5 Creative Workspaces in the Western U.S.

Firm: Hybrid Design, San Francisco

Look and feel of the office: “The office not just a place you work—you live your work while there, so the space needs to be someplace where you can feel at home,” says Hybrid’s husband-and-wife founders, Brian Flynn and Dora Drimalas. “We designed the space to be inviting and pleasant to be in, since we would be there for large portion of every day.”

Goal of the workspace’s design: “The space itself needed to be simple so that it could properly contain our crazy design world within it. If the space was overdone architecturally, it would affect the atmosphere of the studio. This was an intentionally minimal palette, with very few colors and simple, modern architectural gestures. The project took three years, start to finish, but it was well worth it.”

Favorite element of the office: Drimalas points to the practical, such as the kitchen and outdoor meeting area. “It’s nice to walk away from the machine and see the sun. We all spend so much time at the office that having a space with a full kitchen and a relaxed atmosphere was important.” Flynn appreciates the building’s angled, cedar ceiling. “It just opens everything up, lets a ton of light in, and you immediately feel relaxed just walking up there.”

Workspace’s influence on creativity: “It’s really important that a space be neutral enough that it allows you to creatively go anywhere. I think an office should be part home, laboratory, art gallery, library, gym, bike shop, and—if Brian had his way—part skate park. It needs to be a space that feeds and nurtures creativity.”

Interested in Making Your Workspace More Creative? Get Inspired!

Read this collection of past Workspace columns, which detail unique design studios in HOW magazine.