Red Bull Offices – Milan
il Prisma designed the new headquarters for energy drink company Red Bull, located in Milan, Italy.
Just like the drink gives you wings, its new HQ gives wings to the ideas of everybody who works there. A space conceived to represent the company identity on the inside, that doesn’t just aim to impress the public today, but to also express the brand’s vision of the future.
To express in physical space, through design, a composite reality like Red Bull has meant to get to know the many places in which its only physical product, the can, among the most iconic in the world, is featured with its quintessential energy.
The many lifestyles the brand epitomizes mix in a space which isn’t only emblematic but also functional, that is the result of a research project that has seen designers, architects, strategists and brand management experts all working together.
Red Bull is not just a drink, it’s a world of intersectional relationships which go from fashion to football, to Formula 1, extreme sports, nightlife and we could go on… But there’s only one constant that ties all these different worlds together between which Red Bull can move with innate ease and consistency: energy.
Energy for the body and the mind, energy to party and socialize, positive energy capable to set creativity free, especially in a workplace that can handle it.
The purpose of this Project Book is to describe how Il Prisma designed Red Bull’s Italian headquarters in order to make the company’s identity tangible, trying to display each of its nuances, even the most elusive.
HOW IT WORKS – A Place of Energy is the statement on which Il Prisma based the “Lifestyle Office” work environment, ascribing a work setting to some of the lifestyles identified with the brand.
Spaces that stimulate ideas and revolve around the well-being of people who love taking a break from work every once in a while and enjoy a moment of leisure to recharge.
The planning phase was characterized by a path of shared strategic analysis which, through quality and quantity research, looked into the company’s work methods, the meaning of the brand and how it could permeate the building making it attractive and instantly recognizable, how spaces were used and managed, and more. Il Prisma recreated immersive environments in which Red Bull becomes concrete, materializing revitalization both mental and physical.
The design process allowed us to bring to light the culture, values and identity of the company, to make sure that the people who work in this building can relate and be a part of it. The product appears in every aspect of the space, conceptually interpreted as a tin can unwinding through the whole work environment.
THE LIFESTYLE OFFICE – Energy is: lifestyle, values, concepts. Our mission was to bring that same energy to the space. Some of the iconic lifestyles of the brand have been represented as worlds connected by metal skin, which emanates energy, spreading out and enveloping every shape, changing with the light. (www.refillmyenergy.ilprisma.com)
The Lifestyle Office concept creates a workplace that revitalizes people, actualizing the brand’s concepts and values.
Red Bull’s world, in its Milanese version, encompasses this concept in a place that revolves around the creation of opportunities to revitalize people. This is why the spaces that will accommodate the employees are able to stimulate their body and mind, activating the energy that radiates from the final product of their work.
Materials and details support the project’s concept: a dynamic and fast world, highlighted by metal, concrete, wood, and visible structures that reference the industrial style. All furniture has been tailor-made, from the break rooms to the conference rooms – like the one that “gives you wings” – ‘til the slide that resembles a skate ramp, reinterpreted as a design element that ties the two areas together in an open space environment.
ENERGY IS NIGHTLIFE – The night world made of fun, events, and music embodies the style of people who love to experience the night with vitality, the same vitality you can find in the “Welcome Experience” areas of the new Milanese HQ.
The entrance experience of the new Red Bull offices, in fact, communicates the value of sharing, through a reception, which is no longer just a place you go through, and instead becomes a dynamic space, an experience you will want to share, a space to meet, relax, work and have fun.
In the entrance experience, the product becomes an integral part of the surrounding design thanks to the disposition of a number of small coolers arranged as a stairway inside the welcome area.
ENERGY IS ADVENTURE – The intrepid world of adventure triggers adrenaline and activates the minds whenever a person feels challenged. It’s the adventure of anybody who’s hungry for discovery, who loves to try new emotions and to feel the taste of victory. It’s what happens every day, even in the workplace: challenge, discovery, talent, the desire to always outdo oneself are an integral part of the Red Bull adventurer.
All this happens, both mentally and physically, inside these environments especially designed to inspire complex human processes.
ENERGY IS SPORT – Commitment, training, action. Pure energy; division of labor with one’s own team. What happens in sport also happens in a work team, you share both failure and success. In the same way, the sport lifestyle is conveyed and instilled in every space designed for and dedicated to cooperation, dynamic meetings, creative moments, each integral to Red Bull’s team spirit.
ENERGY IS TAKE IT EASY! – Many are the feelings that the lifestyles promoted by Red Bull inspire.
Healthy energy also means relax, not only during the breaks. The culture of the Red Bull teams, in the words of the employees themselves, doesn’t chastise the error, preferring instead to reward the spirit of initiative of anybody who wants to put themselves out there, managing things in a spontaneous and easygoing way. Hence, several rooms dedicated to functional socialization, leisure activities and brainstorming have been implemented.
Designer: il Prisma
Photography: courtesy of il Prisma
