June 20, 2017

Text: Athena Waligore

6 Design-Minded Offices in the USA and China

Design talents truly excel at American and Chinese offices.

1. Firm: Float Design Studio. 

Project: Casper Sleep.

Site: New York.

Standout: Matching the blue from the online mattress maker’s popular subway ads, a stained-oak structure offers niches for quick naps or long meetings.

Quartz by Desai Chia Architecture. Photography by Mark Craemer.


2. Firm: Desai Chia Architecture.

Project: Quartz.

Site: New York.

Standout: A central divider with Douglas fir supports, which double as shelving, separates the reporters’ and editors’ desks from communal areas including a cafe.

Paul Hastings by Gensler. Photography by Garrett Rowland.

3. Firm: Gensler.

Project: Paul Hastings.

Site: New York.

Standout: Spray-painted steel latticework derives from an algorithm that merged motifs from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, among regions where the law firm has a presence.

Da Cheng Design Co by Da Cheng Design Co. Photography courtesy of Da Cheng Design Co.


4. Firm: Da Cheng Design Co.

Project: Da Cheng Design Co.

Site: Fuzhou, China.

Standout: The Chinese concept of the courtyard house is expressed in pitched-roof volumes that hold both meeting rooms and the offices of creative directors.

Alibaba Pictures Group Limited by HOK. Photography by Eric Laignel.


5. Firm: HOK.

Project: Alibaba Pictures Group Limited.

Site: Pasadena, California.

Standout: For the e-retailer’s entertainment arm, a textured wall in a painted mineral composite channels the crumpled paper discarded during the creative process.

Uber Technologies by Bean Buro Limited. Photography courtesy of Bean Buro Limited.


6. Firm: Bean Buro Limited.

Project: Uber Technologies.

Site: Hong Kong.

Standout: Felt-wrapped pendant fixtures hang over the cafe’s communal table conceived as the collaborative and social heart of the space.

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