Manhattan’s bustling Flatiron District is home to Basis’s new 12,000-square-foot headquarters. The fast-growing tech firm tapped interdisciplinary design studio Office of Tangible Space to design an office that supports its inherently dynamic work environment. With custom millwork acting as wall barriers, Office of Tangible Space devised an office that promotes collaboration from the workspaces to the cafe to the lounges.
“[Basis]’s ethos is rooted in clarity, intensity, and first-principles thinking,” Office of Tangible Space cofounder, Kelley Perumbeti, told AN Interior. “Their work requires sustained, rigorous focus, but it is also highly collaborative throughout the day, so the workspace needed to support both seamlessly.”
The design process was iterative throughout, Office of Tangible Space staged test layouts so Basis employees could determine the program arrangement for the office. The circulation path through the office is lined with crisp white walls and large beige stone floor tiles.
The office’s open floorplan was divided into five primary sections: All Hands Lounge, All Hands Cafe, Work Lounge, Desk Area, and the Conference Rooms. Each of the areas encourages analytical interactions.
Custom millwork designed by Office of Tangible Space, and fabricated by Thirdkind, carves out the gathering spaces.
“We’re particularly happy with the custom millwork pieces that frame the All Hands space,” Perumbeti said. “They create division, define intimate conversational zones, and direct circulation without closing the space off.”
In the All Hands Lounge, sturdy black marble coffee tables are centrally placed among the curved West Elm Benson Leather Chairs and the dark forest green sectional couches by Lulu and Georgia. Additional gathering spaces are formed from the lounge furniture staged on brown Moroccan rugs.
In the cafe, a built-in wooden bench presses up against the walls, located beneath a series of windows. The bench is met with reflective rectangular glass table tops and black stained wooden chairs. These same chairs are dispersed around individual solid oak Formation Dining Tables by Sundays, where employees can talk strategy over a cup of tea or host a meeting over a meal.
Another built-in bench was installed in the Work Lounge, its design features a leather back tufted into five horizontal sections. The seating is located below a textured wall backdrop with a subtle wavy pattern. Chunky steel OTSxBestcase Sturdy Chairs offer additional seating.
With Basis’s new headquarters Office of Tangible Space managed to steer clear of the traditional office layout, what Perumbeti describes as the stereotypical “sea of desks.” Rather the firm delivered a flexible workspace customized for various forms of productivity. “The office becomes a spatial story that continues to unfold and deepen over time,” Perumbeti added.
