Exploring the finest design-led creative workplaces

Selgascano's subterranean office exterior view

Spanish architecture firm Selgascano's subterranean office, nestled in sylvan surrounds in downtown Madrid, is just one of over 50 global examples included in The Creative Workplace, a recently launched book from ROADS Publishing.

(Image credit: Photography: Iwan Baan)

By Jessica Klingelfuss

last updated 7 October 2022

in Features

When it came to the ideal creative workplace, we previously imagined a happy communion of the personal and the professional that challenged, ignited and engaged our curiosity (see W*173). Kindling a radical type of office design, Silicon Valley’s freethinkers have conjured veritable Wonderlands of Lego play stations, sleep pods, yoga studios, slides and even woodworking shops. As creative spheres evolve, so too have the environments that foster them.

Launched by ROADS Publishing this week, The Creative Workplace explores caverns of creativity across the globe where bright ideas are born. Editor Rob Alderson writes in the book’s foreword, ‘We continue to be fascinated by that triangular relationship between the creative, their work and their space, poring over the evidence to try to untangle how each factor affects the others.’ To wit, the tome brings together a collection of over 50 offices as architecturally diverse as the firms that inhabit them.

Some are impressive for their settings alone. Barcelona-based studio Ricardo Bofill Taller de Aquitectura is situated within a former cement factory, a striking Brutalist structure on the outskirts of the city. Elsewhere, in Paris, Ekimetrics created a ‘sub-space in raw wood’ within a 19th century classé palace with golden mouldings and frescoed; while Singaporean firm Park + Associates’ offices are located in a former school compound (specifically on the site of previous library hall) and takes advantage of a column–free space crowned by a series of barrel vaults.

Other firms have had to be more inventive with their bureaus. Digital and advertising agency Barbarian Group’s workplace spans a mammoth 7,000 sq m loft in New York’s garment district. Its centrepiece is a 134m-long, undulating desk that snakes around the space with grotto-like spaces underneath the ‘arches’ designed to accommodate meetings. And it’s not always a case of the bigger equating the bolder – Belgium outfit Five AM has gone mobile in a small but perfectly formed, renovated caravan.

If there’s one thing to take away from The Creative Workplace – other than a debilitating case of office envy – is that unconventional is becoming the new normal.

Plants in office — Designed by X + L Architects, Random Studio’s office is sited in Amsterdam. ‘The indoor garden, the mirror monolith, and the bags filled with plants hanging from the ceiling give the space an edge,’ say the firm. ‘The whole studio feels alive, always changing.'

superdesk view in office — Digital advertising agency Barbarian Group leased a 7,000 sq m loft in the New York garment district to house 125-175 Barbarians, which was surgically gutted to create a large open space. The centrepiece is a 134-metre-long ‘superdesk’ that snakes around the office...

Unique workplace view — ...with grotto-like spaces underneath the ‘arches’, designed to accomodate meetings, bookshelves, storage and focused workspaces.

Japanese architectural firm Mamiya Shinichi Design Studio, located in suburban Nagoya, was inspired by the notion of a safari park when it came to designing its multi-layered office space.

Creative Workplace view — Having moved out of a typical office building, Park + Associates were searching for a new space that would not just accommodate their expansion but also reflect the philosophy of their creative pursuits.

office interior with table — The architects’ office today occupies the mezzanine level of an old school building in Singapore’s River Valley enclave.

Workplace interior view — The firm's workspace is located where the old library hall used to be. Situated at the highest part of the building, it contains an expanse of column- free space crowned by a series of barrel vaults.

Creative Workplace — Casa Rex is a design brand with a main office in São Paulo (pictured) and a base in London. ‘The [office] concept was to explore a combination of rough and raw materials – from the house’s façade, built up from modular metal frames filled with rocks, to the bannisters made from construction sewer pipes,’ say the company.

Office interior view — Ekimetrics’ Paris office was completed in 2014 and is housed inside a nineteenth-century classé palace with golden mouldings and frescoed ceilings.

Factory exterior view — A third-generation family business, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectur is located in a former cement factory on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Creative Workplace interior view — Richard Bofill explains: 'Seduced by the contradictions and the ambiguity of the place, I decided to retain the factory and, modifying its original brutality, sculpt it like a work of art. It is for me the only place where I can concentrate, associate ideas in the most abstract manner, and finally, create projects, images and new spaces, and constitute a specific vocabulary for our architecture.'

Desk with computer — Stochkholm-based MER explains of its minimalist workplace: ’Our office is a creative workshop and the concept is built around “exhibition”.’ Eye-catching features include the paper cube (pictured) and the polished steel room divider.

INFORMATION

Published by ROADS Publishing, £25. For more information, visit the website

Wallpaper* Newsletter