THE DESIGN BUREAU 100

DESIGN BUREAU SPECIAL EDITION

A CARDINAL COLLECTION OF ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN THAT INFLUENCES WHERE AND HOW WE EXIST

THE DESIGN BUREAU 100

VOL. I

At Design Bureau,

we are presented with

a staggering amount

of stunning architecture

and interior design on

a daily basis.

So much so, in fact, that we cannot begin to

fit every deserving project into our bimonthly

issues of the magazine.

This inaugural edition of The Design Bureau 100

reflects everything that we love about design,

architecture, and interiors. It features 100

projects that exist in every facet of our lives:

homes, hotels, restaurants, workplaces, and

more. They shape the ways that we live and

interact with one another and inspire us to

be better versions of ourselves. These are

100 spaces that speak to the importance

of design in our lives—from the biggest

adventures to the smallest of moments.

D100_Cover.indd 1 3/6/14 10:11 AM

d e s i g n • w o r k p l a c e • t e c h n o l o g y • s u s t a i n a b i l i t y

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Photo by Eric Laignel, ericlaignel.com THE DESIGN BUREAU 100 / WORKPLACES

Featured Company DESIGN 3

Location NEW YORK, NEW YORK

PROJECT TYPE OFFICE

PROJECT NAME BIRCHBOX

It’s not hard to imagine the dream office: tucked away in the corner with two walls of windows and two walls of pri-vacy, including every cube-jockey’s dream—a door. But

when online commerce platform Birchbox needed to expand its office space, it approached Design 3 with a novel idea.

“Their culture didn’t subscribe to the conventional office, especially one defined by private offices,” says principal Manny Enriquez. “There are no private offices—zero. Everyone, from the founders, CEO, manage-ment, and staff, sits on the same size bench—democracy at its best.”

When Birchbox first met with Design 3, the company still was in the early days of its startup phase, only 22 months old and cramming 80 employees into an 11,000-square-foot space. The move to a new office would more than double the size of the workspace and accommodate up to 190 workers. This step up was the young brand’s first move toward real es-tate that defines what it is as a company.

“It was important that our new office create an environment of creativity, open communication, and collabora-tion,” says Katia Beauchamp, co-found-er and co-CEO of Birchbox. Her desires ultimately took form in the flow of the workspace, which is informed by an

open work area with unobstructed sight lines, more than a dozen meeting rooms, two large conference rooms, and an ec-centric array of breakout areas, includ-ing lounges, phone booths, and a café.

Texture and palette contrasts mirror the company’s brand identity and define the interior of the space, with an arse-nal of pop colors shaking up a muted, earthy spectrum and wooden accents. The reception area anchors a sense of arrival with a collection of birch tree trunks with wood-pendant lighting as a backdrop, while accent walls, dynamic TV displays, and the adjoining café area inject a cheerful energy into the space.

With all the spectacle of the end result, it might come as a surprise that Design 3 was an even newer company than Birchbox at the time of their first meeting. “We were only six months into our practice,” Enriquez recalls. But the two, it seems, found a new stride through the same project. “Birch-box,” he adds, “was a great start.” aZ

Where Every Office is a Corner OfficeBIRCHBOX’S FRESH NEW YORK CITY HEADQUARTERS REDEFINES THE CONCEPT OF A DEMOCRATIC WORKPLACE

By Brandon Goei

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THE DESIGN BUREAU 100 / WORKPLACEs

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Photo by Eric Laignel, ericlaignel.com

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The founders of Birchbox wanted an open office that would “create an environment of

creativity, open communication, and collabo-ration.” An eccentric array of breakout areas,

including lounges, phone booths, and the café, all culminate to make this possible.

THE DESIGN BUREAU 100 / WORKPLACEs

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Photos by Eric Laignel, ericlaignel.com

The office’s reception area (pictured left) features wood-pendant LED light fixtures, a

dynamic TV display that remains invisible be-hind glass, and birch tree trunks as a backdrop.

[Our clients’] culture didn’t subscribe to the conventional office, especially one defined by private offices. There are no private offices—zero. Everyone, from the founders, CEO, management, and staff, sits on the same size bench—democracy at its best.

Manny EnriquezPrincipal at Design 3

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