Futuristic Design Takes Center Stage In This Chrome Office

Lately, it feels like we cannot escape discussions about the future of work. Where will it take place? Who will do it? And what tools will we use? Many of these conversations position technology at the center, musing over the role of the metaverse and artificial intelligence, so it’s no surprise that workplaces are beginning to find design inspiration in this futuristic, digital world. Take the latest such project to come out of One House Design, a Shanghai firm helmed by founder and chief designer Lei Fang.

On the banks of Shanghai’s Huangpu River, overlooking the city’s Yuejie Expo Park, the new office of financial investment company Shanghai Transaction Succeed combines technological sleekness with artfully abstract interventions, yielding a space that feels plucked from the metaverse, or perhaps Star Wars, of which the client is enamored. “Technology, future, and diversity were the key words of our concept,” Fang begins. “Our goal was to construct a wonder-filled encounter between people and space, work and life.”

One House is well versed in creating marvel-inspiring environments. The multidisciplinary studio’s portfolio spans residential, restaurant, and retail projects in addition to offices—in fact, Fang’s own won an Interior Design Best of Year Award for its obsidian-drenched, gallerylike setting—all rather genre-bending. Here, the third project Fang has completed for this client (he’s also designed its office in Lingang, the area known as Shanghai’s Silicon Valley, along with the owner’s home), he has honed his approach for the brand, expressing the STS ethos and aesthetic through a minimalist color and materials palette and a restrained formal language.

The 21,500 square feet occupy the top floor of a four-story building, enjoying 360-degree views of the Shanghai cityscape and river. Throughout the workspace, which hosts 15 employees and a mix of private meeting rooms and offices alongside open-plan desks and leisure areas, including music and banquet rooms and a fitness area, Fang has zeroed in on the idea of an encounter between worlds. Throughout, a repeated language of curved walls, reflective surfaces, and monochromatic colors makes the office feel like a futuristic portal—a liminal space between the present and the unknown, between this world and a more streamlined one to come. “The organic forms and undulating silhouettes create a fluidity that mimics a wormhole,” he explains.

Upon entering, the reception area immediately transports visitors and staff to a gleaming, high-tech environment. A high-shine, stainless-steel desk emerges from a concave, dark-gray curved accent wall, with window openings set off by built-in interior walls that establish a visual divider between the office and the world beyond. “We wanted to break the form of the conventional workplace,” Fang notes.

While the floor plate is rectangular, and enclosed spaces retain their traditional rectilinear plans, at the heart is an exhibition showcase that indeed breaks the mold. Enclosed in two stacked, open-square frames within an oversize glass cylinder, the gallerylike volume houses rotating examples of the core products the company invests in, mostly raw materials for the renewable energy industry. “The idea was to present a realm within a realm,” Fang says.

The aesthetic qualities within this artful box spill out to inform the rest of the project. The curvature of the glass partitions is mimicked in the curving walls and dividers populating the office, and the blue of the screen-printed phrases wrapping the installation is repeated in select furnishings and statement walls throughout, the color extracted from the company logo.

The inspiration for the curves also came from the company’s branding, as the logo incorporates the shape of the letter D. Fang used variations of the letter to inform the partitions, window openings, and furniture selections. “D is also in line with Dao, which is consistent with STS’s brand values,” Fang says, referencing the East Asian philosophical tradition emphasizing that the natural order of the universe must be lived and experienced, rather than intellectualized.

Here, we uncover the core tension that distinguishes this workplace design: the collision between existing in a physical versus a digital, intellectually manufactured world. While the concept may conjure the look and feel of the metaverse, where shapes are abstracted and details blur, this seamlessness was created through a close attention to craft.

For example, take the primary material used to form the curvilinear aspects. Fang sourced a resin-based artificial stone that, when heated, can be curved and shaped, then polished to create a seamless connection between floor, wall, and ceiling. “It allowed us to achieve a ‘one-piece’ effect,” Fang explains—a sense of fluidity that could only be found through careful, handcrafted artistry.

Additionally, while much of the work of STS takes place digitally, the workplace dedicates ample space for activities focused on personal interaction, like the music room and the lounge area adjacent to the gallery. Taken together, the office reminds us that although our lives increasingly play out in a digital landscape, the pleasures of a well-crafted physical space are best enjoyed in person.

Step Into The Future At The Office Of Shanghai Transaction Succeed 

ONE HOUSE DESIGN: LI HUANG; WANG JIARUI; ZHAO BINJIE; WENDY LI; PASS PAN; CHEN YING. SHANGHAI KAIBO DECORATION ENGINEERING CO.: STAINLESS-STEEL WORK. YICHENG GLASS: GLASSWORK

FROM FRONT MAFI: WOOD FLOORING (OFFICE). MOOOI: WALLCOVERING (OFFICE, BANQUET ROOM). THROUGHOUT BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: PAINT.

Smiles Abound At This Design-Forward Dental Firm

Paris Dental Studios launched in its namesake city in 2021, offering an elevated oral-examination experience through a design-forward, wellness-centered space conceived by local firm JCPCDR Architecture. The très chic result has been so successful that PDS has since expanded to other French locales: opening in Aix-en-Provence earlier this year and now Lyon.

Occupying the ground floor of a 19th-century building, the concept for the 3,250-square-foot clinic is based on inserting modern “micro-architectures” within the historic shell, which had an atypical plan and a high ceiling. “The volume allowed for something bold and a play on scale,” explains JCPCDR founder and chief architect Jean-Christophe Petillault, who attended two years of medical school before switching to his current profession. Four 215-square-foot pods, each containing an exam room and finished with textured white lime plaster and fluted glass on the exterior, sleek aluminum and blush-pink Corian inside, recall astronomical observatories. That pink first appears by reception, another similarly domed form, in Faye Toogood’s Roly Poly chairs for waiting patients. “It’s a peaceful color and reminds me of healthy gums,” Petillault says of the hue. Sammode’s simple Elgar sconces are installed as straight as Invisalign-ed teeth behind them; poured in place concrete flooring runs underneath. Lush plantings spill over the pods adding a biophilic element. “The intimacy in the units is reassuring,” Petillault adds, “while outside feels like a retro-futuristic garden.”

Discover Nature Anew At This Park Designed By SOA Architekti

In Aš, on the Czech-German border, Prague firm SOA Architekti has completed a project connecting past and present. Near the town center, the 11½-acre Park of Memories Aš links an urban square with a nearby forest, creating a transition between the different areas, each with their own historical weight. After World War II and the Cold War, when much of the Czech population fled, Aš experienced another wave of devastation in the ’70’s, when swaths of it, including its largest cemetery, were demolished to make way for new housing.

The park reintroduces the cultural identity of Aš via physical and digital means. At the entry, a granite plaza dotted with benches and square cutouts, each planted with a Tilia cordata, the Czech national tree, provides a place for meeting or reflection. A smaller granite plinth near what remains of the cemetery has smaller recesses for candles. Curving through is a 110-foot-long elevated bridge in steel and locally sourced pine. “It connects the site of the original church to the tree line winding through the cemetery,” explains Štefan Šulek, copartner of SOA (which stands for sons of architecture). Park of Memories is also linked with Time Trip, an app that provides information on the city’s past and the park’s interactive points. “Rather than force history upon the visitor,” Šulek adds, “the design offers a chance to experience nature from a different perspective.”

Milanese Elegance Meets New York Boldness in This Chic Home

When members of an art-inclined family planned their return to Italy after nearly a decade living in New York City, they sought to meld the best attributes of both locales in their just-purchased flat. “The design marries Milanese elegance with New York’s boldness,” reveals Matias Sagaria, whose studio, Sagaría, completed the project in Milan. He was a natural fit for the transatlantic endeavor: The Italian-born architect, an alum of Tonychi and Associates and Roman and Williams, lived in the Big Apple full-time for a decade and now maintains offices in both cities.

In the Chinatown district, the 2,152-square-foot loft spans two levels of a historic building. “The neighborhood blends the city’s traditional charm with a cosmopolitan spirit,” Sagaria notes. With the owner couple working in photography and art investment, the interiors needed to match their lifestyle. “The clients desired a space that mirrored their essence: warm, inviting, yet reflective of their dynamic professional lives,” Sagaria continues. He formulated a colorful composition that blends high design and skillful local craftsmanship with focused moments of irreverence. “We were looking to challenge conventional proportions and redefine elegance,” he explains.

On the L-shape lower level, which houses the free-flowing kitchen/dining/living area in one wing and the children’s bedroom in the other, furnishings and fixtures are assembled much like an abstract painting. Embracing the public zone’s spatial openness, Sagaria selected pieces with assertive lines and zingy colors that can hold their own—and be easily rearranged to make new compositions. Arrayed on the living area’s graphic-patterned rug, a shapely Franca Helg Primavera chair and omnidirectional Sergio Bicego Pixel sofa conjure a Memphis feel. Vibrant, red-dyed parquet floors and a custom green-painted scalloped cornice provide an artful frame for the space.

The signature crimson continues up the staircase to the second level containing the main bedroom suite and a mezzaninelike work studio. “We believe in creating spaces that are not only functional but also deeply emotional and profoundly personal,” says Sagaria, who designed several pieces of furniture and custom millwork—including the office’s desk and shelving—to complete the immersive environment and help tell the story of the cosmopolitan family and their vibrant past. That approach is characteristic of the firm’s idiosyncratic methodology, where form is less function-driven and more often wielded to tell a rich tale. “Our role,” Sagaria concludes, “is to weave narratives that are as grounded in technical precision as they are in poetic imagination.” Mission accomplished.

CC-TAPIS: RUGS (ENTRY, LIVING AREA). 

HAY: TABLE (ENTRY), BED (BEDROOM). 

BONACINA 1889: LOUNGE (LIVING AREA). 

SABA: SOFA. 

MOROSO: TABLE. 

FOSCARINI: TABLE LAMP. 

ARTEMIDE: FLOOR LAMP (LIVING AREA), TABLE LAMPS (BEDROOM, STUDIO), SCONCES (WARDROBE, BATHROOM). 

VERY SIMPLE KITCHEN: CUSTOM ISLAND (KITCHEN). 

VITRA: CHAIRS. 

FLOS: SWING-ARM SCONCE. 

PAPPELINA: BLANKET (BEDROOM). 

MAGIS: CHAIR (OFFICE). 

DOOOR: DOOR (WARDROBE). 

IKEA: DRESSER. 

CERAMICA GLOBO: SINK (BATHROOM). 

NEWFORM: SINK FITTINGS. 

KERAKOLL: FLOORING, WALL PAINT. 

ZANGRA: FLUSH SPOTLIGHTS. 

LAURA NAI: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. 

EDILE FORESTIERE: GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Karina Kreth Takes a Cinematic Approach to This Home in Argentina

Argentine architect Karina Kreth took a major detour on her path to her current profession. “When I was at university studying architecture,” she reveals, “I started working as an art director for films”—a job she’d keep for 15 years. That career trajectory informs her multidisciplinary practice, Estudio Karina Kreth, founded in 2009, to this day. “Now, when I work with clients,” she continues, “I talk to them about creating a script and a choreography for their house and the way they want to live.” Kreth’s cinematic approach shines through her latest project, a residence in San Isidro, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The restrained yet highly detailed design emphasizes negative space, with sculptural elements and focused moments of color that offer a stage set for life to unfold.

The arrangement of the 8,600-square-foot, two-story home, which opens on both levels to outdoor living spaces and terraces, features airy, uncluttered volumes that highlight the young family’s many artistic, culinary, and social pursuits. “For this client, and for me, too, the new luxury is having the time to stay home and be with friends and loved ones,” Kreth notes. Instead of filling rooms with layers of color, furnishings, and texture, she took a tightly edited, less-is-more approach.

Inside a Home Designed With a Film Director’s Eye

In the living room, for example, a large L-shape sectional sofa frames the fireplace. But where a cocktail table would typically stand there’s empty space instead, so the couple’s two young girls can bring out their drum sets for impromptu concerts and dance parties. In many cases, custom furnishings and casework by Kreth provide visual interest while serving double duty to hide clutter. The kitchen is a case in point: She created a large central island to house the dishwasher and oven, but clad it in light-blue fluted wood to make it a sculptural centerpiece. In the entry, an absence of artwork means the white-steel spiral staircase leading up to the second floor’s three bedrooms becomes the focal point. “All the little things for me are very important, because on the big screen, it’s those little things that create the atmosphere,” the architect notes.

Ultimately, Kreth used her director’s eye to imagine scenes of family life playing out in each space, then conceived rooms around those conjured-up vignettes. It is a concept she often refers to as architectural syncretism, or the practice of amalgamating the residents’ countless experiences and memories. “In cinema you compose everything—the costume design, the setting, the props,” Kreth says. “But I cannot imagine a space without people in it. It’s impossible for me.”

Explore the Home’s Soothing Interiors and Sinuous Forms

flos: pendant fixture (stair), sconce, pendant fixture (dining area), pendant fixture (powder room), sconces (bathroom).
ascolta: custom table (dining area).
fch: chairs.
roll&hill: pendant fixture (kitchen), lamp (living room).
cassina: sofa (living room).
apparatus: sconces (main bedroom).
listone giordano: wall stone (powder room).

dulux: paint.

Inside JPMorgan Chase’s Historic D.C. Offices by Studios Architecture

The nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., is also one of the oldest, tracing its origins to the late 1700’s. “Respecting history and supporting art and culture have been a part of our DNA since inception,” explains Farzad Boroumand, the bank’s executive director and global real estate head of design. It was only fitting, then, that when choosing a home base for its new mid-Atlantic headquarters, the financial institution would purchase a venerable property: the 1922 Bowen Building in the heart of D.C.’s Historic Fifteenth Street Financial District.

Much like JPMorgan Chase itself, which is a synthesis of many institutions that have merged or been acquired over the years, including First Republic Bank last month, the Bowen is a hybrid of several early 20th-century structures that had been combined and expanded in phases. Although the 12-story limestone edifice is not landmarked, its listed status and contribution to a historic district stipulated a sensitive renovation—and an equally conscientious design partner. After inviting proposals from several firms, the client selected Studios Architecture. “Studios stood out by suggesting innovative interior solutions that were appropriate to the classical exterior,” Boroumand recalls.

For JPMorgan Chase, Studios Architecture Designs a LEED-Certified HQ

The firm’s work at the LEED Silver–certified headquarters, totaling 231,000 square feet, encompassed a subterranean mechanicals level, the lobby and an adjacent ground-floor community center, four levels of employee and executive workspace, and a client center with a terrace. The primary challenge was to deliver the perfect marriage of old and new. “The client sought a modern scheme that spoke to who JPMorgan Chase is and would carry the organization, with its rich history, into the future,” says Studios board chair and principal Marnique Heath, who teamed with the client to lead the project with the support of Studios associate Ethan Levine, both architects from the firm’s D.C. office.

Many of the gestures, Levine notes, “were centered on thresholds, creating opportunities for visitors to pass into the bank and make them feel a sense of belonging.” That starts at the main entry sequence leading from Fifteenth Street. The client requested that it convey welcome and a sense of transparency, which Studios answered by introducing a glazed portal with revolving doors and, above, a glass canopy.

The Office Design Features Restored Details

Studios Architecture Creates a Flexible Workplace for JPMorgan Chase

The client center, up on the building’s 11th floor, houses various conference rooms and meeting areas as well as a generous terrace. Continuing the transparency theme, Studios carved out a double-height volume along the terrace-side perimeter, which serves as an airy waiting area. The firm also made substantial facade alterations here, expanding the glazing to create more openness and invite broader views of the Washington Monument and the White House. A new feature stair, its balustrade incorporating the same metalwork used on the ground floor, leads to the executive level on 12.

An elevator bay with tinted, mirrored panels and a series of LED mobile-esque chandeliers provides access to the three renovated floors of flexible work areas accommodating some 500 employees. Architect and client collaborated to uncover future-oriented strategies for the office proper. “We investigated entirely different models of working, incorporating features such as virtual meeting spaces and more homelike and lounge-y environments,” Heath recalls. A diversity of furniture types and finishes, along with 2,500 square feet of open lounges on each work floor, encourages staff members to access different settings as they shift activities throughout their day.

Ultimately, the Bowen Building stands as an example of how legacy institutions like JPMorgan Chase can build a framework for serving their communities on multiple fronts—one that acknowledges the past while making much-needed modern interventions to cocreate a better future for all.

Behind the Design of JPMorgan Chase’s D.C. Office

Studios Architecture: ashton allan; monica castro; kristian passanita; tammy chan; ruben smudde; jennifer hicks; jesse wetzel; katherine luxner; june zhu; maria percoco; gabriel boyajian

gordon: landscape architect

interior plantscapes: interior plantings

mcla: lighting designer

tce & associates: structural engineer

GHT: mep

columbia woodworking; jefferson millwork & design: millwork

boatman & magnani: stonework

gilbane building company: general contractor

bright chair: sofa, chairs (library)

modernfold: sliding door

B&B Italia: shelving

bernhardt design: tables, credenza (library), sofa (community center), coffee table, white lounge chairs (conference area)

spinneybeck: desk leather (lobby)

shickel corporation: custom screens

flos: custom pendant fixtures (lobby, client center)

bendheim: custom paneling (elevator lobby)

tech lighting: chandeliers

whitegoods: cove lighting

Stellar Works: armchairs (waiting area)

cassina: table

emerald ironworks: custom stair

planter­worx: custom planters (waiting area, terrace)

pilkington: glazing (exterior)

boon edam: revolving door

alpolic: canopy

skyfold: retractable walls (community center)

Lambert&Fils: globe pendants

vibia: pendant fix­tures

datesweiser: worktables

arper: chairs

martin brattrud: banquettes

9wood: ceiling panels (com­munity center, office entry)

londonart: wall­covering (conference area)

walter knoll: blue lounge chairs

axis lighting: linear pen­dants (conference area, lounge)

BuzziSpace: dome pendant (lounge)

spacestor: cus­tom shelving

stylex: coffee table

Scandinavian Spaces: lounge chairs

muuto: sofa, ottomans

astek: wall­covering

naughtone: two-tone sofa

milliken: carpet tile (lounge, workspace)

Andreu World: tables (ter­race)

Janus et Cie: stools, chairs, sofa

Tuuci: umbrella

stepstone: pavers

andrew neyer: pendant fixtures (office entry)

adler display: environmental graphics

Greenmood: petrified moss

viccarbe: benches

herman miller: task chairs (workspace)

knoll: workstations

armstrong: ceiling tile

applied image: privacy graphics

evensonbest: furniture supplier

transwall: glass partitions

guardian glass: exterior glazing, fins

kawneer: curtain wall, storefront system

ege: carpet tile, rugs, broadloom

Sherwin-Williams: paint

Gensler Captures the Spirit of the Midwest for the LinkedIn Office in Omaha, Nebraska

2022 Best of Year Winner for Large Tech Office

Nebraska is not necessarily known as a destination for cutting-edge design and culture. However, the new Omaha office of LinkedIn, the professional networking giant with nearly a billion users, tapped into the deep-seated tradition of innovation and dynamism that has historically defined the Midwestern metropolis. “From the beginning, there was an emphasis on making sure the decisions were an honest reflection of the city,” LinkedIn senior design manager Virginia Alexander recalls. Longtime partner Gensler was a natural choice for the project, as LinkedIn has worked with the firm on interiors and branding for more than a dozen of the company’s offices around the globe.

How Employee Research Informed the LinkedIn Office Design

Concepting for the hybrid work experience was both a technical and a cultural challenge, so Gensler and LinkedIn conducted research, surveys, and workshops with staffers to understand what made them tick, both professionally and personally. “We were challenged to consider how our designs and technology could make working more engaging and equi­table,” Alexander says. Out of the discovery process came a host of amenities including a dynamic tech-ready team space for hybrid collaboration called the Lab, two libraries for heads-down focus work, recreation rooms with a golf simulator and rotating arcade games, music rooms, terraces, and a cafeteria called the Almanac, with revolving food kiosks and LinkedIn’s first all-electric kitchen.

Health, wellness, and resilience emer­ged as key themes, so in addition to an on-site fitness center and an outdoor roof deck, as well as incorporating no- or low-VOC materials and finishes and only reclaimed or FSC–certified timber, the campus contains four respite rooms sprinkled throughout. Ranging in size and design, the tech-free spaces have ambient light to support a variety of ways to re-energize mind and body. “Everyone resets their brains differently,” Dubisar says. “Some need calming spaces, others something more tactile and hands-on. Rather than a generic ‘wellness room,’ we have different spaces so people can choose the one that fits them best.” They also should help the project achieve its pending Fitwel 2 Star certification, along with a fire stair surrounded by bold graphics and with motivational phrases integrated into treads to encourage staff to take them instead of the elevator.

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Office Culture Meets Local Culture 

The final theme to emerge was expressing Omaha’s particularities of place. “We looked to the historical significance of craft in Omaha and the overall notion of going against the current,” Cavaliere says. Civic storytelling begins in the two-story atrium lobby with a stair backed by a double-height wall of whitewashed brick, a traditional building material in Nebraska. Sculptures by Japan-born Omaha artist Jun Kaneko animate the welcome experience on the ground level, as do Gensler’s integrated wall graphics and site-specific art installations that nod to Omaha’s agrarian roots and contemporary culture. Conference-room graphics referencing the Max, a longstanding Omaha LGBTQIA+ nightclub, quickly became a LinkedIn staff favorite. “It’s incredibly meaningful for people to feel represented not just in their city but also their workplace,” Cavaliere states.

Ultimately, this place-based narrative could be a stronger draw for employees to return to the office than more traditional amenities. “The purpose of the workplace today is to reinforce a sense of community and culture,” Dubisar says. “The office should make you better and support the whole self. At the same time, it’s a place for people to come together and strengthen relationships.” As Linked­In’s global real estate portfolio continues to grow, prioritizing personal expression and community connectivity in the workplace seems only fitting for a company that’s staking its claim as the world’s largest professional network.

Gensler: randy howder; laura richardson; chad wyman; marissa everling; ben vela; chad spurlin; samantha lewis; jeffrey ding; fang fang, eric mortensen (interiors); jennifer hamilton; tiffany ricardo; jarrod holt; marie achterhof, Miriam Diaz, victoria chau, Brian newman (branding); Gail napell, nova punongbayan (sustainability advisors)

tucci lighting: lighting consultant

acrylicize: signage

morrissey engineering: mep

urban evolutions through imperial woodworking company: millwork

lockwood construction: general contractor

glen-gery: brick (lobby)

carl hansen & søn: white chairs

muuto: gray chairs (lobby), sofa (coffee bar)

dum: stools (lobby, coffee bar)

grand rapids chair co.: stools (reception, cafeteria)

sancal: lounge chairs (coffee bar)

Mattiazzi: chairs

Lindner: ceiling mesh (elevator lobby)

barbican: ceiling fixtures (elevator lobby, cafeteria, neigh­borhood)

pinnacle lighting: pendant fixtures (confererence room)

allermuir: chairs

hollis + morris: pendant fixtures (cafeteria)

blu dot; de vorm; hightower: chairs

Lambert et Fils: pendant fixtures

corral: chairs (canteen)

stylex: sofas

menu: stools (workstation)

andlight: downlights

kvadrat: panel fabric

tretford: carpet

bernhardt design: sofas (neigh­borhood)

pair: custom communal table, custom shelving

most modest: lamp

Maharam: seating fabric

Moore & Giles: seating upholstery

rad furniture: custom tables

filzfelt: felt

one workplace; two furnish: furniture suppliers

er2: custom graphics installation

Benjamin Moore & Co.; Dunn-Edwards; Farrow & Ball; Sherwin-Williams Company: paint

Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors Team Up on This Modern Office in Seattle

2022 Best of Year Winner for Small Tech Office

For Expedia Group, travel is a way of life. When the tech company, which includes Expedia.com along with Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, and hundreds more travel aggregator sites, took over a 40-acre waterfront campus along Seattle’s Elliott Bay in 2015, a central aim was to help employees experience the physical and mental benefits of travel, without leaving the office. “With all the acreage in hand, our goal was to create a destination on the grounds—sort of an on-site ‘offsite,’” Expedia’s director of real estate Josh Khanna says. In 2017, Aidlin Darling Design, known for their intimately crafted residences and commercial interiors, won the bid to create a new sheltered on-campus environment for staff to work and gather but also retreat.

Called the Prow, the single-story, 3,700-square-foot building is a deliberate departure from the multistory steel, glass, and concrete structures of the main campus. “Expedia’s leadership group was in tune with creating a full-body, sensorial workplace,” begins Joshua Aidlin, principal and cofounder, with David Darling, of ADD. “The ethos of Seattle is outdoor-focused and athletic, and Expedia embraced that.” The common end for this ancillary structure was a biophilic sanctuary that celebrates the landscape in both form and function.

Nestled into the southernmost edge of campus closest to the waterfront, the Prow is sited several hundred feet from Expedia’s primary work spaces. In contrast to the slick industrial language of those buildings, the volume emphasizes natural materials like stone and wood, helping it knit into the surroundings. “We didn’t want to block the view of the bay from the offices, so we needed to create a structure that was hidden in plain sight,” Aidlin explains. For his team, which was co-led by senior associate Adam Rouse, the solution was a building that is of the landscape in every sense.

Appearing to grow from the earth, the Prow’s stone-formed walls angle down into the ground plane to connect seamlessly with the existing riprap-stone walls delineating the campus border. It gracefully merges into the ziggurat-shape grass terraces defining this portion of the grounds, part of a larger campus master plan by Surfacedesign. Indigenous grasses planted here continue uninterrupted along the roof of the Prow. “It’s meant to be a diamond in the rough—intentionally organic, intentionally hidden,” Aidlin notes. “There’s an element of discovery because it presents as a landscape rather than a building.”

indoor-outdoor spaces encourage exploration in Expedia Group’s modern office

Expedians who make the open-air trek to the Prow—often braving the ubiquitous Pacific Northwest rain—are rewarded with a cozy hideaway that feels more woodland cabin than workplace. That’s thanks to president and principal design director Susan Marinello and senior design associate Louisa Chang of Susan Marinello Interiors, which evoked a relaxed, residential environment where employees can enjoy a moment of quiet contemplation in softly upholstered furnishings aside a glowing fireplace. “Expedia offers a window to the world, so our concept reflects those collective travel experiences by curating items from across the globe,” Marinello says of the many art-inspired furnishings, crafted by makers from locales as far flung as India and Brazil. The showstopper is the 20-person conference table, which contains no screws and was custom-built from a pair of book-matched black walnut slabs by George Nakashima Woodworkers, the company founded by the famed late Seattle furniture designer. Employees can reserve the table for larger meetings away from the hustle and bustle of the main office. (The Prow also accommodates events with a catering kitchen tucked into a corner.)

A set of sliding panels in a floor-to-ceiling glass wall opens to the outdoors, allowing those meetings to spill out to an elevated deck with views of Mount Rainier in the distance and bikes and Segways zooming by on the Elliott Bay Trail below. Since the building fronts a city park and is visible from boats in the water, ADD considered its appearance from all directions. “The building takes the landscape and covers itself with it like a blanket, while presenting a crystalline-inspired window to the public,” Rouse says.

The Prow is a study in contrasts, with the grounded, stone walls and green roof nestling into the earth just as it appears to take flight at the opposite end. There, the sharply pointed roof that cantilevers out 50 feet lifts off above the deck, taking the form of an airplane wing or, as the building’s namesake suggests, a ship’s bow. “The site experiences so many modes of transportation: trains, planes, automobiles, scooters, bikes, boats, so the structure is meant to inspire the concept of motion and flight,” says Aidlin, referencing the travel-centric ethos of Expedia.

Ultimately, this notion of grounded aspiration informs how this unconventional office space shifts the mindset of Expedians, breaking up routines and inspiring new forms of interaction. “They have to go out into nature and experience the elements to access the Prow,” Chang says. “It physically and emotionally transports them.” At a moment when the world is returning to the office, the project signals a new mode of workplace connection that’s taking flight.

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a closer look at the design details throughout

Aidlin Darling Design: david darling, faia; ryan hughes; luis sabatar musa; laing chung; kent chiang; tony schonhardt

Susan Marinello Interiors: dena mammano

ZGF: Campus Architect

surfacedesign: landscape architect

fisher marantz stone: lighting consultant

KPFF: structural engineer, civil engineer

wsp: MEP

js perrott: woodwork, stonework

gly construction: general contractor

george nakashima woodworkers: custom table (conference area)

vaughan benz: custom chairs

Maharam: chair fabric

advanced ironworks: custom fence (entry)

driscoll robbins fine carpets: rug (lounge)

Holly Hunt: sectional

misia paris; zak + fox: sectional fabrics

thayer coggin: chairs

douglass leather: chair upholstery

DeMuro Das: bench

dan pollock: custom table

uchytil’s custom woodworking: custom console

alessandra delgado design: lamps (lounge, reading area)

daltile: tile (rest­room)

zurn: toilet

rockwood: door pull

Janus et Cie: table (deck)

triconfort: chairs

meyer wells: stools

ak47 design: firepit

montigo: fireplace (reading area)

a. rudin: chair

bernhardt textiles: chair fabric

creoworks: custom ceiling system

brandsen floors: flooring

lucifer lighting company; luminii: lighting

Arcadia: storefront windows

phoenix panels: exterior metal paneling

hartung: glazing

columbia green technologies: green roof system

benjamin moore & co.: paint