Studio O+A design creates this remarkable mixture of color, light and space in the 110,000 square foot former warehouse as an office for Meraki a recently acquired company by Cisco Systems. It is located in San Francisco, and the spacious floor-to-ceiling windows offer great panoramic view of the waterfront. Noteworthy is that Studio O+A were unfolding their creativity with the thought of the needs and the particularities of the employees in the company. So the survey leaded to a wide variety of meeting spaces – formal and informal, indoor and outdoor with a strong emphasis on the mobility and the adaptability of the furniture and the workstations based on the company’s strong do-it-yourself culture.
The original structure of the warehouse is partly preserved and with its polished concrete walls, and massive supporting colons gives playful industrial sense of space. That is softened by the bright colors and the whimsical patterns that cover unostentatiously the floors and the walls of the office. Every detail carries artful and colorful touch- event the electricity wiring, the front desks and glasses for the working cubicles. The massive staircase that integrates seating at its base is refreshed by elegant and airy, hanging ornaments. So truly, no detail is too small or overlooked in this fairy of playful elements.
The furnishing is consistent in bright modern colors in contemporary style that brings energizing and cheerful sensation. The natural ubiquitous light gives vast freedom for creativity that can be unleashed on the chalkboards, whiteboards, and cork boards situated around the office so that employees could sketch, write, and pin-up graphics that inspired them.
Particularly interesting in the interior solution are the designer’s coffee tables dispersed around the space and the meeting spots guise as stylish wooden yurts and cabanas. Clever touch is the sunken seating that brings a sense of intimacy into the common areas. So the challenge to tame the big space and make it habitable is met successfully by the designers giving birth to dynamic, creative and unique office space.
