Designing Office Space

On Tuesday, June 16th, we had what is now our annual Tangram Tuesday Dinner During Neocon (the commercial interior design event of the year) at Socca Restaurant.   Roger and his team, as requested, cook and provide as though it’s the best family dinner you’ve attended.  Needless to say, we had a great dinner with customers that were more like family than not.  Customers that work with Tangram Health+Space, Tangram Studio and Tangram were treated to a great meal. As I heard numerous times throughout the evening, the energy in the room was awesome. There were 52 of us in total and for me, the best part of Neocon, was our Tangram Family Dinner at Socca.

Old friends became better friends and lots of acquaintances became friends.  When my dad and I were running On-Site Fabricare (which specialized in refurbished office furniture), one of the great qualities of the company was how it “felt like family.”  I know that we all say that that is how we would like it at our place of employment.  I know that I say it quite often working at Tangram and although my dad is no longer with me to share the family experience, for one night lots of folks who work with Tangram got to feel and experience the Tangram Family.

The party everyone talks about but never knows what to call…was the best event for the group yet! Some call it Young Downtown Los Angeles, others No Networking Allowed Event, and only the brave call it 2 Jews and a Blonde Dude…whatever it’s called brought in over 600 guests to the Penthouse Suite of the AT&T Center last night!

Justin Weiss, Azzi Kashani, and Mitch Carricart make up the threesome people call “2 Jews and a Blonde Dude" - a group of friends that were sick of stuffy networking events where the one goal is to get business cards of prospective clients or partners. They started having these events about a year and a half ago and it’s grown into the sensational event it was last night!


This event brings out Los Angeles’ finest from businesses like Northrop Grumman to organizations like the Weingart Association. Tangram sponsored the event with office furnishings from Steelcase and Coalesse…but the hottest part of the design came from a last minute inspiration from our commercial flooring division. Fred McGinn from Tangram Fabricators came through with some sexy red carpet tiles that were strategically placed throughout the space. What a hit!

The chairs were full, the music was pumping and the drinks were flowing. It may have been “No Networking Allowed” but when hundreds of people are crammed up against the bar to get a drink…you get to know each other pretty well! If you’re interested in attending the next event please contact me and I’ll get you on the list!

So it's been awhile since my last post in which I was listing the benefits of the Apple iPad and its potential to positively affect my daily routine here at Tangram Interiors.  It's been so long in fact that the buzz about Apple's latest product isn't even about the iPad anymore thanks to the recent release of the iPhone 4.

Since my efforts to be an "early adopter" like Phil from Modern Family (arguably the best show on television) were successful (yes, I now have my very own iPad) I thought I would share with you one of the most recent FREE Apps that I downloaded.

Now, office furnishings and office space design might not be the first thing you thought of, but that is exactly what Steelcase had in mind when they developed Roam, which provides you with an interactive tour of the Chicago WorkLife Center located in the iconic Merchandise Mart, recently renovated for NeoCon 2010.

For every solution displayed in the showroom, Roam gives you an interactive floorplan complete with beautiful high-resolution photos (that can be saved or shared via Facebook) along with 3D visualizations, footprints and measurements, the design intent that led to the application, the types of work the solution supports, the products that comprise each solution, and details about the overall showroom design.  While touring through the showroom, our local Tangram and Steelcase team had access to an iPad loaded with Roam that enabled them to enhance our guests' experience and provide further insight to the newest office interiors solutions.

   

If you were unable to visit us at NeoCon in Chicago this year, feel free to connect with us so we can share our recap presentation of all of the newest products and solutions and give you the virtual tour on the iPad!

Recently, Tangram Fabricators (the commercial flooring division of Tangram Interiors) was asked to assist our friends at InterfaceFLOR in installing some of their newest products from NeoCon at their showroom in Los Angeles. Our crew helped remove and load the “old” carpet (which was still in great condition) into a truck so that it could be donated to A Better LA - an organization that helps reform gang members.

We received the following note from Abby Lenon at InterfaceFLOR:

“I just want to thank you again for getting two terrific guys over here to help us. Your team worked hard and had such great attitudes. I hope you can share this story to show other how amazing Tangram is.”

Check out the video below to see how the Tangram Lift System can remove your “old” carpet and give your office a fresh new look with minimal disruption to your employees and your business and without the need for removing any of your office furniture.


If you would like to give a fresh new look to your office space design, let us know by clicking on the “Connect with us...” icon on the right.

I was anxious and excited to start my fist day at NeoCon in Chicago.  I didn’t know what to expect as about 100 DIRTTBags gathered at the Hotel 71 on Wacker Street for the annual DIRTT training and meeting session.

Mogens was inspiring, as always, in his typical "colorful" way, followed by announcements of what’s new with the latest software released, upcoming product releases, sales updates and forecasts for 2010-2011 and strategies.  The afternoon was a session called "Thrills with Drills." We were divided up into about 10 teams of 10 people each and handed power tools (grunt grunt)! We were given a set of plans with an office design layout and a pile of stick built DIRTT product and a stop watch and someone yelled “go”!  We built a small office about 4’ x 4’ square about 5’ high, including power.  Each wall was different and we had to read the plan elevations to exactly match where all the tiles went, etc.  What fun!  And guess who’s team won? Yep, you guessed it. My team, along with David Morgan from Tangram!  We made our local DIRTT reps, Donna Shirely and Mike Taylor proud.

Following this exciting activity, we walked to the new DIRTT showroom at 325 N. Wells Street for a cocktail party reception and sneak peak of what the world will see at Neocon. Wow, is all I can say. You MUST get over to the showroom to see it and bring as many people with you as you can. It is amazing.  Photos from my fabulous day and the showroom are on Facebook.

Now you won’t find this design in a catalog, but you will see it on the Tangram Studio website, because Studio designers are constantly trying to come up with innovative office design ideas and concepts that will blow your mind. Now I am not saying this is mind blowing, but I will say I am pretty sure it hasn’t been done before.

Typically we see cork in wine bottles and most recently in commercial flooring. I have taken this material and applied it to what I think is an innovative application. Without applying any resin or filler to it, I have simply applied it to a plexi panel in its raw tile form and created an interesting tack panel. Cork is becoming a popular green material and according to an Ecolect post they believe Cork Mosaic is the forward-looking green material for modern architectural surfaces. These tiles are recycled from the cork stopper industry’s by-product and they come in 1 inch diameter tiles, which is plenty of room for your typical pin or tack! Cork Mosaic in this Penny Round style is perfect for walls and floors (or even tack panels) and is water resistant.

Now I am not certain that the water resistance is a necessary need for office interiors solutions but it doesn’t hurt to know that your tack panel can handle a good in-office water fight! And while one can duck behind their privacy panel in a water brawl and be safe from water damage, they can also be assured their office is helping in the fight to keep our earth green by using sustainable office furniture panels such as these - panels only Tangram Studio can provide!  I look forward to the client who shares a love of this cork concept as much as I do, so I can see this concept come to life one day.

The following is a guest post from Paula Christiansen on her first day at NeoCon.  When she is not selling custom office furniture with our Tangram Studio team, she is educating the commercial interior design community on the architectural products offered by Tangram Interiors.

I was anxious and excited to start the day at 7am.  I didn’t know what to expect as about 100 DIRTTBags gathered at the Hotel 71 on Wacker St for the annual DIRTT training and meeting session.  It was a great day.

Mogens was inspiring, as always, in his typical "colorful" way, followed by announcements of what’s new with the latest software released, upcoming product releases, sales updates and forecasts for 2010-2011 and strategies.  The afternoon was a session called "Thrills with Drills."  We were divided up into about 10 teams of 10 people each and handed power tools (grunt grunt)!  We were given a set of plans with an office design layout and a pile of stick built DIRTT product and a stop watch and someone yelled “go”!  We built a small office about 4’ x 4’ square about 5’ high, including power.  Each wall was different and we had to read the plan elevations to exactly match where all the tiles went, etc.  What fun!  And guess who’s team won? Yep, you guessed it.  My team, along with David Morgan from Tangram!  We made our local DIRTT reps, Donna Shirely and Mike Taylor proud.

Following this exciting activity, we walked to the new DIRTT showroom at 325 N. Wells Street for a cocktail party reception and sneak peak of what the world will see at Neocon. Wow, is all I can say. You MUST get over to the showroom to see it and bring as many people with you as you can. It is amazing.  Photos from my fabulous day and the showroom are on Facebook.

Have you ever been in a rut at work…a slave to a routine? Have you been bogged down by gobs of tasks? Have things been “too busy”, “too hard”, or taken “too long”? We all get there…but how long do we stay there? Creating “standards” or a routine kit of parts is in many cases the goal with an office design layout and commercial interior design. Cost effective and what clients request? Yes! Repetitive and possibly rut inducing? YES!

A few years ago, a certain two year old (my niece Emme) responded to questions in the following way; “too busy” (translation: No) “too hard” (translation: NO!) or “too long” (translation: NOOOOOO!!!!!!!) This drove her parents crazy. (It’s funny how her responses even at that age parallel excuses we sometimes make as adults.) Her parents much preferred (and who wouldn’t) when she answered “SURE!”

On one particularly cranky day with no inspiration in sight, too much to do and people wanting much more than I thought I could give, I gave up. I gave up the rut, the routine, the “too busy”, “too hard”, and “too long.” I changed my response and in return, it’s changing me. I decided to roll “Emme-style” and say “SURE!”…to just about everything. “Can you help me with interactive whiteboards?” “SURE!” I replied, even though I knew nothing about them. “Do you have time to review some samples from a commercial flooring vendor?” “SURE!” “Can you speak to this group of students?” “SURE!” I was surprised by what was happening. Giving more was actually taking LESS time, making it possible to break from the routine that was dragging me down! There were also unexpected opportunities: Speaking to first through sixth graders at a school career day. The best question from that day: “Do you know Oprah?” I wish!! (Note to Oprah…PLEASE call me so next time I can answer “SURE!” to that question.) Hosting high school students at our main office for a “job shadow” day and seeing their jaws drop when we picked them up in our company van. Critiquing final projects for a college course, and my favorite, actually having more time to do the parts of my job I love….working with our designers.

Signing off for now…SURE!

Last night was the Calibre Awards. We had a group of 15 that included end users, designers and Tangram Staff in attendance to root on the Tangram Team that was up for 6 total awards. Many hours later, we received…not one award. But judging by the looks on the faces of the 15 of us and the energy we brought into the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel, there is no doubt that we in fact did win.

William H. Hannon Library
nominated by: AECOM
In no particular order, our first disappointment was not winning for the custom educational furniture solutions that Tangram Studio provided for the William H. Hannon Library at LMU. This was a project we did with AECOM and as library’s go, this is no doubt the finest library in North America. The custom solutions that Tangram Studio in conjunction with AECOM came up with were a 1st place finish by my standards. 



Miller Children's Hospital
nominated by: Taylor Architects
We also fell short with the work we did with Taylor for Miller Children’s Hospital. In addition to the Steelcase furniture we provided, we also supplied the flooring throughout the hospital. This too was a 1st Place finish if I had a vote. The workmanship we provided was outstanding and as healthcare environments go, this facility is warm and friendly and is not the kind of healing facility I remember as a kid. It’s a beautiful installation. 



SCAN Health Plan
nominated by: The Urquiza Group, Inc.
One of the biggest disappointments was not being recognized for the work Tangram and Tangram Studio provided for the Scan Health Plan project. This is one of the first projects in which Tangram Studio added custom office furniture elements to standard Steelcase offerings so as to fulfill the design intent of the Urquiza Group. Manuel Urquiza had a vision for the space that only the industrial designers from Tangram Studio could have made a reality. This too was an awesome installation and given the competition we had for this award, then yes, we should have won in this category as well.


Beachbody
nominated by: Wolcott Architecture | Interiors 
The Beachbody project we worked on with Wolcott Architecture Interiors provided a space that in addition to having a “tight budget,” Tangram Studio provided custom solutions that was as tailored to the space as the pb90x video that Beachbody produces is for getting yourself into great physical shape. If the criteria for this category were minimal budget without sacrificing fit and finish, this too should have been a 1st place winner. 




The National Typewriter Company
nominated by: Shimoda Design Group
When our team of industrial designers from Tangram Studio walked the completed installation at The National Typewriter Company, the comments from our team confirmed the genius that is Shimoda Design. The custom office furniture acted as the perfect back drop to Shimoda’s architectural elements. By all accounts, this too was a 1st place finisher. It’s just that the judges did not agree with my own biased opinion.




HLW
nominated by: HLW International LLP
Working with an almost nonexistent budget, the Tangram Studio team was charged with taking HLW’s existing furniture and adding custom elements so that when HLW moved into its new offices, the existing furniture now had the appearance of having been designed for the new space. The marriage of custom elements modified to fit around and onto beams and existing structures was a well thought out office space design challenge. And a challenge that should have been rewarded with a 1st Place Finish, just not at this year’s Calibre Awards. 


I was reminded throughout the evening that all though we did not win any awards at this year’s Calibre Awards that the best in class and always First Place Finish by my account are the men and women that I get to work with daily. Their efforts are always great; their attitudes are always uplifting and collectively, it’s the best group of folks I’ve ever worked with. It’s a privilege that I get to work with them daily. As my mom would tell me when I was playing baseball in high school and after I personally had a bad game, she was always there to say “you are still number one!” And now I get to say to my team that although we did not win, we are still…number one!

We finally have a fantastic website that displays what we are all about! Tangram Studio has done so much over the past years on the design and engineering side of our business that the old website wasn’t reflecting all the great work that had been done!

We NOW have images of completed work, work in progress, and even our conceptual office design ideas! Find out how truly talented our Team is and be sure to read about our environmental mission, including how we focus on using sustainable office furniture in every project! You are sure to find our Approach like no other…our meticulous attention to detail and passion for innovation stand us apart from our competition!

We’re excited to display our work on this fabulously visual website with the same integrity as our work is designed and engineered!

Enjoy!

This is my favorite time of year! The days are longer, the weather is mild and wedding invitations/graduations announcements make their way to me.

One announcement in particular made me smile….

A few years ago I met Cate when she came to interview for an intern position at Tangram Interiors. She was earnest, enthusiastic, and kooky with a good sense of design…and in the first five minutes she convinced me that we needed her as much as she needed us. During her time in our design department, she fit in well and happily completed every task we requested.

As Cate progressed, she came to realize that commercial interior design and designing office space was not for her. Fortunately, she fell in love with designing custom office furniture, and all that our Tangram Studio team has to offer. One quick change of major at CSULB (is there such a thing?) and she was on her way. She’s been helping Studio design sustainable and locally manufactured office furniture ever since.

Cate’s graduation announcement was on my desk this morning…with a note…text “YES” if I am coming…

Congratulations Cate!!!!

If you need a reason to head to Newport Beach (and breakfast with George isn’t enough)...this year marks the eleventh annual Newport Beach Film Festival. Screenings encompassing a variety of genres run from April 22-29 in various theaters in and around the Fashion Island/Newport Beach area. This year marks the expansion of the Art, Architecture + Design Film Series.

So…how does this relate to commercial interior design or office space design? It all started with a “pop up space,” a vacant space used for a very brief period of time. Pop up spaces are used frequently as art galleries or retail stores…and they happen FAST. One of the most famous pop up spaces was a 220 foot barge tied to a pier in the Hudson River one December by Target. This time the NBFF needed a space for the Variety Hospitality Suite, and the Irvine Company delivered. Now, it was up to Tangram Interiors to develop a quick and easily executable plan for the space. We went from walking the space and picking paints on Thursday, to having a furniture plan finalized on Friday, painting the space on Saturday (thank you Miriam and friends), having IT run cables on Monday and finally having office furnishings picked up from our offices and delivered to the hospitality suite the following Wednesday.

Here's the before, during and after...

Oh…I almost forgot…breakfast with George…I do have a photo…though I must say he is a little quiet until he gets his coffee!!!

Our blogmaster (for lack of a better term) gently reminded me that I’ve been remiss in writing recently and since he is somewhat giddy having just received his new iPad, I decided to humor him with the hope he would get me one too in exchange for this post.

Seriously though…his reminder did cause me to reflect: “What have I been doing?”  A recent and unique experience follows.

In the world of office space design “emergencies” happen with some regularity. In most cases, these are urgent situations where someone is surprised on a Thursday afternoon with a new hire starting the following Monday. While challenging and inconvenient, it is frequently part of the job…and it feels great when we can devise a solution!!

The Monday after Easter, we received a call from a client which could be classified as a real furniture emergency…but…you be the judge. It seems the tenant who occupied the space above our client’s completed some plumbing repairs over the weekend. The lines were clogged and needed to be streamlined. The plumbers went about their business and in clearing the lines, they broke through the pipes causing raw sewage to pour into the plenum space and spill into the suite below…on the furniture. Raw sewage (aside from being “narsty” to the Nth degree) is classified as “black water” in the plumbing biz and anything it touches must be destroyed (even using refurbished office furniture isn't allowed)…because in coming into contact with the raw sewage, the objects it touches are “narsty” too! Eeeeewwwww! So sadly, the office furnishings (and personal contents) all have to be destroyed, the commercial flooring removed and bacterial levels monitored (with what I am calling a “germ-o-meter”).  Now picture this poor person receiving a call on Easter (or one of the last days of Passover) that what amounts to “doodie” has invaded her facility…you’d postpone your blog a few days to help her too…right?

I think that it is safe to say that anyone that works in the commercial interior design industry or has any involvement in dealing with office furnishings would agree it is easy to become overwhelmed with the countless products to choose from when creating an office space design.

From the floor to the ceiling, it could be the thousands of patterns and colors made available by the commercial flooring vendors to the more technical components of healthcare environments that could put any experienced professional into a tail spin.

But every once in a while a product comes along that is not only simple to specify, but more importantly simple to use - especially when that product is integrated with technology.  Such is the case with media:scape by Steelcase.  A seamless integration of furniture and technology, this product allows a user to quickly and easily "walk up and connect" their laptop to a table which is attached to as many as four screens.  No longer does a single person have to control the projector and sharing of information - now data can be shared from multiple sources, by multiple people - all at the same time!

Obviously, since Tangram Interiors is a Steelcase dealer and office interiors solutions provider we have access to use their full line of products - which is evident upon visiting any of our four showrooms in Los Angeles, Orange County, the Inland Empire and San Fernando Valley.  We have already installed two standing-height media:scape stations in our Santa Fe Springs showroom, one lounge-height station in Santa Ana and have multiple others that we are using in a "test drive" program where we deliver it to our customers' own offices so that they can kick the tires and use it for a week or so.

I must say that media:scape has definitely created an unusual buzz in the office, unlike any other I have witnessed in my tenure here.  The stations rarely go unused; from impromptu meetings to review documents between two individuals, to full conferencing sessions between our two showrooms using our WebEx meeting center for real-time document sharing as well as our latest addition of a video conferencing solution from LifeSize (of which Tangram is now an authorized dealer!) to allow for more personal interaction.

I may be a bit partial since I love technology, but I truly think that the office design layout and the way in which people interact within it is about to dramatically change thanks to technology solutions like media:scape.

If you have any thoughts on the use of technology in the workplace or if you would like more information on how we have integrated it in our offices, I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

When we first met the architects, we were driving through Venice looking for the right house when Charlotte saw an Orange House with their address on it...she knew this was going to be a fantastic project!  Inspired by the Orange House she met with the team and learned that the client didn't have the office design layout to support traditional cubicles.

Their collaboration led to a vision - "if we used curved corners the client can increase their station count by 20%". The mission was to get as close to walls and meet code clearances by creating 18" radius corners.

This was the pinnacle of the office space design challenge for Studio: "How do we engineer curved corners?"

Manufactured wood drums have the 18" corner we need and they are really attractive - but really pricy!

To keep within budget we decided that steel was going to be the best option, until...we calculated that the weight of using 1/8" steel skins was prohibitive to the building - workstations weighing 700 lbs. are as heavy as a Bison!  Plan C - ALUMINUM...it's true, 3rd time is a charm!  We achieved the look and radius we needed and the workstation weighed 50% less.

KPCC was a project that started long ago in the world of custom office furniture.  It was four years ago when I first attended a meeting at the architecture firm, Chu + Gooding.  When I arrived at their office I could barely concentrate on the task at hand due to the lollapalooza of interesting mock-ups, posters, magazine images and samples that adorned the walls of their studio.  I may have appeared distracted or come across as rude, but it was a feast for the eyes and mind.

We had been asked to their fabulous office to discuss the development of custom workstations for a new space in Pasadena to be occupied by the public radio station, 89.3 KPCC.  The architect, Annie, was looking to create a space with "non-cubicle" and "non-corporate" looking workstations and sustainable office furniture.  She and I began sketching and talking about materials, the space itself and how the client wanted their space to function.

On the back wall of the studio there was the most perfect triangular piece of white wool felt pinned to the wall.  She mentioned that she had come across the felt while in Norway.  Ahh, inspiration!  I mentioned that we at TangramStudio were having a love affair with felt.  After all, what's not to love about a warm, textural material that is made from recycled sweaters?  The question then became - how could we use this sublime, natural, acoustical, tack-able and environmentally friendly material?  Since it feels somewhat warm like a blanket, we immediately thought about wrapping the panels with it.  We designed a panel wrap that would wrap from under the surface, up around the top to create a soft, radiused top cap.

As we worked our way through the design concept, Annie pushed for a creative way to combine the functional items required in a workstation.  The client had requested overhead cabinets. These usually end up creating an oppressive, heavy datum line that dominates the space.  So to reduce this effect, we designed the spine panels so that our installation crew could install the overheads at random, varying heights.  This created an undulating cityscape appearance in the space.

All of these design elements seemed easy except for the felt panels.  How were we to affix the felt to the panel?  What kind of felt...neddled or felted?  How thick...F-7 or f-15?  How should it be cut...water jet, laser or saw?  Luckily, there is a felt mill close by our office (we strive to use locally manufactured office furniture whenever possible).  After three wrong turns and two phone calls, we found the non-descript building that housed all of the answers we were looking for.  Inside was every imaginable felt available.  Rolls after rolls, 6 inches high to 96 inches high.  There were all of the colors - white, grey, green (for lizard cages), dark grey (for trunk liners).

There were multiple rounds of gluing, cutting and stretching of the felt until we had a material that could slide into a track/frame system.  The end result involved the felt being bolted to the metal panels.  This also added to the sustainability of the new workstations.  If the felt would to become soiled, it could be removed by simply removing four bolts and pulling it off the panel.  This way, the felt could be sent back to the mill and placed in the hopper for recycling.

Our love affair with felt continues...

The Griswolds...you know, the family from the movie who brought holiday decorations to a whole new level - every neighborhood has them.  Sometimes the "Griswolds" can turn a whole street into enough of a Wonderland that a full legal disclosure is needed when a family purchases a property on that street!
How does this relate to office space design you ask?  Well, considering that we spend many of our waking hours working, it seems only logical that the "Griswolds" would take their creativity inside to the world of office furnishings and turn their office into...well...the North Pole, a Nativity or Santa's Workshop.

Are you a "Griswold"?  Do you work close to one?  If so, get your holiday on, take some pictures of your workplace environment and send those pictures in!  I will publish the top three pictures right here on my blog!

I just got back to the Studio from an afternoon of prototyping felt tack panels at our upholsterer. For one of our current custom office furniture projects, the architect has a desire to create interior tack panels with horizontal stripes.

The inspiration comes from a British carpet manufacturer. They offer a line of thick, nubby, horizontal-striped carpet. It's really quite beautiful.

So how do we replicate a similar feel within the custom workstations? The architect suggested wicking felt, stacked horizontally. We attempted to sew 1/2" diameter wicking felt tubes to a felt backer. It was a bit like trying to squeeze a bubble. Needless to say, we had to go in an alternate direction.

However, felt has a great warm textural feel. We love felt! It's a "green" material (sustainable office furniture is something that we always try to incorporate into our projects) that has this fantastic organic/industrial/warm feeling all in one. Who would have thought all of that would be possible in one material? So I stopped by our felt vendor in Placentia (locally manufactured office furniture is another key to Studio projects) to obtain several sheets of felt.

Now, how could we take plain, flat felt sheets and begin to fold and sew them to create depth and pattern? There are so many options and possibilities when it comes to sewing: the manipulation of the felt sheets, the stitching, layering of strips - all interesting and full of possibilities.

We arrived at a possible solution. Gustavo, the factory manager, refurbishes old vintage cars. He suggested we treat the felt panels like vintage car seats - curved, detailed stitching, piping - picture a 1959 Impala or a 1965 Falcon. We landed on a 3/4" diameter piping strip stacked horizontally with a felt cover. Gustavo and I set out to the sewing machines to see if this would work. By horizontally stacking the piping and stitching it between two layers of felt I think we have a close facsimile to the British carpet!




Do you have a project that you are trying to incorporate something unique into? Let TangramStudio know - we would love to co-create something with you for your office design layout!

Recently, a design consultant and I were working on a project for a fairly conservative client.  The designer had proposed incorporating a fair amount of lavender into the scheme.  Given the conservative nature of the client, introducing lavender (which elicits a strong and not always favorable response in the realm of office space design) was cause for concern.  While Bottega Veneta and Fendi have splashed lavender across their fall 2009 collections and this has trickled down to H&M, it’s not common in the cubicle filled world of office furniture design…yet. 

On the day of our presentation, the designer arrived carrying a Bergdorf’s bag filled with samples in varying shades of lavender, plum, and mauve…no back up colors.  We refined our selections, made them more conservative and moved our cast-offs and the Bergdorf’s bag (left oddly standing up) to a credenza in the room.  The presentation went well though the CEO was hesitant, but open to incorporating lavender into the office layout.  The designer shared his inspiration for the schemes, which included the advertisements for Botega Veneta and Fendi.  As the designer gestured to the advertisements, the CEO saw the Bergdorf’s bag (also a lovely lavender color) below the advertisements along with our cast-offs for the first time.

“What are these?” the CEO asked.  The designer answered, “Oh, those are some things we thought were a little too wild.”  “Really?  I like these better.” The CEO replied. 

I am not sure if it was the ads or the strategically placed Bergdorf’s bag that validated our scheme, but I did see a flicker of victory cross the designers face!

Do you have any stories about incorporating something wild or unusual into an office design layout?