AI Associates | Across four countries, Grab’s regional offices are reimagined as dynamic, people-first workplaces that translate the brand’s agile spirit and unique local identity.
AI Associates | Grab’s regional offices are a testament to designing for movement, both physical and cultural. As a super-app built on mobility and connection, Grab required its global workplaces to reflect those same qualities: agile, people-centric, and regionally grounded.
AI Associates was tasked with creating a unified yet localized design language across Grab’s offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The challenge was to maintain brand consistency while celebrating each country’s unique culture and personality.
The Philosophy: Flexibility, Community, and Identity
The design philosophy centered on three key pillars of modern work: Flexibility, Community, and Local Identity. The spaces were engineered for instant adaptability, supporting seamless transitions between focused tasks and dynamic collaboration. High-energy zones feature mobile, writable surfaces and flexible furniture that can be instantly reconfigured, perfectly reflecting Grab’s fast-paced, problem-solving operational culture. This agility is balanced by designated quiet focus pods and intimate phone booths, ensuring individual deep work is fully supported—a crucial element in an open-plan environment.
To build a tangible sense of community, each office integrates significant social hubs, open cafés, and wellness corners. These are the architectural collision points—large, central hubs with comfortable, hospitality-grade seating designed to foster spontaneous interaction and informal knowledge exchange across departments. They ensure that connection is an effortless and central part of the workday.
Cultural Translation: A Network of Experiences
Local Identity was the crucial design layer. Each office becomes a design reflection of its host city, transforming global corporate guidelines into unique experiences that empower local teams and express a distinct sense of place.
Embracing Singapore’s sleek precision and high efficiency, we incorporated a more monochromatic base color paired with geometric and sharp lines to create a professional and focused environment. To balance this formality, we added Grab’s signature green and symbolism throughout the office, including a sweeping green carpet that guides the movement and flow in the space, mirroring the brand’s core concept of continuous movement. Anchoring the space back to its host city, we used Peranakan tiles, a playful selection of furniture and lighting, and Singapore’s signature city silhouette in the meeting room sandblast.
In Jakarta, our design conveys a warm community feel by featuring rattan accents, warm timber finishes, and subtle batik patterns. To add a playful touch of locality and mobility, we featured Bajaj-inspired booths and specialized batik booths in the game corner, turning recreation into a celebration of local street culture.
For the Kuala Lumpur office, we aimed to capture Malaysia’s inherent warmth and openness, through the use of rich, locally sourced timber finishes. A standout element is the distinctive breakout installations, strategically placed to eliminate the monotony of the open-plan office and emphasize ease of connection. The striking geometric timber framing defines this social zone while maintaining visibility across the office. Inspired by the traditional Wau Bulan, or Malaysian moon-kite, this open, abstract structure is further enhanced by panels featuring vibrant Malaysian Batik patterns, successfully grounding the modern, collaborative design in local heritage.
For the Ho Chi Minh City office, we capture the creative energy and the communal spirit of Vietnamese street culture through artisanal motifs and a palette of tropical tones. The entrance area proudly showcases the abstracted mosaics of traditional Vietnamese shutters and doors, referencing the energetic, eclectic streetscape of the city. Further cultural elements, such as the low, communal platform surrounded by Vietnamese lanterns and conical ceiling umbrellas, create a welcoming and dynamic atmosphere that promotes informal collaboration and clearly grounds this high-energy tech hub in the authentic spirit of its location.
Across regions, Grab’s visual identity is subtly embedded through vibrant greens, flowing curves, and bold geometries, mirroring the brand’s dynamic digital interface and the concept of continuous movement. What ultimately unites these spaces is a shared human energy, the rhythmic flow of teams collaborating, innovating, and moving forward together.
For AI Associates, the Grab regional project represents design as cultural translation, transforming brand values into experiences that feel authentic and alive in every context. These offices are true reflections of people, place, and purpose in motion.
Project: Grab
Location: Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam
Design Studio: AI Associates
Photo Credit: Grab Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam by AI Associates
Photo Credit: Grab Indonesia by Mario Wibowo
Website: ai-associates.com
