Onoffice magazine

As a client, Red Bull certainly has form when it comes to setting the pace in workplace design. In the UK alone, its work with Jump Studios set a benchmark for the playful workplace in the mid-noughties which was all ping-pong tables and slides, while a few years down the line, they surprised us all with a more pared-down, austerity-chic look courtesy of MoreySmith. At its new headquarters in Amsterdam, Red Bull has continued to push the design boundaries, this…

Welcome to Office 04, Dutch architects i29’s latest work. It’s in Amsterdam, designed for global advertisers Tribal DDB, which describes itself as “the greatest digitally-centric agency in the world.” With statements like this one might expect an uber-tech workplace that comes complete with hoverbike rack and teleporter pads. Not so. In reality the client restrained itself to a simple monochrome palette that prioritises functionality, chiming with the project’s understated sequential moniker. i29 is a practice big on materiality, but small…

The colonisation of former industrial spaces by the creative industries has become a familiar tale over the last decade. It seemed like, to slot into the new mediocracy, all you needed was a warehouse, a cool website and slightly pretentious company name. Nebulous, the dot.com bubble inevitably burst, and everyone grew up. Yet despite the primary-colour nightmare of yesteryear, former industrial spaces remain top of any creative company’s wish-list. The large windows, generous ceilings and abundance of daylight are just…

Just when we thought we had the measure of workplace design in the Netherlands, along comes another scheme to blow onoffice’s mind. The Pallet Project, which is set next to a canal in Amsterdam, is home to BrandBase, an advertising agency (who’d have thought?) that specialises in cross-media communication, with Shell, ING and Schipol on its books. The office design concept comes courtesy of Rotterdam-based Most Architecture, which is led by Paul Geurts, 32, and 30-year-old Saxon-Lear Duckworth. “They wanted an…

In terms of travel, there has been a marked trend in business people extending their hotel stays to enjoy a few days away with their partner, and in workplace design too, the term “bleisure” coined by trends research body the Future Laboratory, is set to become one of the big buzzwords for 2010 and beyond. We’ve already seen this in Maurice Mentjens’ PostPanic project (onoffice, March 2010) and now a student workspace, also in Amsterdam, is further reflecting this change…

Generally speaking, an inspired designer + low budgets + a client willing to take risks = a pretty wowzers office. The Dutch seem to be particularly good at this equation, as is the case with design animation studio PostPanic in Amsterdam, whipped up by Maurice Mentjens. We’ve seen this scenario play itself out over and over again in the pages of onoffice and its worth banging on about it a bit more: bespoke design solutions inspired by low budgets often…

Amsterdam offers up a curious juxtaposition: on one hand, there is contemporary design and a thriving creative industry. On the other, of course, the tawdry delights.

Laikingland is a creative collaboration based in both the UK and the Netherlands. Its intention is to design and manufacture beautifully crafted kinetic objects that engage the observer, and evoke a sense of play and nostalgia. Laikingland’s first product is the Applause Machine, designed by British artist Martin Smith. It is available in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Harley Gallery in the UK, and Hot Ice ConFUSION in Amsterdam.   www.laikingland.co.uk