O+A’s design for Confidential Client’s San Francisco office is the story of two companies: 02, a local maker of cloud-controlled wireless systems and 01, the global networking giant. When 01 acquired 02, the smaller company wanted to hang onto its unique spirit and sense of identity—even as it moved into much larger quarters.
O+A’s design for Confidential Client’s San Francisco office is the story of two companies: 02, a local maker of cloud-controlled wireless systems and 01, the global networking giant. When 01 acquired 02, the smaller company wanted to hang onto its unique spirit and sense of identity—even as it moved into much larger quarters.
City San Francisco, CA
Year 2013
Size 110,000 sq ft
Team Primo Orpilla, Denise Cherry, Clem Soga, Steve Gerten, Elizabeth Guerrero, Chase Lunt, Alma Lopez, Caren Currie, Sarunya Wongjodsri, Justin Ackerman, David Hunter, Jeorge Jordan, Olivia Ward, Kroeun Dav, Chase Lunt, Amie Zemlicka, Alex Bautista, Maleesa Pollock, Will Chu
Photographer Jasper Sanidad
The first step of O+A’s programming exercise was to find out what the client’s team liked (and didn’t like) about their old space. O+A designers surveyed employees about how they worked and how they would like to work better. Among the preferences most frequently expressed were natural light, plenty of collaboration space and the cozy, family feeling of the old office.
The first two were relatively easy bills to fill given the 110,000 square foot expanse of the building into which our client was moving. Floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the space with light—and with views of San Francisco Bay. And a variety of formal and informal meeting spaces allowed collaboration to blossom wherever it might occur.
The third request—that the client’s close-knit culture not be absorbed into the larger company’s behemoth—was more of a design challenge. O+A created pockets of intimacy within the broader canvas—yurts where two or three might meet (reprising the actual Mongolian yurt at the client’s old office), sunken seating areas that circumscribed cozy meeting spaces, outdoor seating, kitchen cabanas…
The result is a large, colorful space with the informality and warmth of a much smaller office. Client 02 has been absorbed into Client 01, but its spirit hasn’t vanished. Instead, it has helped transform the giant. O+A’s groundbreaking workplace for Client 02, now sets the standard for future office development throughout the larger Client 01’s corporate campus.
