Our key words for our workplace interiors at Pinnacle One were ‘modern’, ‘simple’ and ‘international’. Drawing on the success of Taikoo Li Chengdu’s street-style retail, with its fast and slow lanes, and borrowing ideas from traditional Siheyuan courtyard houses, we designed the scheme to facilitate collaboration among employees as well with clients.
We started by gathering detailed client input to ensure our design optimised the 2-floor space, a rectangular plan spread over two levels, and prioritised a sense of hospitality and community. With this in mind, the idea of ‘The Village’ was born – a welcoming place where people interact, stories are told, and ideas and knowledge are shared.
We designed the front-of-house spaces to invite exploration. Guests are greeted at a generous reception lounge with comfortable seating and eye-catching artworks that continue along a gallery corridor – a spine that runs the full length of the floorplate, from the arrival lift lobby on one end through to a café and a wintergarden on the other. Along the way, on either side of the corridor, are private and open-plan workspaces, meeting rooms, a quiet room for phone calls, a boardroom, and breakout areas. A feature staircase links to the upper level, which includes a training room and boardroom that can be interconnected, plus open-plan and private offices, a staff canteen, and another breakout space.
Inspired by the different neighbourhoods created through Siheyuan architecture, we embraced active and passive zones to offer a variety of workspaces depending on the task at hand.
The material palette was driven by concepts of quality and timelessness. We designed spaces side by side to feature varying textures and tones, all with great attention to detail. The staircase includes polished stainless-steel cladding as well as stone, terrazzo and ceramic – a deliberately extravagant palette to encourage usage and connection between the two workplace floors.
Designing and delivering the project during the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge. With all meetings, reviews and sign-off procedures held long-distance, on screen, we had to rely heavily on technology and trust to realise the project. Fortunately, this strengthened our relationship with our client and pushed us to stretch our imagination, as well as our working methods, to deliver an elegant, cohesive and long-lasting design.
