JOANY Offices – Los Angeles
kellyarobinson was engaged by health insurance service concierge JOANY, to design their offices located in Los Angeles, California.
Fueled by their belief that all people deserve quality healthcare, Christine Carrillo and Helen Lee founded health startup, JOANY, formally known as Impact Health, in 2015. Two years later they moved onto the 26th floor of The Bloc’s office tower in downtown Los Angeles, and tapped Kelly to make it feel like home. From the first phone call, creating an environment that felt healthy and full of vitality became the core of the project, which aligned well with Kelly’s belief that our external environment has the potential to greatly enhance the quality of our life and inner world.
Much like Joan of Arc, the company’s icon, Carrillo exhibits a fierceness and fearlessness in her approach to business which inspired Kelly to suggest some unconventional ideas during the design process. For the entrance, she pitched the Growroom, a spherical garden that empowers people to grow food, as statement to make a vibrant first impression.
The feminine and punchy color palette needed to be balanced by plenty of natural elements, so Kelly teamed up with Casey McCafferty of CBM Woodworks for fine custom milllwork and Megan Sosik from TwoFurnish for selecting fun, modern furniture.
It was clear early on that this company was destined for hypergrowth, and the space needed to flex accordingly. That meant needing to maximize places for teams and individuals to work, yet still offer plenty of secluded outlets and special spaces to make the environment feel special and cosy. Kelly chose workstations by Mash Studios for their universality in quality and accessibility, and arranged them throughout space.
Designing an environment to hold space for success also meant designing for the inevitable overwhelm that comes with a rapidly growing company. Carrillo understood this overwhelm and made it clear that the team also needed a quiet space, which she initially called a “Cry Room.” She shared that sometimes she’d have a tough or upsetting call or meeting and would need to break down and cry. She wanted to give people a safe space for that, which Kelly absolutely loved. The vision was born to transform an old file room into a library and meditation room complete with HUSH Pods by London based Freyja Sewell, where tears could flow anonymously.
A final piece of design that was significant to the culture of JOANY came through honoring heroes and heroines, like Joan of Arc, in all meeting spaces. Celebrating characteristics of activism, passion, determination, and persistence through imagery and biographies of diverse humans who have walked brave paths was a way of aligning what the company has set out to create with its physical space.
Designer: kellyarobinson
Photography: Wundr Studio
