Studio O+A has worked with Yelp on three different buildings since 2010 – the designs have evolved in each location – pictured here is their original site on Mission Street in San Francisco. Photographer: Jasper Sanidad
At Work Design Magazine we are always on the lookout for opportunities to chat with our industry colleagues and thought leaders. At this year’s NeoCon, Primo Orpilla, FIIDA, principal, Studio O+A was a panelist for the presentation “The True Measure of a Space is How it Makes Us Feel”, an excellent discussion moderated by Jennifer Busch, and included Dr. Sally Augustin, and Collin Burry. After the busy week of NeoCon, we were able to connect and have a great conversation to follow up on some of the topics (and more) that came up at that event.
As companies take more initiatives to look at the whole employee experience, how much does space design inform that process?
When we first engage with a client, we try to understand what the company wants from their space. We all recognize the desire to use workspace as a tool to recruit and retain, but more significant is helping them define their corporate DNA and determining what makes them different. We want to help them figure out how to express their values and utilize design as a driver for the company. A lot of our interactions and engagements come at the beginning or middle of a company’s growth trajectory. We may begin our work with them when they are a startup or be called upon to work with them when they may be in the doldrums, and their space doesn’t inspire anymore.
Sometimes a company’s first space no longer reflects their identity, or a larger office has not kept up with the evolution of their culture. We need to work with them to research and identify their current DNA and find the story that will tie to a narrative that we can translate into the design of a space. Robust design is rooted in that story. It is about where they were when they were discovering who they were as a company. We can use the power of design to send that message. The look and feel of a space may be something you haven’t seen before; it may be expressed through the materials used. At O+A we want to create a space that provides a memorable experience that evolves from a thoughtfully considered design discussion with our clients. There is no room in our portfolio for a “soul-less” project!
Are there any differences in how you approach a project depending on what point you are asked to work with a company? Does a startup engage with you differently than a more established client?
Our practice grew out of our early involvement with many tech startups in Silicon Valley. There is something about startup culture that is unique. As they mature and need to expand or relocate, we work with them to decide how to reimagine their space for organic growth. We also work with them to define the message(s) that space will send not only to their customers but to their employees. It is essential to get that message right and create an environment that shows that the company values their employees. We need to understand how those people work
Moreover, how they relate to the space around them. In many startup cultures, the younger-skewing workforce may only understand workplace in the framework of a college campus. People tend to bring with them the vernacular of being able to work anywhere from the dorm, to the library, to the student union. The concept of working in a cubicle is foreign. They are free spirits and can find a place to hunker down in multiple environments either open or quiet areas when they need to do serious work. In the early days, there were situations where there were massive amounts of people with no order – this is where we needed to start strategizing. We needed to work with our clients to “guard the space plan.” By this, I mean that we had to design spaces that could keep on growing and change over time in a way that made sense as the company matured. We worked to put protocols in place to ensure that the workplace could function as it expanded and still provide a good experience for the workers. Those startup clients have become entrepreneurs and continue to be our clients to this day.