When global financial technology platform Intuit took on a new space on the fifth floor of a mid-rise office block in San Francisco, it tapped The Bureau, a multi-award-winning interior architecture and design studio, led by Sarah Giesenhagen, to bring the lacklustre office to life
Giesenhagen’s design approach has been a joyful celebration of the Bay Area’s entrepreneurial and creative spirit, as well as colour. A central tenet of the design was to create a variety of spaces to meet the needs of today’s workforce – here numbering some 200. The office is arranged around “neighbourhoods” for teams, each anchored by shared team tables, playful integrated millwork and biophilic design elements that create a warm, hospitality-style ambience. A mix of assigned and communal workstations, alongside an array of ergonomic set-ups and quiet nooks, offer options for every type of worker.
“We created adjacencies throughout the office that could offer spontaneity or intentionality,” explains Giesenhagen. “For instance, we designed focus areas that have shielding for acoustic privacy and shallower site lines for psychological safety, as well as social areas that reflected a living room style to create a reason to connect with another individual or group, regardless of whether the space is hosting an event or not.”
Colour plays a vital role in the scheme. “Intuit wanted a bold and fresh character expressed in this project,” adds Giesenhagen. “Simultaneously, we wanted a feeling of fluidity and calm. The colour palette was our mechanism and solution. We centred our colour choices by utilising yellow as a neutral. Base tones of tan, putty, white and yellow consistently warmed up the space to set a sophisticated backdrop. Thereafter, we used saturated colours to dial things up or dial down energies, according to each area’s objective.”
Animating the office is a curated collection of more than 30 artworks, mostly by Bay Area artists (and Inuit customers) and sourced from local galleries. These pieces, including 2D and 3D artworks, as well as integrated murals, digital installations and branded graphics, celebrate the cultural identity of the region.
A standout is a feature wall created by local artist Hannah Ember Sitzer. Located in the main conference room, the 24-foot-long installation incorporates original artefacts from 20 small businesses that are anchored in the city’s music scene, from vinyl pressers to music stores and stagewear designers.
Sustainability and circularity were also key drivers in the renovation. The design retained 90 per cent of the existing built environment in the space, including walls, ceilings and doors. Office furniture, including many classic MillerKnoll pieces, was reused and refurbished whenever possible, with many pieces on their third life, repurposed from previous Intuit sites.
Photography by Yoshihiro Makino
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