Case Study: Pophouse HQ2 - Series 2
Read Below
Read Below
Case Study: Pophouse HQ2 - Series 2
The design narrative is a critical component within our process to lay a foundation to which all design decisions can be thoughtfully tied. Every project begins with a discovery study on the what, the who, and the why, all of which inform the design narrative. As a studio, we’ve aligned on a structure to build our design narratives, the basis of which is the design concept. The design concept is a simple and straightforward way to describe the overarching theme or idea. We then modify a step further to explain what this does and what’s unique about the interpretation of the design concept, or the angle. From there, we frame up the ethos, which is the philosophy behind the concept, guiding the approach. Every narrative is unique to the project and provides an opportunity to tell the story of the brand and its purpose. The design objectives and principles physically support the ideas introduced by the concept and act as a compass or guideposts for the design throughout the entire process.
As we considered the best way to tell the Pophouse story, we knew it needed to be rooted in the idea of the collective. Our concept, Gather, speaks to the collection of unique perspectives and experience our team brings together in order to innovate and progress forward in all we do. Our headquarters space will embody this concept as a space to gather and promote connection, process, and mission across our organization. Our design objectives – invite, inspire, kindle, and craft – tell the story of the creative process, while our design principles – intuitive hospitality, nourished being, shared intention, fluid creativity, environmental equity, and the science of play – show up physically within the environment to support our team, our clients, and our work. The mood board is a beautiful way to describe overarching look and feel, the essence of the concept.
Our palette for the space leans into warm neutrals, relying heavily on texture and depth of materials to provide visual layering and interest. Slight accent colors include warm terracotta and an earthy sage, complimentary to our brand palette. We’ve also relied on a heavy dose of black and white within the space to provide contrast and balance, seeking a headquarters that feels sleek and modern while comfortable and warm.
The journey of realizing a design narrative and palette for our new headquarters has been invigorating and challenging at the same time. It has allowed us to discover how our brand, our work, and our team show up in a genuine way, while also pushing us to define how this new space can propel and sustain our team and our work for years to come.
The overall look and feel for our new headquarters evokes a sense of calm, familiarity, and belonging, allowing the Pophouse team and guests to feel at home within the space. The imagery was thoughtfully curated to tie into our core values – fearless, curious, thoughtful, and authentic.
The neutral foundation to our palette provides a clean backdrop allowing our team to display process and in-progress work. Natural, warm materials and soft tones are layered to create a welcoming environment, balancing rich colors and textures that complement the historical finishes within the building.
The programming and test fitting of our new HQ began with simple bubble diagrams to iterate on optimized adjacencies and function for the team. We first identified the program needs based on the survey data from our team and gaps in our current space. We then took the time as a team to envision our preferred and ideal methods of working and presence in the future office. It was important to us that our HQ felt more like a vibrant gathering space than a traditional office. A key balance of shared and individual public and private space would allow our team to fluctuate in task and posture throughout the day with ease. Another key program driver was our desire to host and immerse clients and guests within our work and our process. Once we settled on program and optimum adjacency, we began space planning. Our space plans evolved over a few weeks of time and refinements on use case, team feedback, and existing constraints within the site. We eventually landed on a final space plan which will allow us to host clients and guests comfortably with an immersive design lab and collaboration space while also facilitating a productive and diverse working environment for our team.
Our team created multiple iterations of bubble diagrams based on preferred adjacencies and incorporation of all the program needs and amenities we wanted to prioritize for the new space.
We refined several iterations of space plans, pushing ourselves creatively to find the best fit for our future space supporting both our ideal methods of working and crafting a thoughtful, innovative experience to host our clients and guests.
Our final space plan offers an engaging studio experience, celebrating our design lab and library as collaboration space for our team and immersing our clients and guests within our work and process.
Next Story