A multidisciplinary
design collective
working across spaces,
objects and more.

SHIFTBRAIN

SHIFTBRAIN Inc., 2016

The emphasis on rough or unfinished surfaces alludes to the interactivity that is born of people's residual presence, and provides the final touches on an office that contains all the hallmarks of SHIFTBRAIN's creative design.

素材に手作りの風合いを残し、人の存在の痕跡から生まれるインタラクティブを感じる環境が、シフトブレインらしいクリエイティブなオフィスになっている。

SHIFTBRAIN is a development and production company that is mainly based in the digital sector and our fortes include communication planning, design, and technology.
We recognized the move as an opportunity to reconstruct our client’s brand, and consequently we tried to embed the brand concept into the design of the new workplace.

The aim was to create a theme for the offices that would express a willingness to experiment with different ways of working, to attempt new methods of communication, and to foster creativity. The site for the new offices chosen by SHIFTBRAIN was a detached building near the outer gardens of Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine. Although the building’s unique layout, which divides the space into six blocks distributed across three floors, at first seemed unsuited for our chosen theme, we sought to explore the avenues of communication and creativity that could be possible even in this divided space.

Our basic layout designates the first floor, which provides the only access into or our out of the building, as a communication space, and the second and third floors as workspaces. By eliminating all unnecessary doors and creating a sense of openness, we aimed to promote continuity across the different spaces. We also created a kitchen and lounge as well as a breakout space on the second floor where occupants must remove their shoes as a way to promote communication. Finally, we carefully structured the various spaces of the building around elements of the Innovation Engine advocated by Tina Seelig as a way to accelerate SHIFTBRAIN’s inherent creative talent.

Any creative space in the workplace must be built upon the foundation of a corporate culture. A successful space must also integrate the vision, personality, and unique humanity of the diverse workforce that resides there. Furthermore, such a space must promote concentration by controlling the sense of scale in each space, thereby becoming a place where the occupants can coalesce the knowledge gained from their individual experiences and achieve the wisdom of crowds.

The emphasis on rough or unfinished surfaces alludes to the interactivity that is born of people’s residual presence, and provides the final touches on an office that contains all the hallmarks of SHIFTBRAIN’s creative design.

オフィスのテーマは多様な働き方の実験と、多様なコミュニケーションのかたちの創出、そしてクリエイティビティを感じる環境にすることであった。SHIFTBRAINが新しいオフィスに選んだのは、東京の外苑前にある一棟物件。3フロア6ブロックに分かれた部屋が特徴的な建築で、一見テーマを解決しにくい条件だが、分断された区画の中でも可能なコミュニケーションとクリエイティビティの形を考え、テーマの答えを探した。

レイアウトは、人が必ず経由する1Fをコミュニケーションスペースとし、2F、3Fをワークスペースに設定。極力扉を排除し、各エリアを抜ける空気感を高めることで、空間の一体感を作成した。コミュニケーション促進の要素としてキッチンとラウンジ、2Fには靴を脱ぐブレイクアウトスペースを設けた。また、SHIFTBRAINの持っているクリエイティブな能力を加速させるため、ティナ・シーリグが提唱するイノベーション・エンジンの要素を大切に空間に構成した。

クリエイティビティになれる空間は「企業文化」をベースとする。集まる多彩な個性がまとまるビジョンとワーカー個々の人間性、それらの要素が作り出す社風を元に、ワーカーの気分を受け入れる居住性がいる。そして、経験値の集合地点として集合知を得るために俯瞰して見える場所であり、距離感のコントロールで集中することのできる環境が必要である。

素材に手作りの風合いを残し、人の存在の痕跡から生まれるインタラクティブを感じる環境が、シフトブレインらしいクリエイティブなオフィスになっている。

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Client: SHIFTBRAIN Inc.
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Project Management: Canuch Inc.
Design: Canuch Inc.
Photography: Hideki Makiguchi