As the leading online shopping platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, Shopee’s new workplace had to reflect a strong brand personality and one that will offer flexibility for future expansion. DB&B drew inspiration from the company’s corporate brand colour to design a holistic future-ready workplace.
Specially-designed for the future generation online shoppers, Shopee serves as a social shopping platform that integrates a seamless end-to-end experience by connecting buyers and sellers. It hosts a robust community that is energetic and active, all gathered for a fun, seamless and cost-effective shopping experience. DB&B was engaged to design their new workplace to express their brand, support their operations and at the same time, enabling employee wellness. This new regional headquarters in Singapore have to be carefully planned and be the standard for other upcoming branches in the region.
Spatial Identity
From the onset, the Shopee Orange became the thematic approach that will unify the final design. Prominently shown at the reception, the bold colour stamps its authority all through the space design. This vibrant hue is often associated with the youthful disposition that would uplift the creative spirit of their employees. A unique adaptation of the theme will be the curvilinear shape detailing disguised as effective wayfinding, also representing the seamless connectivity between online shoppers. A unique feature will be the larger-than-life photomosaic of the Shopee logo in the spacious pantry. This photomosaic can be easily modified and rearranged to depict other visuals to suit other themed-events held at the pantry. This further supports the culture of creativity and innovation, expanding avenues for users to express themselves.
This concept application was a success and DB&B took a step further to establish a documented guide that articulates the guiding principles of the Shopee Workplace. The detailed guidelines aim to assist in the planning, allocating and managing of new office space. Most importantly, it will be the blueprint to make sound decisions in achieving maximum efficiency in cost, function and energy consumption for Shopee offices around the world.
Future-Ready Workplace
As Shopee belongs in a fast-paced environment, the initial design process had to anticipate rapid work environment transformation. Future expansions had to be taken into account before diving into other key factors of the design. The work areas consist of a variety of work settings – fixed and “bean-shaped” work stations with pockets of huddle spaces, collaboration and break-out areas for informal discussions. Designed to be future-ready, these collaboration areas are easily configurable to accommodate increased numbers of work stations as the team grows. Formal meeting rooms peppered around the work areas doubles-up as director rooms. These arrangements provide Shopee with the prime opportunity to expand their numbers without having to undertake major changes to their office.
A Holistic Approach towards Employee Wellness
Shopee is all about a community of like-minded individuals. Indeed, one of the core driver of businesses are its people. Promoting employee wellness, the office provides amenities to support their daily needs. A holistic approach towards employee wellness encompasses having a fully-stocked pantry, nap rooms, massage rooms and a games corner. Nap rooms and massage rooms are situated at the core of the workstations to provide much needed shuteye for the employees. The pantry and games corner facilitate social interactions.
More than 70 per cent of the Shopee workforce is age 30 and below. This new spatial identity befits a company that puts employee wellness at top priority when creating an integrated, conducive workspace. This design innovation clinched double awards organized by the Interior Design Confederation of Singapore for Best Workplace Design in the Asia Pacific ≥ 5,000 square feet (Bronze) and the AkzoNobel Colour Award (Bronze).
Project: Shopee, Singapore
Design Studio: DB&B
Photo Credit: DB&B
Website: dbb.com
