Sometimes work sucks, but it sucks much less when you work in a supercool office building. Whether it's a low-rise reclaimed warehouse space or a high-rise tower with a sculptural skin, office projects are increasingly the objects of architectural envy. Companies are now attracting talent with features like luxurious break rooms, seductive interior accoutrements, and permanent, incorporated art installations.
From this year's A+ Awards entries, we've selected a series of remarkable, innovative workplaces designed to increase productivity, boost worker morale, and improve corporate effectiveness. Here are some of our favourite inspiring spaces.
1. Heavybit Industries by IwamotoScott Architecture, San Francisco, USA
A+ Categories: Architecture + Workplace; Office Interiors
This tech office by IwamotoScott Architecture is located in an existing three-story warehouse shell and includes reclaimed barn wood interiors, a fabric ceiling, a light sculpture, and a "Rope Room" - a centrally located conference room surrounded by translucent rope walls.
2. Red Bull North America by INABA Inc., New York, USA
A+ Categories: Architecture + Workplace; Architecture + Sound
Red Bull North America by INABA Inc. is a 38,000-square-foot, four-story space, a former warehouse in Chelsea. It contains state-of-the-art recording studios, editing bays, work lounges, rehearsal rooms, a radio broadcast studio, a gallery, an auditorium and a bar. The space is divided by curved walls that are calibrated to allow views across the office. Installations include warm-coloured, custom-fabricated neon fixtures and a low ceiling embedded with hundreds of LED light fixtures.
3. Siemens Middle East Headquarters by Sheppard Robson Architects, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
A+ Category: Office Building Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
This sculptural building by Sheppard Robson Architects is a "box within a box": it comprises an airtight inner façade, designed to reduce thermal conductivity, and a lightweight, aluminium external shading system that minimizes solar gain while maximizing day lighting and views.
4. LF USA Women's Apparel by Spacesmith, New York, USA
A+ Category: Office Interiors
This 100,000-square-foot floor of the Empire State Building by Spacesmith, includes over 25 showrooms, multiple designer work areas, a fabric library, a pattern-making room, model fitting rooms, offices, lounges, and a large multipurpose media room. Hand-finished concrete floors, custom millwork, and Edison bulbs create a refined industrial aesthetic.
5. 72 Screens by Sanjay Puri Architects, Jaipur, India
A+ Category: Office Building Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)
This six-level office by Sanjay Puri Architects features several cooling elements, including a notable system of abstractly folded perforated screens. A glass-reinforced concrete screen, inspired by traditional "jali" screens of the area's architectural heritage, render the building very energy efficient.
6. Meier Road Barn by Mork Ulnes Architects, Sonoma, California, USA
A+ Category: Office Building Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
The Meier Road Barn by Mork Ulnes Architects includes flexible spaces that are used as storage for farm equipment and collectibles, workspaces, and an art studio. The barn vernacular allows the building to fit its context, while the roof design maximizes indirect northern light conditions.
7. Arctia Headquarters by K2S Architects, Helsinki, Finland
A+ Category: Office Building Low Rise (1-4 Floors)
The horizontal massing and black steel façade of the Arctia Headquarters by K2S Architects echo the black hulls of the icebreaker ships, while the lacquered wood interior calls to mind earlier ship-building traditions. The gradient patterns perforated on the steel profiles are inspired by ice crystals and the textile patterns of sailors.
I want to work in Spacesmith! The sci-fi feel would make me feel smarter, I guess.
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