샌프란시스코에 위치한 YELP 헤드쿼터는 지역적 특성의 반영과 실리콘 밸리 내 고층빌딩 및 산업 공간에 대한 새로운 비즈니스 환경 구축을 목적으로 시작된다. 한정적인 대지위에 적층된 오피스 내 다양한 커뮤니티 공간을 삽입, 적층함으로써 효율적인 업무를 보장하는 능동형 공간을 생성한다. 커피삽이 위치한 8층, 창가 전망 좋은 브레이크 룸이 위치한 5층, 체스와 채팅을 위한 세미 프라빗 포드가 구비된 11층, 리셉션이 위치한 9층등 커뮤니티 공간은 각각 해당층의 업무공간과 수평연결되며 즉각적인 업무 및 소통을 추구한다. 그리고 다시 각 커뮤니티 공간은 수직으로 링크되며 전체 공간을 소통시킨다. 이미 데스크로 비즈니스 환경을 구축하는 시대는 지났다. 효율적인 업무환경은 보다 많은 수의 데스크를 채우는 것이 아니라 근무자에게 능동적인 공간을 제공하는 것으로 가늠된다.
reviewed by SJ,오사
Studio O+A have designed the headquarters for Yelp! in San Francisco.
As tech companies take root in urban locations where space is limited,
the collegial spirit of Silicon Valley finds new modes of expression in
high-rise buildings and converted industrial facilities. Key to our
design for Yelp was the concept of a vertical campus– an
all-encompassing, self-contained community stacked on multiple floors.
Yelp moved its HQ from a smaller site in San Francisco to a classic
Financial District high-rise. As with most multi-story occupancies, the
design challenge at Yelp was to facilitate group dynamics so that people
interact with each other even though they work on different floors.
In other words– how do you create a neighborhood in a tower?
One way is to give each floor a destination that will appeal to all the floors. At Yelp we placed a fully-equipped coffee shop on the 8th floor, a break room with window seating on the 5th, and semi-private pods for chess or chatting on the 11th. Each floor’s common areas thus become common to the company at large and not just to those whose workstations occupy that level.
In a high-rise campus the central gathering place is vertically central. Yelp’s reception area is on the 9th floor, with other departments above and below. To make the reception worthy of a trip up or down in the elevator, O+A created a “General Store,” a modern pop-up improvisation on Yelp’s place in the new world of commercial entrepreneurship. Taking our cues from another era of commerce when candy was sold in jars and signage was gold-leaf painted on a window, we created a lobby with the layout of a retail operation. The layout, but not, in fact, the function—none of the “merchandise” on display is for sale and the vintage cash register at the reception desk is strictly for show. Guests, however, may help themselves to the candy.
Echoing this nod to the past, is the placement throughout Yelp’s entire campus of finely-crafted doors reclaimed from offices that originally occupied the site. Many of these doors include fluted or frosted glass panels and door-knobs from another era. Combined with the exposed brick that is prevalent on every floor of Yelp’s HQ, these touches lend the weight of history to a design that is looking determinedly forward.
Perhaps the smoothest juxtaposition of old and new occurs in the coffee bar. The brick walls and abundant natural light of the seating area give the space a SOMA café texture, while the kitchen includes the most modern artisan hot beverage facilities. Access to the bar storage and service areas is through a blind door that appears to be a smooth, wood wall. Custom lighting in this area is suspended from rope fixtures individually hand-woven. With local coffee companies like Blue Bottle and Sightglass rotating baristas in the bar, the theme of handmade, top-quality production is repeated in every detail of the space. Because of it, Yelp’s employees will always have a free latte at their fingertips—and a unique space to drink it in.
from contemporist