[The ‘Third Space’ is real.] It existed before the pandemic, exploded in growth during the pandemic, and has quickly become the harbinger for the creation of new ideas and worlds. Unbridled imagination and opportunity at your fingertips.
And the tips of your fingers, and your eyes, and your ears, and your persona is where CORSAIR lives.
Understanding the desire for an enhanced user and lifestyle experience when perched behind a computer screen is at the heart of their creations and what they exemplify in the products that they produce. Their space – their new headquarters created inside an existing, typical, non-descript 2 story office building – needed to be transformed into who they are and what they do. It could not be just another pretty office of another tech company but needed to be an embodiment of the energy and excitement their products create for their customers.
[Shape, materiality, and light sculpted to connect dynamically impactful experiences.] It starts with simple. A simple material palette of blacks, whites, and natural tones accented by changes in reflectivity from matte to high gloss. Soft, fluid shapes that bend and fold from one into another. Customizable lighting integrated and tucked into strategic locations that accentuate the movement and changing experience. To describe the space is to describe the products, and each to embody the company.
[Connection to one another. Connection to customers. Connection to community.] Corsair’s Headquarters grew from a concept that strategically placed “Nodes” – areas that could dynamically address quick interaction, meeting, brainstorming, gaming, teaching, and learning – at the base of every work group development. The ‘Nodes’ would connect groups of people from within one department as well as each department to the other and rather than define what function could be performed, they would allow for a variety of functions to meet the needs of the group through energetic design and modifiable furniture. Though spread across 2 floors and a winged footprint, the Nodes would visually and experientially connect the company together – metaphorically mirroring Corsair’s relationship to its loyal customer following.
Additionally, keeping to a strict budget and sustainable footprint were of paramount importance to the success of the project. With a budget of slightly more than $100 per square foot, modification and adaptation of existing elements as well as creative use of standard materials was necessary. This helped both the budget and the sustainable message ingrained in Corsair’s corporate policy by necessitating that much of what existed be kept out of landfills. This also helped to shave the way for enough funds to install a solar array across the entire rooftop of the existing building, cutting the non-renewable power used within the space by approximately 45%.
[This is the power of their workplace.] A space, multi-faceted in functional opportunity, intertwined with atmosphere and experience unmatched by other environments – that fosters creativity and excitement around the company, its culture, and its people. It’s a space that speaks to the creation and the creators.
It’s the reason not to work from home.
