A Cocoa Workshop at the Office? Yes, Please!

2023 Best of Year Winner for Large Corporate Office

Ritter Sport’s square chocolate bars and color-blocked packaging are instantly recognizable by many. Lesser-known are the family-run confectioner’s core ingredients: diversity, authenticity, and tradition mixed with modernity. Interior Design Hall of Famers Peter Ippolito and Gunter Fleitz’s firm incorporated all these aspects into the client’s 40,000-square-foot Waldenbuch, Germany, headquarters, which includes a cocoa workshop, three cafés, and 130 desks. Extending the distinctive Ritter branding, glass partitions are laminated in vivid films that match the candy-bar wrappers, square cushions and tables appoint common areas, and grids appear everywhere—from wall tiles to an illuminated ceiling panel. The lively concept creates a motivating work environment where employees from all departments can meet and make sweet talk.

jonathan siegle; arsen aliverdiiev; timo flott; anna theodossiadou; dominik schäfer; peter ippolito; sabine braun; mario rodriguez; isabel pohle.

A Former Car Manufacturer’s Locale Becomes a Chic Paris Office

2023 Best of Year Winner for International Extra Large Corporate Office

For years, the modernist 1964 building at 75 Avenue de la Grande Armée in Paris housed the French automotive manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën, which left in 2017. Saguez & Partners restored existing details while also transforming 250,000 square feet of the interiors into a serene, biophilic headquarters for Boston Consulting Group that maximizes sunlight for 1,200 employees. Part of the triple-height former car showroom has become a cathedral-like lobby, café, and coworking space, with greenery creating semiprivate groves along windows, that’s open to the public; elsewhere on the ground level is the business center featuring a 180-seat auditorium.

Upstairs, closed offices convert into meeting rooms, library alcoves offer places to focus, and a large rooftop terrace boasts panoramic city views. Speaking of nature, during construction, 394 metric tons of CO2 emissions were avoided thanks to the reuse of 81 metric tons of materials.

pierre-olivier-pigeot; jean-philippe cordina; claire cieslak; christelle person; laurent brudner; jeff bazile; gaelle coen; marine belkebir.

This Law Firm Office is Hospitality Chic

2023 Best of Year Winner for Small Corporate Office

More hospitality chic than staid corporate, Husch Blackwell’s au courant law-firm office in Clayton, Missouri establishes itself as an industry front-runner from the outset. It’s not just the colored ceiling soffit, curved furniture, multitude of potted plants, or considered detail of the marble and reeded-wood desk in reception. Characterful decorative elements abound throughout the nearly 12,000 square feet by Partners by Design, including velvety drapes in confab rooms, fiber art in lounges, and custom totems in corridors. Manufacturers specified are a who’s who of the trade: Arte, Designtex, Fireclay, Weitzner. Topping it all off (literally) is a penthouse amenity level that opens to an outdoor deck.

NC Design & Architecture Takes Home an Award for Its Own Office

2023 Best of Year Winner for Firm’s Own Office

There is much talk lately about devising offices with residential touches, so that those who grew accustomed to remote work feel at home. This Hong Kong workplace by and for NC Design & Architecture excels in that notion, in a highly sophisticated manner. Rattan Pierre Jeanneret chairs, a plush velvet sofa by Norm Architects, travertine tables, and artwork scattered about would all suit a residential setting. Finishes add to the living-room vibe: There’s abundant millwork, half columns conceal metal window frames, and the glossy ceiling reflects light, making the 1,600- square-foot design studio feel larger than it is. And forget ordinary cubicles: Workstations are tucked behind curved enclosures, hiding clutter and providing a sense of shelter.

NELSON CHOW.

Sustainable Design Reigns Supreme at the Adidas HQ

2023 Best of Year Winner for Environmental Impact

Sustainability is embedded in the sporty scheme for Adidas’s expanded North American headquarters. Green roofs, adaptable layouts, and repurposed or renewable materials reduce the carbon footprint while expressing the brand’s values. In the two new buildings by Lever Architecture, totaling nearly 300,000 square feet, structures of precast concrete, glulam beams, and CLT panels create warm, spacious interiors that Interior Design Hall of Famer Primo Orpilla and his O+A team devised to evoke athletic stadiums, with an eye toward the planet. Reclaimed basketball court flooring, for instance, became a conference table; fabric-wrapped acoustic panels are made of excess textiles from Adidas products. Elsewhere, dining tables are crafted of wood from trees felled during construction, and art installations incorporate recycled-content yarn. Among O+A’s environmental graphics are a staircase’s chevron stripes derived from sneaker sole patterns.

Studio O+A: primo orpilla; lisa bieringer; mindi weichman; elizabeth vereker; chase lunt; lauren perich; sean houghton; alex pokas; lauren harrison; marbel padilla; kaylen parker; chelsea hedrick; sarah hotchin.

Lever Architecture: thomas robinson; doug sheets; dannon canterbury; chris grosse; george-michael rusch; katie o’connell; kevin lee; alexa cano.

This New York Office Doubles as a Contemporary Art Gallery

When the owner of Orange Barrel Media, known for its out-of-home media and smart technology—think futuristic 21st-century billboards—began conceiving ideas for a new office in New York City, fittingly, attention turned to creating visual interest. The owner had an ample, enviable collection of contemporary art he wanted to show off, but the airy, 3,500-square-foot NoHo, Manhattan office was more open-plan than art fair in organization.

Headquarters Reboot: Standard Architecture x Nadel

It was a tall and double-edged order for a 1979 Culver City tilt-up, erstwhile comprising a production site, dispensary, and vacant zone. Purchasing the building during Covid, Nadel, the brand merchandising and experience company founded in 1953, coincidentally in the same area of Los Angeles, initially presented two briefs to Standard Architecture. “It was to be relevant for the times,” begins Silvia Kuhl, cofounder and principal with her husband Jeffrey Allsbrook. The other key aspect, he continues, “was creating healthy offices and outdoor spaces.” Both, obviously, with roots in the pandemic, waning at design’s onset. Then, and still now, conversations veered to workplace challenges and return-to-office policies. So, the program expanded. Nadel needed to entice its 100-count staff to return full time. It also sought to show off new digs to clientele as diverse as the Chicago Cubs, Mac Cosmetics, and Google.

A prodigious amount of work was required. Especially since the “sad and dreary site,” per project architect Tracy Bremer, was devoid of customary workplace amenities.  Outdoor and garden space? None. Daylight infiltration? Minimal. A cogent plan for the bi-level interior to tell Nadel’s story? Non-existent. Overarching moves, ergo, entailed creating inside-outdoor connections, reconfiguring glazing, and rebuilding the interior, including replacing the structurally unsound mezzanine with a safe counterpart.

Designing a Light-Filled, Modern Office for Nadel

What visitors don’t see are the mezzanine offices associated with corporate headquarters since this is command central for the entire operation. That means legal, finance, and human resources as well as dedicated workspace for website and experience departments. Out of view, too, is that driver of most businesses, sales. The team, “a happy, loud bunch,” according to Kuhl, occupies the third soaring space in a ground-floor hybrid setting combining an open workplace cum lounge and enclosed offices ringing all four sides of the perimeter.  With new standards in place, Nadel reports staff back full time and business as busy. As we say, mission accomplished.

Walk Through Nadel’s Headquarters in Culver City, Los Angeles

Michael Hsu Transforms a Historic Building into a Chic Office

San Francisco-based venture capital firm 8VC has found its second home in Austin, Texas, partnering with Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to transform a 100-year-old bungalow. The building has gone through a series of changes throughout the years yet it’s always been a gathering space. In the early 1900s, it was a brothel, as well as the first building south of the river to have power, while in the ’80s it was used as offices, and later an Airbnb property, Camp Congress, whose airstreams are still available to rent. But when 8VC Partner Jake Medwell toured the property, a rare unoccupied structure on the bustling South Congress Avenue, he envisioned a design that incorporated a luxe, homey feel that both enhanced its heritage and looked to the future. 8VC brings vision to traditionally unsexy industries, so it’s only fair its offices are just as sleek and out-of-the-box. 

Bringing to Life a Hospitality-Inspired Office Design 

Inside, the design evokes “historic charm that’s meant to feel familiar with up-to-date furnishings,” says Hsu, firm principal and founder. The palette is warm and rich, “not cold or slick” with bold color and materiality. The layout takes cue from the existing chimneys to create moments surrounding the building’s multiple fireplaces. There are herringbone walnut floors, a leather-wrapped reception desk by David Ambrose, a chandelier from local artist Karen Hawkins, and custom powder-coated aluminum fireplace from auto body manufacturer Metal Union. “The correlation between hospitality and workspaces accelerated amid Covid,” Hsu adds. “People want to feel better in their workspaces and go to an office that reminds them of home.”

Inside the 8VC Headquarters in Austin Designed by Michael Hsu 

Aurora Design Conjures Kunming, China Headquarters as Enchanted

Surrounded by ancient temples and limestone landscapes, Kunming, a city in southwest China, is known as “Spring City” thanks to its balmy climate and botanical wonders: pear and apricot trees and cherry blossoms, seas of violet Jacaranda flowers abound. When high-end interiors firm Aurora Design sought to revamp their own headquarters, they looked to these enchanting environs for inspiration.

Last fall, Aurora Design founder Yang Xuewan sought to create a space that would encourage creativity and innovation. “We wanted to break from the rigid image of a traditional office,” recalls Yang. “The natural beauty of Kunming’s landscape influenced the choice of materials such as wood and metal, which can evoke a sense of nature and harmony with the surroundings.”

Aurora’s philosophy of “creating fantasy and beauty,” coupled with this dreamy landscape, made for a surrealism-tinged environment. Yang modeled the space after “Alice in Wonderland,” starting with the long, entryway corridor clad in microcement, leading employees down the rabbit hole to a Zen and polychrome haven.

Green manga-style paintings, by Yang and her colleague Liu Ying, evoke Kunming’s lush greenery, and add a youthful touch to sparse walls. Organic forms and mid-century furnishings throughout the 2,600-square-foot space are balanced by whimsical pieces: chairs shaped like forks, flower-power throw pillows, lavender-hued vinyl upholstered lounges. Recessed wall nooks house art books and magazines featuring the work of architectural visionaries like Virgil Abloh. In keeping with Yang’s floral-infused vision, desks are topped with fresh-cut flowers in irregularly shaped blown-glass vases. Linear LED lighting in individual offices draws sightlines skywards and evoke a cozy vibe. “It’s a tranquil experience,” Yang notes.

The thoughtful layout, comprised of semi-private nooks, personal desks, and larger workspaces for company-wide confabs, offers plentiful options for collaboration and concentration framed by aesthetic opposition and harmony. Accents are charming, bordering on camp, from googly-eyed embellishments upon furnishings and squiggle lamps in Memphis colors, while leather sofas, louvred windows, solid oak casework, and stone cladding grounds the space. Yang’s curation of modern and contemporary pieces coupled with kawaii ephemera is a poetic dialogue cultivating ingenuity. “Whether leaning on the corner of a table or lying on the floor, you are free to come up with new ideas and let your mind explore fresh thoughts,” Yang affirms. Welcome to wonderland!

Walk Through Aurora Design’s New Headquarters in Kunming, China

Work From ‘Home’—at the Office in This Innovative Space

The German pharmaceutical company Roche Diagnostics had a huge office space when they first contacted Studio Alexander Fehre—almost 4,000 square feet with ample light and air, in the southwest city of Ludwigsburg. What they didn’t have, they felt, was a community. The administration and production departments came and left through the same area, but rarely saw each other throughout the day. So the brief became, as Fehre explains, “to design a place between the offices and the fabrication/production. It was intended as the new ‘heart’ of the re-used building.”

A large corner of the production hall was the perfect place for it. “We decided to look at it like an outdoor space and build some wooden houses,” Fehre says. “A little village inside the large hall.” They constructed four of traditional timber, each with its own individual organization of work and meeting spaces. Three-layer panels light up when the houses are occupied. Two of them are connected on upper levels by a footbridge, while translucent white staircases unite them with the ground floor. There, wood decks create various zones for meeting, collaborating, and recreating.

“The aim,” Fehre says, “was a bit more on the emotional side, and also offer the employees a special place to meet, work informally, and come to visit outside of the home office.” Little touches of home pop up throughout: a ping pong table here, an ersatz courtyard there with thriving greenery, transversely-braced industrial lights, and gathered textile facades. But the idea is to beckon employees back and into the company fold. “It is a sort of post-Covid space,” he says, “a space without typical workdesks, where people can meet in person and experience the values of the company.” They can take those values to heart, Fehre hopes: After all, as the unmissable white letters near the lobby explain, the space is now known as the Herzzone or, in English, the “heart zone.”