Ben Adams Architects have designed a new office for Monotype in London’s Shoreditch using decorative details to reflect the creativity of the company. The global typeface business known for producing Gill Sans and Times New Roman – and distributing modern fonts such as Helvetica and Frutiger – needed a bigger office to fit its expanding workforce and to suit its collaborative style of working.
'We needed a flexible working environment,' says Monotype creative director James Fooks-Bale, 'A scalable space to allow for a growth in head-count and, more importantly, a space for different working environments: open-plan in places, but with defined quiet space and areas to spread out and collaborate.'
Designed to fit 32 workstations, the new 330 sq m space is versatile and adaptable. Bespoke plywood joinery divides the work space from the meeting spaces, which could in the future fit additional workstations. Designated meeting rooms with glass walls are named after the great type design fathers including Beatrice Warde, Stanley Morison, John Dreyfus, Walter Tracy and Tolbert Lanston and provide further space for collaborative working.
A large 'M' greets employees and visitors at the entrance
Looking to tell a story of a company who have fused creativity and art with technology, the architects collaborated with SEA Design to create an environment that would inspire employees, collaborators and clients.
A birch plywood tunnel laser etched with 1500 Monotype ‘M’ logos set in 750 different typefaces from the archive leads into the office where pendant lighting hangs over timber furniture from Wellworking and bespoke shelving has been designed to fit the classic Monotype archive boxes.
Different working environments have been created for modern working including quieter smaller spaces and open plan collaborative zones
Glass walls are stamped with 986 glyphs from the 100 Noto scripts which were designed by Monotype for Google
Monotype’s signature ’M’ is laser etched 1,500 times into the birch plywood entry tunnel
‘We let the type stand in the foreground, celebrating its details, its silhouette, its ink trap, its subtlety. We also tried to hide details in places for the curious,’ says Monotype creative director James Fooks-Bale
Bespoke plywood joinery divides the work space from the meeting spaces, which could fit additional workstations
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Ben Adams Architects website
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