LiveRamp 16
O+A’s vision for the 16th floor of LiveRamp’s San Francisco offices began with the design we developed for the company’s first space on the 17th floor. That project focused on creating self-contained pods of high finish in an otherwise raw framework. This one reverses the process, taking a highly-finished space and pulling it back to its “unfinished” essence. Recently purchased by the global giant Acxiom, Liveramp wanted to communicate its youthful spirit and high energy through the informality of its work environment.
O+A’s vision for the 16th floor of LiveRamp’s San Francisco offices began with the design we developed for the company’s first space on the 17th floor. That project focused on creating self-contained pods of high finish in an otherwise raw framework. This one reverses the process, taking a highly-finished space and pulling it back to its “unfinished” essence. Recently purchased by the global giant Acxiom, Liveramp wanted to communicate its youthful spirit and high energy through the informality of its work environment.
City San Francisco, CA
Year 2017
Size 24,157 sf
Team Perry Stephney, Rachelle Meneses, Sam Offringa, Patrick Bradley, Katelyn Nemnich, Brianna Bernstein, Donald Koide, Olivia Ward
Photographer Emily Hagopian
Jumping the Gun on a Work in Progress
To accomplish the transformation, O+A’s designers executed a complete stripping back of the existing space’s Victorian touches, crown molding, etc.. The initial impact is of a work in progress occupied and set in motion before it’s quite finished—rough brick, exposed ceilings, steel studs framing non-existent walls. But of course it is finished—the “roughed up” textures are carefully achieved. Those steel stud partitions were never meant to hold drywall; they’re designed to support shelving and writeable surfaces.
Inspired by Limits
LiveRamp is a textbook example of how a tight budget and short-schedule set the stage for a less-is-more aesthetic. This project was completed in three months from start to finish. Its design character emerged from creative use of color and graphics and from the consistency of its “finished-to-unfinished” concept. Even the paint scheme demonstrates that dynamic. LiveRamp’s office is U-shaped with the entrance at the center of the curve. At that entry point the palette is warm and consistent, almost monochromatic, but as you proceed along the two arms of the U the color choices fragment —cool and neutral hues intervene.
Rushed from the Factory
For this project, O+A specified Coalesse’s newest standing-height table (among other Coalesse pieces). These tables were the manufacturer’s first from the factory and were hurried along to make LiveRamp’s deadline. Another demonstration of appearing to draft a design into service before it was quite finished—except, of course, that it was and like the space as a whole, finished beautifully.
