Brooks Headquarters

Seattle, WA

In today’s rapidly evolving corporate real estate market, growing companies seek to stay true to their values, not just within their organization but throughout the design of their workplace. Yet being brand-driven does not mean being superficial. As a leader in performance footwear, the design of Brooks Running’s headquarters evokes the experience of a transformative run while stressing the innovation that makes it remarkable.

From a spatially interconnected design workshop to shoelace art installations and bespoke graphics centered on the running community, the building links team members to their organization, their work, and to each other. Like a favorite shoe, the workplace is also designed to be both comfortable at the onset yet malleable over time. For instance, fixed infrastructure walls house electrical, data, and plumbing systems so that all other walls can be moved or removed with ease. This hyperflexible canvas allows team areas to reconfigure quickly as needs change.

Features

To begin each day, employees move beside a two-story rotating art wall that emulates a morning run along nearby bodies of water. Dappled daylight, shimmering reflections, and warm sunrise colors prompt a delightful transition from busy street entry to design workshop above. The space also uses materials (reflections, color), graphics (track lines, floor numbers), and shapes (rounded edges) to imply speed and continuous movement.

Underscoring a commitment to excellence, a materials library (shown here), as well as a sewing studio and three season display wall, are intermixed with collaborative spaces to ensure transparency and alignment around developing the best products. Stocked with a myriad of fabric samples and vibrant materials, the light-filled materials library is a highly visible hub that supports the exploration process.