phone booths. From this shape, a unique floor plan then grows. Each floor is named by its atmosphere, for example ‘The Laboratory’ with its light grey flooring, white furniture, and sanitized fluorescent light, is an open yet distraction-free focused workspace. Meanwhile, ‘The Library’ has cork flooring and dark wood furniture to evoke individual contemplation. Photography: Simone Bossi

200 Gray’s Inn Road, London, UK

Conran and Partners

The ground floor of this Foster + Partners office building has been revamped by Conran and Partners to create a new arrival experience worthy of its high profile occupiers – think ITN Productions, ITV and Warner Bros. Inspired by the building’s robust materials of concrete, granite, aluminium and glass, Conran and Partners designed new interventions such as the terrazzo reception desk, oak paneling, green wall and velvet booths. Building up the aesthetic of a member’s club, the idea was to blur the boundaries between work and play – as seen in the new café open to staff, visitors and the public. Photography: Anna Stathaki

Selfridges Buying and Merchandising Offices redesign

Selfridges Buying and Merchandising Offices, London, UK

Alex Cochrane Architects

Selfridges’ vibrant retail personality has been translated to its Buying and Merchandising offices in a refit by Alex Cochrane Architects. The London-based architecture firm outfitted the 1,830 sq m Duke street location with a colourful, open new design. Cellular offices have been removed and dedicated desks are a thing of the past in a bid to drive a ‘roam and work’ ethic. The raw, urban interiors act as a backdrop for large hot-desk areas and community spaces, which include a kitchen, library, roof terrace space and ‘playroom’. Recycled materials were used to create the kitchen counter, benches and tables.

Transurban, Melbourne, Australia

Hassell

Infrastructure company Transurban required an office that reflected the modern cities it serves. Across eight floors of a new building in Melbourne’s Dockland areas, Hassell created an ‘internal streetscape’, arranging desks, booths, lounges and work bays into a ’village’ formation. Tree beds are designed into the floors, with corridors mimicking a city footpath, while hanging plants layer upon the timber vaulted ceiling and blackened steel joinery. Photography: Tom Blachford

AD Gin Studio, Beijing, China

GB Space

This new photography studio in Beijing is inspired by the photographic composition technique of framing within a frame. To achieve this, GB Space created a set of rooms interconnected by partitions that can be open-plan or isolated from each another. The golden ground-level divider is retractable and foldable, and rests between the main studio space and the ‘VIP area’. This 160 sq m space compactly features a pair of washrooms, a mini bar, make-up space, shampoo area and a dining room, framed by a translucent façade overlooking the core photography space.

Institute of Physics, London, UK

TateHindle

Rather fittingly when it comes to their client’s line of business, TateHindle have created an ultra sustainable new headquarters for the Institute of Physics in London’s Kings Cross. The architects envisioned the space as a ‘living lab’, in a mission to make physics more accessible to the wider public. Apart from office space, the project includes extensive education and exhibition facilities, all within a modern and minimalist concrete envelope with timber accents. The structure, which replaces a series of retail spaces, nestles within a conservation area characterised by Victorian and post-war terraces. Combining two existing and retained facades with a new built 5-storey tall wing, the new home for the Institute is bright and welcoming, as highlighted by its open reception area and generous, oak-clad atrium and circulation core. Photography: Dirk Lindner

Unicorns & Lion, Berlin, Germany

Loehr

Berlin-based interior design studio Loehr was behind the design of this office located in the ‘neo-brutalist’ LOBE block in Berlin-Wedding designed by Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon and Muck Petzet. The architecture of the offices has attracted artists and creative studios because of its open and flexible plan, wide outdoor terraces and exposed concrete surfaces. This was the canvas for Loehr’s concept that used colour-blocking, curtains and bold furniture choices intead of walls to divide the L-shaped office. After following the working habits and practices of the team at Unicorns & Lion, Loehr selected two chain-linked ENO tables to form a large-format workbench with Physix office chairs from Vitra and a Rope modular sofa in Kvadrat’s moss-green Vidar fabric, from Danish manufacturer Normann Copenhagen. Bespoke metal shelving, custom-fit cabinets and metal handles, in the kitchen were all tinted in the same terracotta tone.

Kojimachi Terrace, Tokyo, Japan

Nendo

Nendo has landed in the Tokyo neighbourhood of Kojimachi with its latest office design. Irked by the artificial relationships between office buildings and their exterior environments, the Japanese firm produced the eleven-floor Kojimachi Terrace. Tinted black glass is met with a wooden mesh framework that winds up the building, passing exterior terraces (that can be converted into sizeable meeting rooms) and rising to to a three-level ‘Sky Forest’ towards the roof. The weaving pattern is further applied inside, from the overhead bronze-coloured stainless steel lighting to the carpet, a bench by the entrance and the building’s logo. Photography: Takumi Ota

PMMT architects Barcelona office, Spain

PMMT

In an industrial building, previously a biscuit factory, Spanish architecture firm PMMT has designed itself a new office that reflects its core values of inclusion and health. Putting the comfort and creativity of its employees first, the atmosphere of the space is uplifting and bright with linoleum flooring, ergonomic furnishing and plenty of vegetation. The office space includes areas specially designed for ‘forward thinking’ and ‘brainstorming’ featuring moveable walls and panels for flexible collaboration. Photography: Adrià Goula

Angle + Earl St. Studio, Windsor, Australia

BoardGrove Architects

Architects Holly Board and Peter Grove have refurbished a studio shared between a property developer and a graphic design and branding business. The previously dark space was enhanced with peachy bespoke shelving, storage and a glazed stable door screen. The colour was gradated from the front of house overlooking the street, the central working zone and the back of house. The three tones respond to the daylight available, becoming lighter and softer further away from the light source. The concept was inspired by the client’s Instagram feed that features a continuous gradation of colour from one image to the next. Photography: Haydn Cattach

KPMB Architects office, Toronto, Canada

KPMB

The team at KPMB Architects brought the warmth from their former timber loft studios to their sleek new offices on the 12th floor of the Globe and Mail Centre. The minimal yet warm material palette of White Oak, exposed concrete and sustainable carpet tiles, as well as soft project pin-up surfaces made from recycled plastic, fuse a creative yet sophisticated environment. Four open plan workspaces circle the central timber-lined core and communal spaces for collaboration feature stools by Keilhauer, ottomans by eq3 and Klaus lounge chairs and timber stools. Photography: Maris Mezulis

Space10, Copenhagen, Denmark

Spacon & X

In Copenhagen’s meatpacking district, Spacon & X has redesigned Space10’s research and design lab to bring more flexibility to their existing space, which includes a fabrication laboratory, tech studio, test kitchen, event space, gallery, and flexible meeting rooms. A better connection to the community and the expansion of the office from 10 to 30 people drove the brief, and conceptually, a lot of thought went into how employees could be attracted back into the office and away from nomadic digital behaviours that reduce face-to-face creative exchange – and what effect that contact has on happiness and mental health too. A ‘chaotic’ open plan layout was brought into check with steel-framed sound-absorbing cubes and flexible panels that can be shifted into formations bespoke to use. Photography: Hampus Berndtson

global advertising, PR and marketing company Publicis Groupe's new HQ

Publicis Groupe HQ, San Francisco, USA

Blitz

This new office designed for Publicis Groupe, a global advertising, PR and marketing company, consolidates 550 employees into one location. Connectivity, agility and inclusiveness were key to the brief. A range of flexible workstations were designed with a base palette, that was then built upon with colours and materials to reflect the unique identities of each team. The Publicis Groupe wanted the design to reflect their inclusive values, requesting a mother’s room and gender-neutral lavatories, as well as a bright rainbow graphic theme that wraps around the whole office.

Campari Group North American and US headquarters, New York, USA

Gensler

The Campari Group’s new Manhattan headquarters for North American and US features leather-wrapped entry doors with brass Camparisoda bottle-shaped handles that open up to a deep blue-coloured lobby, a red lacquer staircase and a floor-to-ceiling display of precious bottles in glass cases. Gensler designed the spaces to reflect Campari’s Italian heritage, while also embracing progressive workplace design. ‘The design vision centred around employee collaboration – not dissimilar to how the perfect balance of ingredients collaborate to create the perfect cocktail – with special attention to design details, such as proper proportions, distinct experiences, and an emotional connection,’ says Stefanie Shunk, design director and principal at Gensler. Photography: © James John Jetel. Courtesy of Gensler

Girassol Building, São Paulo, Brazil

Reinach Mendonça and SuperLimão Studio

A fruitful collaboration between Brazilian architecture practices Reinach Mendonça (who worked on the overall building architecture) and SuperLimão Studio (who focused on the interior design), the Girassol Building is a new, freestanding office building in São Paulo’s trendy neighbourhood of Villa Madalena for creative agency Ampfy. Versatility was key in the project brief so interiors and shell had to coordinate cleverly and flexibly in order for the workspace to function as a series of separate smaller rooms and a single large space, depending on the occupants’ needs. The building, which stretches across three levels, was designed for dedicated commercial use, yet has an overall comfortable, domestic scale and atmosphere, making users feel at home. Site-specific art, large glazed openings that flood the space with sunlight (while also featuring appropriate shading where needed) and ample use of wood throughout work to that effect.

The Girassol Building also includes a selection of outdoor areas for workers to meet, eat or just sit back and relax on their break. A garden on the lower ground level (pictured here) is matched by a terrace higher up. Perforated panels over the glass doors can separate visually the outdoors areas from the interior when needed to secure the occupants’ privacy. Photography: Tony Chen

It’s The Flash Pack, London, UK

alma-nac

This photography studio, workshop and office space in Dulwich was converted from a former industrial unit. Unfinished materials are combined with pops of colour and the architects opened up more space by adding a free-standing steel frame mezzanine. The lower level holds an informal meeting space, lobby, kitchen and photography studio, while the new level is an office space with desks.

Materials reflect the industrial character of the building: polycarbonate sheet subdivides different areas while filtering light between spaces, and florescent strip lighting has been used artistically – in the shape of a lightning bolt and embedded into a meeting table. The work pods, seating, planters and kitchen surfaces have all been designed bespoke by alma-nac and designer Elliot Macdonald out of a material made of recycled chopping boards. While the design was low cost, the architects clearly met the brief for a fun and personable workspace: ‘ This was achieved, in part, through the contrast of quirky, recycled and colourful materials with inexpensive industrial building techniques,’ says Caspar Rodgers, director at alma-nac. Photography: Jack Hobhouse

Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) Headquarters, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Kimmel Eshkolot Architects

This striking new office interior is the home of SNC in Tel-Aviv, a philanthropy-funded and public-benefit organisation with a mission of connecting international businesses to Israel’s own ecosystem. The eyecatching design is the brainchild of Kimmel Eshkolot Architects who responded to the call of creating the headquarters of a company that champions innovation by pushing the envelope in its own way – and the project’s forward-thinking architecture. The architects worked on their concept for the convertion of an existing six-floor building by level. There are three main parts; floors for local Israeli technology companies; separate levels that house offices for SNC’s employees; as well as an upper level, which is entirely dedicated to hosting visiting delegations (pictured here). Here, a large rooftop terrace overlooking the Tel Aviv skyline and Mediterranean Sea brings the outdoors in and helps create a powerful sense of place. The space is designed as a welcoming and sleek whole that feels warm and domestic in parts but also maintains a strong contemporary edge. The HQ contains workspaces, conference rooms, extensive meeting and multi-function floors, as well as exhibition areas. Part of the program is also L28, the company’s very first restaurant, which will include a rotating 6-month chef residency and gallery areas. This new creative hub sits right at the heart of Tel Aviv’s tech district and its neatly organised and sophisticated interior reflects the values of its architects. ’We didn’t want the chaos that start-ups live in, so much as a calmer environment that suits SNC’s higher mission’, says Etan Kimmel. Photography: Amit Geron

Zetta Venture Partners, Office design in San Francisco

Zetta Venture Partners, San Francisco, US

Storey Design

Located in Jackson Square, San Francisco, this office for venture capital firm Zetta Venture Partners is a comfortable and serene response to workplace design by Katie Storey. Inspired by the owner’s upbringing in Australia by the beach, the interiors are warm and bright. Storey included an international mix of emerging and established designers, while also bringing in custom pieces and vintage additions such as Kentucky whiskey barrels. The office design departs from typically sterile working environments of other venture capital firms, bringing a unique selling point for employees and clients alike. The building where the office is located has a residential feel, like a townhouse. Storey founded Storey Design in 2014 and has focused on creating ‘resimerical spaces’ that create a ‘home away from home’ for employees. Photography: Helynn Ospina

Bennetts Hill House office space in Birmingham

Bennetts Hill House, Birmingham, UK

Dunmoore and Run For The Hills

Property developer Dunmoore has collaborated with design firm Run For The Hills on a new multi-business office space. Located within a previously run-down Georgian bank, the new offices are spread over five floors and span almost 20,000 sq ft. Stripped inside, high ceilings, exposed concrete pillars and steel beams frame the new open-plan offices. Run For The Hills employed a sophisticated yet vibrant interior palette befitting of a youthful clientele. Shaker-style kitchens include marble worktops and dark-painted fixtures, whilst stylised antique bathroom appliances hearken back to the office’s Georgian heritage. Meanwhile, the studio spaces are wrapped in steel-framed Crittall windows, inviting a plethora of natural light inside. Writer: Luke Halls

The Testone Factory, Sheffield, UK

Peter & Paul, Noiascape and Teatum + Teatum

This collaborative working space on the site of one of Sheffield’s oldest industrial sites was designed for young companies, with economic sustainability and creative exchange in mind. The fleixible working concept is the result of a collaboration between design communications agency and client Peter & Paul, commercial strategists Noiascape, and architects Teatum + Teatum. The concept is aimed at creating working space for the young creative population with lower rents. The modern space reflects the context of the industrial site, where historically collaboration fostered innovation and growth. Peter & Paul take up residency across 70 percent of the site, while the rest of the offices will be open to other creative entrepreneurs and businesses. Types of working space vary from small affordable workspaces and larger shared spacew, as well as a public gallery space.

Photography: Luke Hayes

The Magistrates, London, UK

Gort Scott

The redundant Waltham Forest Magistrates Court has been repurposed by Gort Scott into temporary offices for the east London borough’s Council. The design stripped back materials to reveal and celebrate the original 20th-century brutalist building. Working with a tight budget and time scale, Gort Scott completely overhauled and reimagined the dark, unwelcoming court house into a colourful and characterful office within just five months from inception. Low cost and durable materials such as exposed concrete and plywood were used with colour for vibrancy, such as this forest green wall painted in a stairwell. Gort Scott designed a painted floor pattern that connects the spaces throughout the office. A lightweight fabric ceiling treatment hangs above the café and informal seating areas to bring warmth and variation to the office. Photography: Dirk Lindner

21st Century Fox Headquarters, New York, USA

Gensler

Gensler has overhauled the 21st Century Fox headquarters in New York City. The space has been transformed into a completely open plan office, promoting a collaborative working environment. By bringing communal spaces and executive offices into close proximity, Gensler has blurred the office hierarchy, shaping an improved fluidity to the space. The executive floor features three defined spaces, giving the office a new lease of life. The gallery is a primarily social area, and includes a selection of props, costumes and archived collections from 21st Century Fox’s expansive history. A central screening room adorned with blue velvet dividers and rounded graphite lounge chairs allows clients and employees to engage with video content in a formal setting. Finally, a food and drink space features a Stumptown coffee bar and chef’s table, where a variety of meals are freshly prepared on-site. Photography: Eric Laignel, courtesy of Gensler. Writer: Luke Halls

Apple Park, California, USA

Foster + Partners

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. 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

Nuvola Lavazza, Turin, Italy

Cino Zucchi Architetti

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. ‘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

Lemon office, Johannesburg, South Africa

Lemon and Hesse Kleinloog Studio

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. 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, London, UK

Ben Adams Architects

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.’ 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.

A conference room inside Rijnstraat 8, by OMA, Den Haag, The Netherlands

Rijnstraat 8, Den Haag, The Netherlands

OMA

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. 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

Cuningham Group Phoenix office in Phoenix, Arizona

Cuningham Group Phoenix office, Phoenix, US

William Pereira, renovation by Cunningham Group

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. 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

Wieden+Kennedy’s Shanghai office designed by Daniel Studio

Wieden+Kennedy’s Shanghai office, China

Dariel Studio

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. 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.