Recently Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising moved to the Sindhorn Bldg. on Wireless Rd. The move was part of a plan from Publicis group to locate their affiliated companies in one building for shared resources.The new office design would be a challenging project, as both the space and the budget were limited, and the building is somewhat dated.
Being a fan of architecture, and even a student of UT Austin's Summer Academy of Architecture, Regional Creative Director Joel Clement volunteered to lead the project on Saatchi's behalf. He contacted an architect whose work he had been following, aptly named Supermachine Studio. “There are many interior and architecture firms in Thailand, but I wanted Supermachine for this project as they have a proclivity for fun and playful designs,” said Clement. “I first learned of them in some of the trade magazines, but then became a fan of their blog.
“My brief to Jack (Pitupong) and his team was to create a space that inspires, is genuinely fun to come to everyday, and that didn't take itself too seriously.” Clement and Supermachine also steered the new design to signal an important shift in the company, which he refers to as the Rebirth of Saatchi Thailand.
The majority of the space is open. “In the past we functioned as many separate agencies in one,” Clement said, “so Supermachine helped remove the barriers between people to bring us together as one family. And it's working- there's a great happy energy here now.”
Upon approaching the exterior of the office, there is a long wall covered in small white wood 'pixels.' “We wanted to recycle some material from the previous office”, Clement says, “initially for economical reasons.” Supermachine came up with a nice solution to cut up much of the old wood into small pieces to form an interesting pixel wall pattern and cover the ugly exterior wall of the new space.
“Supermachine's idea covered the outdated red marble of the hallway but also provided a link to our past,” Clement furthered.”
Entering the office, the reception desk sets the tone for the imagination of the agency- it's a long white bus sitting in a funky living room space. It's on wheels and it actually moves. This was a key idea from Jack and his team as it's one of the first pieces that visiting clients and staff experience.
Behind it is a large wood encased cabin for meetings that can be divided into two smaller rooms. Inside, the glass meeting tables are suspended on a custom construction of nine bicycle frames so the tables can be moved together for one big meeting or separated. So far clients love the table, and a few have vocally been envious.
Beyond the entrance, there are two smaller more personal meeting pods in orange and green- the feeling sitting inside them is that of being on a train and you can even open their windows to peer outside.
Then there are 'the two pink areas' which arbitrarily cover everything within their path in hot pink. They do well to inject some much needed color into the agency.
In the far wing of the office is a multi-purpose bar/bookcase/lounge-chair, which is a social gathering point.
And last but not least the 'monster wall.' “The monster wall is probably my favorite part of the office” says Clement. “It's a huge 20 meter long 3-dimensional lizard where we hang images of ongoing work and bits of inspiration. I sit right next to his jaws and use his mouth as a bookshelf. He's become our agency mascot and will appear on a t-shirt soon.”
“Overall it was a great learning experience for me personally, and a huge benefit to the spirit of the Bangkok office. There are so many other interesting design features, too many to mention. But they all add up to an inescapable feeling within the office that the stage is set for a creative rebirth of Saatchi.”
