At March Studio, we create branded architecture with purpose, unique environments where people can authentically experience your brand. Over the years, we’ve developed an expertise in designing creative office space, from VICE Media in Venice, to NICE LTD in Singapore, to Our Space, recently opened in Marbella, Spain. Companies today are looking for employee attraction and retention, placing an emphasis on workplace experience and culture. This shift makes the employees the companies’ first brand advocates, helping to promote business and foster the company culture. While every project is unique in reflecting the particular identity and culture of each client’s brand, there are a few concepts that we consistently utilize during the design process.
Sense of Identity
Large tech companies have recently led the press in creating office spaces that reflect their culture and brand identity, but March Studio has had expertise in this area for 20 years. Employees more readily buy into a company’s mission and purpose when it is made visible in the space they inhabit daily. For some companies this may be expressed as added playful elements like arcade games and ping-pong tables, or a focus on biophilia and nature, while others may have a more focused, business-like sensibility. There is an increased awareness of the impact of a company’s culture and brand identity on the wellbeing of its employees and as a marketing aspect for new business.
Flexibility & Variety
Creative and innovative companies are anxious to stray from the status quo, and this is reflected in the space planning of their offices. Employees want a variety of spaces to work in depending on the type of work they are engaged in (collaboration, meetings, focused work), the type of seating that best supports them (desk, cafe, lounge) or just their particular mood that day. This involves clever furniture selection and spatial design, with an emphasis on more fluid programming than traditional office spaces.
Coworker Collaboration
Clients realize that innovation comes from an overlap of ideas. Most companies today appreciate more informal meeting and collaborative spaces within the workplace to encourage this innovation. For the Our Space project, we developed “Curated Collisions”, small, internal parklets that offer a range of work surface and seating configurations for informal meetings, creative sessions or individual contemplation. These breakout spaces encourage a more organic interaction between coworkers in different departments and disciplines throughout the day.
Indoor/Outdoor Connection
Clients and their employees appreciate a connection to air, views and natural light. Even spaces without a direct relationship to the outdoors, can bring the outdoors in through the use of better lighting, interior planting, and materials and patterns that reflect the natural world. The science of biophilia, and its ability to affect performance and productivity, is astounding. March Studio is always looking for new and creative ways to integrate the outdoors and nature within their clients’ spaces.
While each office project yields distinct branded environments for our clients, these common threads offer a solid starting point from which to develop the wholistic branded architecture of your creative office space. At March Studio, we strive to create Your Space, Your Story, environments that reflect who you are, what you value, and the future you aspire to. We value relationships and believe in a fully collaborative effort that leads to buildings and environments that help to fulfill every client’s purpose.