UBM San Francisco

For its new offices, 170-year-old UBM sought a space that expressed the innovative media company it had become, while anticipating the coming generations of workplace and media thinking. The design team took advantage of the plan’s triangular oddities for placing meeting rooms and collaborative uses. An entirely open-floor plan with large and small communal spaces, including “town hall” and the coffee bar at “the junction,” encourage gatherings.  Circular semi-private “chat boxes” are scattered throughout, offering cocoons for quick, casual meetings. A folding ribbon flows through the whole space, representing the quick and unified movement of information, especially in the digital age.