Red Bull Office Gives You Wings | Office Design

For their Toronto Office, Red Bull hired the designer Johnson Chou to come up with a whimsical, yet minimalist design on a budget. Johnson Chou is known to have unexpected perspectives in his designs. This characteristic of him has led him to shift careers through out his years. Yet his willingness to take risks, while maintaining a polished aesthetic, is making him a favorite among creative clients looking for urban style.

"I’m interested in surprise, the complexity within the simplicity," he says. Call it minimalism with a human face.

 

Some visitors will proceed directly to the upper level via the atrium’s spiral staircase. For those who need to wait a few minutes, there’s a lounge that looks like Chou removed the living room from a neighboring family home and reinstalled everything in an open-fronted box-damask-pattern wallpaper, crystal chandelier, wooden folding chair, cowhide-covered drum table, and all. "It’s sort of an abstract cottage," he continues. "The budget was extremely tight, so our strategy was to leave the base building as it was but develop these separate spaces within it."

 

Most of reception is a gallery that’s open to the public, and pivoting wall panels allow the room to be reconfigured for different exhibitions. Album-release parties take place here, too. "Beyond the coolness of the design, the space has really engaged the community," Red Bull Canada president Jim Bailey says. In the double-height atrium next to reception, magnetic boxes dot a wall of stainless-steel panels. The boxes hold inspirational CDs, sketches, and other objects donated by Red Bull- sponsored artists and collaborators. "Anyone who participates in an activity with Red Bull can leave mementos of the experience," Chou explains. Over time, the boxes will fill up the entire wall.

 

 

 

On either side of the meeting pods, Chou kept individual offices simple. Desks and other built-ins are oak-veneered MDF. "They’re a little rough, a bit of Canadiana," he explains. Transparent glass fronts up the ante with dynamic angles suggesting the adrenaline fueled brand’s tagline: Red Bull gives you wings.

Photos and Info Source: Interior Design Magazine