Global Tech Client — Workplace

As part of this high tech client’s 17-building, 70-acre East Campus expansion in Redmond, Washington, we designed permanent installations for four buildings designed by LMN Architects. Each space expresses a different story. In light-filled central atriums, the history of computing is reflected in a series of dimensional wall installations. Starting on the ground floor we took design inspiration from the first physical computer, the Jacquard loom. Moving up, we referenced the iconic computer punch cards of the 20th century. On the top floor, a shimmering installation made up of faceted blocks represents the pixels of today’s digital screens. Hundreds of angled faces are covered with a dynamic dichroic surface, so even though the installation is static, when viewers walk past, the angles bounce back the light differently, making the wall appear to change color as you move along it.

In another building, a series of installations celebrate biomimicry: transportation networks overlay organic growth patterns, perfectly unique snowflakes intertwine with mathematical algorithms, and the ebb and flow of tidal rhythms are translated into a wave undulating from the wall.

As part of the campus’s sustainable efforts, the bike room — traditionally relegated to a drab concrete basement — is made visible from outside of the building, and given a lot of design love. Our cheerful graphics welcome wheeled users, show off the dynamic movement of cycling, and guide employees to their workplace with a neon bike light. The facility houses bikes not just for the building but for the surrounding campus community.