Tasked with designing the joint headquarters of separate co-owned businesses Tammy Fit and Saski Collection, Archie Bolden unpacked the ethos of each company. Both falling within the fitness industry, Saski Collection - An e-commerce athleisure label, and Tammy Fit - A health and wellness app; the equilibrium of functionality and aesthetics was more prominent than ever. As was the futuristic spirit that echoed throughout the intertwined workplace. This informed our conceptual approach.
The project came to earn the name OUTRÉ. An adjective with French origins meaning to pass the bounds of what is usual or considered proper; unconventional; bizarre.
With social media at the core of both businesses, the project brief was largely concerned with content creation. This saw a focus on spatial framing to create a range of vignettes and carefully choreographed fixtures that speak cohesively to the broader interior, yet offer versatility for brand evolution. With this emerged a notion of ‘furniture as fashion’ - reinforcing the balance between form and function to achieve a fluid backdrop that not only allows for a myriad of content opportunities, but also encourages socialization amongst employees and office guests. This spatial intervention has proven to serve as the catalyst of conversation, creating an impact far beyond utility.
To contrast the emphasis on furnishing and interior elements that receive heavy interaction from the user, the interior architecture was intentionally stripped back. An exposed sprayed ceiling, laced with LED gridded lighting employed a low impact approach. Existing joinery carcasses were repurposed and re-birthed, housed in meticulously tiled portals. Whilst a nougat coloured homogeneous vinyl of recycled, and recyclable content spills across the office flooring.
Neutral tones and pops of rose inject a femine slant on the otherwise edgy aesthetic - resonating with the all female organization(s). True to the project name, OUTRÉ - the workplace has been designed to be unique, intriguing and atypical, with the intention that the unconventional nature of the space will fail to date and house the sister companies for decades to come.