This Japanese company is a leading purveyor of ultra-high performance automotive tires. Located in Rancho Cucamonga, the global headquarters' project goals were to create a space that would support the evolving needs of the organization and reflect the innovative spirit of the people, motorsports, and the products they craft.
The design team partnered with the executive leadership group to determine strategies on how the new workspace could help influence the organizations desire to strengthen connections between business units, leadership, staff and customers. The plan was organized around a decentralized management model, were the executive leaders were located with their teams and linked to collaboration spaces that encourage an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas. The design utilizes a universal planning methodology that standardizes office and workstation footprints to promote operational efficiency and allow for long-term flexibility. The plan dedicates corner offices as interactive zones and encourages organizational wide-shared use. Glass offices and low horizon workstations allowed for visual access to team members and provided for a boundary-free environment. Private spaces were pulled to a single perimeter, which open up view corridors, allowing natural light and connections to the outdoors that are shared by all. Lighting preforms 32% greater than Title-24 meeting the 2030 Challenge for interior spaces.
The brand was founded on performance, quality and excitement. Their involvement in high-visibility motorsports is supportive of their philosophy that the track is their ultimate laboratory. The design team utilized this attitude and the cache of the company’s visual collateral to help articulate the space. The building core was used as an organizing element to communicate brand and to memorialize significant milestones of the culture journey. Known as the roadside billboard, new customers, potential hires or everyday employees see the company’s impact on the marketplace. The billboard core is bolstered by striated flooring transitions and soffits that define the path, and connect the spaces. Adjacent to the billboard core are four glass structures clad in "corporate blue" and are abstractions of roadside architecture and further illustrate the company’s culture and products with LCD screens.
The amenity spaces created, support leadership’s desire for a workplace that encouraged work-life balance. Features include employee lounge, Zen room and wellness studio. The employee lounge was designed as a departure from the office environment and a place that encourages rejuvenation and social interaction. The use of natural materials, wood, stone and plantings provide for a simple and strong connection to the outdoors. Strategically locating built-in elements allow for the space to be "flexed" as an all-hands meeting area and a hub for seasonal and cultural events. Paying homage to their cultural roots, the team designed a Zen room adjacent to the employee lounge for solitude, reflection or just a good book. The wellness studio was located at the ground-level to promote in/outdoor activity and appointed with strength, cardio machines, lockers and showers.
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