Red Bull HQ | Jump Studios

Encouraging interaction between employees while communicating the company’s brand values and identity were the dual aims of the design of Red Bull’s new 1,860 sq m headquarters. Designed by Jump Studios, the resulting £2m offices stimulate employees and visitors alike. The stunning interior generates adrenalin and a sense of dynamic excitement, emotions associated with the Red Bull brand and its various activities. The brief was to amalgamate two separate offices into one central headquarters building. Located in Soho, the new offices occupy the top three floors of an existing 19th century building, including a recent roof-level extension which takes the form of a glass “box” surrounded by an exterior terrace, providing spectacular views of the West End. “For us, this represented an ideal starting point for both employees and visitors alike, as a way for them to experience the building,” says Jump Studios director Simon Jordan. “They arrive by lift into this top-floor public reception and social zone, before descending through the building.” This sense of descent is enhanced by voids punched through the building fabric, providing vertiginous views. A three-storey video wall occupies one void, while another includes dramatic means of circulation via a floating staircase and even a slide, aimed at encouraging free movement through the spaces. “The benefit is an open, efficient, dynamic and connected workspace,” says Jordan. The top floor acts as a social hub, containing the main reception, bar, café, both informal and formal meeting areas, plus main boardroom. They are in continual use throughout the day, used for company activities and encouraging interaction. These top floor features are “stitched” together by a continuous, snaking carbon-fibre element. It runs from exterior terrace (providing a wing canopy) through the building, encapsulating the main boardroom, forming the reception area, before disappearing through a void, forming the enclosure for the slide and support for the staircase. It terminates on the lower floor as a platform creating an informal meeting area. Explains Jordan: “This element is evocative of the trace patterns left by skaters, snowboarders, stunt planes, race cars and bikes. It symbolises Red Bull’s commitment to placing adrenalin sport at the heart of its business.”