Mailman Offices – Shanghai
hcreates interior design created the office design for Chinese digital marketing company Mailman, located in Shanghai, China.
Mailman was founded by Australian entrepreneur Andrew Collins in 1999. Mailman has been a pioneer in new media in China for over 15 years, launching the first EPL team on Weibo in 2010.
As a sports, tourism and social media company, they have hosted the largest sports teams on tour and since helped over 100 professional teams, leagues or personalities, build an audience in China. As an innovative brand working with the biggest names in sport, Mailman wanted to portray a professional and edgy image to their clients and partners. Mailman also has a unique working style akin to a Californian tech giant or New York agency. Mailman places a huge amount of importance on ensuring their colleagues enjoy coming to the office and enjoy working together.
There were several functional elements included in the brief, such as an area large enough to host the weekly 50 person standing meetings. Private office spaces for senior managers, general open seating plan that also allowed for privacy and accommodated the fact that the teams were very cross-functional throughout the day as they collaborated on different projects. There was also a need to have a communal space in the kitchen for eating as often staff would share lunch or a drink.
The office needed to feel like a creative agency, where everything felt dynamic and energetic. With many elements to incorporate, there was much consideration given at the layout development stage, to ensure that the space was maximized and that it felt right to different stakeholders.
Engaging the staff ensured there was a wider ownership in the process.
Playing off the creative culture of this sports and travel media agency, the office combines both themes to make a vibrant and inspiring working space. Multi-use rooms dual as both meeting and breakout rooms. Flexible working spaces allow for hot desking and a variety of working preferences.The move away from a fixed desk enables staff to be very mobile in their own office and make use of different areas, as their daily tasks dictate. Lockers were installed so staff could still have a secure place to store personal items at the end of the day. The kitchen features an island bar to ensure a well earned refreshing beverage can be shared amongst colleagues at the end of a busy week.
Mailman employees love their new office and are very proud to work there. Mailman’s clients are also very impressed with the office as it has enabled Mailman to present a more professional and aspirational brand image.
Designer: hcreates interior design
Design Lead: Hannah Churchill
Photography: Seth Powers
