design blitz: one workplace headquarters

design blitz: one workplace headquarters
image © bruce damonte
all images courtesy of design blitz

the collaborative and adaptive reuse of, ‘the one workplace headquarters’ by californian architecture and design company ‘design blitz’ redefines the typical showroom experience. a multifunctional indoor-outdoor environment was created for ‘one workplace’ – the largest furniture dealer in northern california and the single source for steelcase furniture in the san francisco bay area. their new headquarters is located adjacent to the san jose airport arterial roads and a freight train station, in an industrial part of santa clara.

the project celebrates this industrial history and is an example of urban regeneration. turning the original discarded warehouse and office buildings into a bleeding edge, world-class environment that serves both its employees and customers. the architects at design blitz mapped the experiences of both the customers and the users through carefully planned ‘touch points’, which resulted in a ‘boomerang-type’ journey where they were brought back to their original starting point. the concept was carried through into the design with the two story stacked boomerang feature in the center of the open plan office.

view of the two story stacked boomerang feature in the center of the open plan office
image © bruce damonte

the design of the interior space is key to effective sales for the company. the elevated observation platform allows staff to show customers an overview of the variety of systems and solutions that create unified and flexible working environments. the kitchen is located in the middle, connecting the two buildings, it was designed to bring the users together. upon entering the building the work-cafe is immediately presented signaling that this is a different type of workplace.

the new 35,000 square feet of office/showroom/workspace has an adjacent 180,000 square foot warehouse. the project demonstrates strong economical efficiency as the company moved from a 45,000 square foot space into the new smaller one, while increasing staff from 101 to 165. centralized shared workstations were set up for mobile workers, located around the work cafe or other soft seating areas, which helped to create a mobile flowing office.

the boomerang allows staff to show customers an overview of the variety of furniture solution
image © bruce damonte