admanGo Offices – Hong Kong
In efforts to improve synergy amongst the advertisement monitoring company, admanGo sought to reimagine their Hong Kong workplace as a place of tranquility and comfort for employees.
Bean Buro was tasked with designing a new workplace for admanGo, an advertising and advertisement monitoring company in Hong Kong.
The area is 2,950 square feet, located in an office block on Queen’s Road East in the busy disctrict of Wanchai. The brief was to create a new, fresh, and comfortable workplace for the company employees, many of whom work long hours. The previous office space was felt tired and dated, with conventional work cubicles that segregated individuals and did not provide synergy between the company and its employees. Thus it was important for the new workplace to engage with its employees through means of comfort, interests, aesthetics, materiality, to nurture a better company culture and to improve employees retention. The project would have limited budget and time, hence it was important to provide a highly cost effective solution, with innovative construction methods to cut down on site works and duration. Branding services was required for the company business cards, to create a holistic identity with its new workplace.
Bean Buro responded to the brief with a cross cultural narrative inspired by traditional Japanese architecture in terms of overall spatial composition and the use of sculptural roofing elements.
The spatial composition of the workplace is rooted in the interpretation of a traditional gated tea gardens, where one would first enter into a foyer through a compressed portal entrance, before opening up into a higher ceiling in the reception space. The reception is a welcoming space with an informal reception desk made in timber, with a porous bookshelf lattice on the left, and a yellow coloured wall on the right designed with an artwork of the ‘Ad Man’ – the silhouette outline of a detective wearing a hat, which is a symbol for the company. The overall layering effect is one that is rooted in Japanese gardens, where the experience of passing through thresholds and visual connections through porous elements would create an illusion where spaces are seemingly larger than it actually is within the confined perimeter of the site.
Bean Buro has interpreted the weighted sculptural roofs of the Japanese temple as a large sculptural volume for the social pantry cafe and meeting room with a large ‘roof’ that is elevated, and it creates shaded spaces underneath that symbolises a sense of protection, comfort and calmness. Located as a central piece in the backdrop of the workplace and physically connected to the entrance, the Hatted Roof serves as a magnet that attracts employees to come together, to breakout from their usual work clusters, to use the shaded pantry cafe or meeting room that it creates, and heightens the sociable atmosphere in the workplace. The Hatted Roof is entirely lined in timber oak veneer, with subtle lighting design and an internal yellow wall to energise the cafe space. The yellow wall would extend into the meeting room, which is enclosed by a gallery wall, a painted writable wall, and sliding glass partitions.
Huddle spaces were also created at the ends of each work cluster, where a couple of stools can be pulled out for informal discussions. Social lounge furniture have been integrated into the open plan for further break out opportunities. The overall open space is light filled, with unobstructed views into the heart of the city that can be enjoyed by all employees.
Design: Bean Buro
Design Team: Lorène Faure, Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui, Pauline Paradis, Tommy Hui, Aimée Daniels, Mathilde Jourdes, Abby Liu, Isaac Tam, Philippine Vidart
Contractor: Winsmart Contracting
Photography: courtesy of Bean Buro
