Element Ai

Ai required new office space that would re-define the collaborative environment and be a magnet for research talent.

The design team was tasked with creating a workplace on a limited budget that would compete with the global tech giants. Lighting was immediately identified by the design team as biggest-bang-for-the-buck, in the animation of the spaces. Using playful decorative concepts in selective spaces, the lighting defers to the nature of Ai, but delivers a soothing work environment.

A large floor plate meant limited daylight penetration to the center; indirect lighting was the key lighting treatment throughout to reinforce the feeling natural light.

Lighting scenarios took cues from the various aspects of the program, playing up the “cool factor” of each zone.  Open work spaces were treated with diffuse, low glare, indirect light. Collaborative areas and community spaces received playful decorative treatments including accent lighting on feature surfaces, achieved with inexpensive track lighting and other simple tools.

The lighting supports the design aesthetic: both are synchronized to express the nature of the company’s business. Exposed ceilings over workstations, for example, meant that geometric luminaire shapes could be used to connote the structured nature of Ai systems. Segments of the shapes adjacent to “working walls” incorporate direct lighting aimed at whiteboards. In the reception 1’s and O’s spell out the company logo in binary.