Understanding what drives the need for change
When the global architecture firm Gensler looked at their Los Angeles office after two years of remote work, they saw a disconnect between the spaces they designed for clients and their own work environment. Their third floor, while contemporary, felt sterile and corporate—lacking the hospitality touches and residential warmth that their team had grown to appreciate while working from home. Sarah Koos, Gensler's senior strategist, recognized that the pandemic had fundamentally rewired expectations around work environments. The traditional office no longer spoke to the comfort, variety, and warmth that people had discovered in their own homes.
With a growing team and the realities of hybrid work reshaping how spaces needed to function, Gensler's next-generation designers and strategists took on an ambitious challenge: transform their own workspace into a model that would embody the hospitality-inspired approach they championed for clients. They needed flexible communal areas, dynamic presentation spaces, and above all, an environment that would support a renewed sense of work-lifestyle balance. This project would serve as both a testing ground for their design philosophy and a template for future office renovations across their practice.
How we brought the vision to life
Tangram partnered with Gensler's internal design team to bring their hospitality-inspired vision to life through carefully curated furniture that would transform the sterile corporate environment into something more residential and welcoming. The design partnership centered on selecting pieces with soft organic shapes, warm tones, and cozy textures that would create natural gathering points throughout the open office, social hubs, and lounge areas. Standout pieces like the Hippo Lounge Chair by NORR11 became focal points that invited collaboration while providing the comfort people had grown accustomed to at home.
The furniture selection worked in harmony with Gensler's material palette of maple plywood and blackened metal, creating a foundation for vibrant creative elements like dynamic pin-up boards, styled shelving, and local student artwork. Every piece was chosen to support the flexibility that hybrid work demands—spaces that could seamlessly transition from focused individual work to collaborative presentations to casual social interactions. The result was a purposeful workspace transformation that proved corporate environments could embrace warmth without sacrificing professionalism.
16 solutions from 6 manufacturers
Hippo Lounge
Inspired by the forms of the 70’s, but designed for a modern lifestyle, Hippo stands out for its free-spirited design. The distinctive wooden profile of Hippo Lounge acts as an almost architectural element that starkly contrasts with the rounded, soft back and seat. The stitching in the middle of the seat is deliberately placed here to create the desired round shape for Hippo Lounge. The lounge chair permits a reversed seating position and because there is not only one way to sit, it demands more from the construction. The reinforcement of the back, mounted inside the seat, ensures that Hippo Lounge is just as durable as beautiful.
Hippo Chair
Soft, playful shapes characterise this family. Inspired by the forms of the 70’s, but designed for a modern lifestyle, Hippo stands out for its free-spirited design. The rounded back of the chair invites a more free seating position, allowing you to rest your back or arm comfortably. The Hippo Chair rest on two sturdy wooden legs, seamlessly connecting the seat and back. The distinctive wooden profile acts as an almost architectural element that starkly contrasts with the rounded, soft back and seat.
Trestle Bench
Minimalist system of tables and benches designed by John Pawson that fosters collaboration and creativity between users. Trestle is functional and visually light, acting as a center point in meeting rooms, collaborative spaces, restaurants, and homes.
Lucky Chair
A chair in form-pressed wood veneer, as simple and self-evident in its expression as if it has always existed, and yet completely new and never seen before. Neat yet simultaneously substantial, and low enough to be pushed beneath a desk. Lucky is the archetypal chair, providing a correct sitting position and almost ritualistic in its exact forms. Traditional, straightforward materials such as stained, form-pressed oak plywood meet a leather or fabric-covered padded seat and back. Generously evident in all its simplicity, the monochrome colour scheme underlines a stringent and classical expression.
Elephant Chair
The Elephant series is a modern interpretation of Scandinavian minimalism combined with Japanese aesthetics. The Elephant Chair is a dining chair version of the popular Elephant Lounge Chair. With a gently curved back with the same soft curve as the lounge chair and a sculptural wood base the Elephant Chair brings comfort to the table.
Tearoom Chair
Designer Nick Ross demonstrates the potential of simple, geometric forms and cocooning comfort with his Tearoom Collection for Audo. The generously proportioned Tearoom Lounge Chair, Swivel with return features a 190° rotating recessed plinth base that turns to face any direction with ease. The wide, low seat and embracing form with an upright back ensure its beauty, function and comfort in both classic and contemporary spaces – from home living rooms to exclusive hotels to modern workspaces.
5 professionals brought this vision to life
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