After featuring both the old and new versions of the Soldier Design space, I thought it would be appropriate to ask a few questions about the move, the design, and about offices in general. Enjoy!
1. What were some of the factors that led you to find a new location for the Soldier Design office?
Soldier has been in Cambridge since 2002. First in North Cambridge, then Cambridgeport. We moved into Harvard Square in 2005 and our good relationships their lead us to getting a heads up on our current choice location at 18 Brattle Street in the Abbot Building overlooking Brattle Street in Harvard Square.
2. What was it about the new space in Harvard Square that influenced you to select it, and what work, if any, was necessary to make the space suitable for your company’s needs?
Harvard Square is both diverse and driven. Those two traits are very important to many of the audiences we speak to including our clients, so it was a natural fit.
3. How important is a well-designed office in a creative industry like yours. Does the space act as more than just an office?
Investing in a space that is complimentary to the message you deliver to your audience and clients is very important. Congruency from voice, to print, to interactive, to social and environment is critical in effectively communicating what you stand for.
4. Have you seen an positive impact from the move and new design? If so, can you explain?
Very positive. We gutted and re-designed our space from scratch to create a certain experience for our designers, thinkers, clients and friends. The causality has been great and the design elements of the space have created almost binary responses. People, say… “great space, very clean, considered, professional, inspiring, full of style and entrepreneurial in nature”, which has been cool because those are some of our values and the message we want to deliver.
5. Can you tell our readers a little bit about the furnishings you have in the office?
Our space is very minimal in nature without any unnecessary adornments. Clean white walls, indirect lighting, plenty of windows with natural light and views of both urban brick settings and a hovering view of the main drag in Harvard Square for our conference room and street facing offices. The work we do is very exciting and the way we transform our space per project is where the personality comes from, assigned to and is meant to be. You may notice a host of asymmetrical desks, which we all have from principle to entry level designer. They we’re designed to be over-sized to work collaboratively with others when needed and/or just having plenty of space to work digitally or physically with mixed materials.
6. After having spent time and worked in the office, do you feel that you made any mistakes or made choices you would not make in the future?
Realign, realign, realign. The minimal platform we created really encourages everyone to chime in and involved in next steps i.e. saying “we could do this, or do this, or this? Our space was meant to change as our people and culture does, so no mistakes yet, but plenty of space for progression to happen as move forward in time. Well, except I wish my office was bigger. Ya Know!
7. Do you have any tips or advice that might assist our readers with their future office design projects?
Scrap everything you know about traditional office set ups. Make it your own and deliver your message with it. Space is a powerful voice!
