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Expensify, Portland

ZGF Architects

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Designer
ZGF Architects
Client
Expensify
Floor area
683.00 ㎡
Completion
2017

ZGF partnered with Expensify for an interior that reflects the tech company’s signature “choose-your-own-adventure” work setting. Location in the historic First National Bank Building in downtown Portland, Oregon, every space in the sky-lit four-story atrium, complete with classic columns, giant bank vaults, and Art Deco details, functions as the workplace. A variety of unassigned work spaces were designed so that employees can choose where to sit depending on their individual style, mood, and the task at hand.

Expensify’s space needs were carefully balanced with the historical importance of the building when designing a set of floating conference rooms located opposite and above the bank’s main entrance staircase by referencing the historic details and proportions. The staircase is flanked by two brass-clad, glass-enclosed work spaces, which are themselves topped with open crow’s nest perches that are functional work areas. Concepted as a treehouse, the idea is reinforced by a suspended chaise that hangs from one of the workspaces like a swing.