Play
Pause
ValueAct Capital, one of the West Coast’s largest investment management firms, had outgrown their office space and was looking for a new environment that would facilitate the particular way they work. To facilitate their work, they were seeking a balance between a collaborative idea space and a cloistered, investment-sensitive environment. Multistudio designed a new 30,000 sf workplace for ValueAct that allows ideas to flow freely or be completely contained at the discretion of the individual, supporting a palette of different working styles. Located in the Letterman Digital Arts Center Complex within the Historic San Francisco Presidio, their new offices are rooted in surroundings that are unmistakably San Francisco.
Private offices along the perimeter are interspersed with open work areas, collaboration and break out spaces. This organization is most apparent in the Investor Wing. Generously sized offices have glass doors that close for complete acoustical privacy and feature break out meeting spaces of their own. The large analyst desk at the center of the open office space sports a circular arrangement of concave work surfaces allowing up to nine people with three monitors each to work together face to face, as if in an extended conversation, facilitating sharing of time-sensitive information. The partner offices around the analyst desk have sliding glass doors allowing for complete openness to the analyst activity and collaboration.
A ribbon wall of board and batten Eucalyptus starts at the reception desk, wraps around the glazed main entry, and proceeds around the entire space. The wall bends to form benches, bars, and break out spaces. The lobby ceiling is paneled in acoustical Eucalyptus slats, a gesture which transforms into a dramatic articulated faceted ceiling in the Investor Wing, hinting at topography. The choice of Eucalyptus is a historical reference, as the sand dunes of the original Presidio landscape were planted over with a Eucalyptus Forest. In other areas a woven metal ceiling and a dappled gray carpet offsets the softness and warmth of the wooden elements.
To address the needs of the employees, casual lounge spaces were incorporated throughout the open office and administrative spaces. A relaxing loft serves as an amenity for the high-energy analysts, often working irregular hours, and has proven to be an important recruiting tool. A “water bar” located at the intersection of the Investor Wing and the Investor Relations Wing was designed to adapt to many different scenarios: as a social touch point for employees, or as a catering counter for office functions. Its location on the North side of the building highlights a view to the Palace of Fine Arts, connecting to the surrounding environment for visual enrichment.
The expectations of partners and executive-level staff necessitated a personalized approach to the design of the private office interiors, however the transparent nature of the space required visual consistency among office furnishings. The designers developed a furniture program that allowed for customizable features, such as standing height work surface, ergonomic components and a package of ancillary furnishings to choose from. Each person was able to choose components based on his or her work style, while preserving a consistent visual aesthetic throughout the space.
The project was a great success. In addition to employees feeling very at home and productive in the new office environment, everyone who sees the space is overwhelmed by the aesthetics.
