Project Name/Client: Monitor Group
Design Firm: Sasaki Associates
Location: San Francisco, CA
Products: Radiance, Glitz

What is Design?
Good design is an open, collaborative process designed to actively involve a broad constituency, to reveal the essence of a client’s program in a functional and distinctive design resolution. This collaborative sensibility extends to other design team professionals, consultants, and the client/user group.

It’s evolutionary, transforming the environment to solve unique problems. Design is not only physical, but cerebral. Good design incorporates all the senses of the body (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch), and creates lasting impressions.

How is Design best illustrated through the project?
For this project, the main design is in the two elliptical spaces, one a formal reception space and the other an informal community. Although the elliptical spaces differ in function and materials, they both contain an elliptical band painted “Golden Gate Bridge” red that ties them together and intersects with a diagonal “Main Street,” linking the two spaces. All three spaces house and connect common use spaces such as the conference rooms, kitchen, team rooms, private cockpits and libraries.

Biggest Design Challenge?
The biggest challenge was solving a program of almost all private offices. We developed a plan including a grid of ‘cross streets,’ intersected by a diagonal ‘Main Street’ terminating at two elliptical community spaces. This allows for a variety of shapes and views that relieves a potentially monotonous floor plan of this block-long, fairly deep floor plate. Full glazing of the offices along the exterior walls allows views to the exterior while allowing natural light to penetrate into the more internal spaces. Internal offices have glazing at the corners to allow diagonal views and reduce the rigidity of the plan.

What made it Innovative or Unique?
Monitor is a worldwide consulting firm with over 70 offices. This project included the combining of two separate companies. To distinguish the San Francisco office from the others, the finishes were inspired from natural materials of Northern California: orchard walnut floors from the Central Valley, redwood veneer for the reception area, casework from Mendocino County, local salvaged wood for the kitchen bar top and carpets chosen incorporating the colors of the hills and bay. Bright accent paint colors mimic the regional landscape: ‘Golden Gate’ red, ‘artichoke’ green, ‘garlic’ white, ‘poppy’ orange, ‘grassy hills’ gold, ‘mustard’ yellow and ‘fog’ gray.

How did Design make a difference?
This statement below was written by one of our clients upon moving into the new office: “Our new office embraces the collaborative nature of the groups, while at the same time, allows each group to have its own identity. Since moving in the office in May, the two offices have essentially become one. The staff loves the abundance of natural light and views to the city outside. The color palette is warm and neutral in the office areas, with vibrant accent colors reserved for those spaces that people collaborate.”

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