The architecture firm Head Architecture and Design has created the interior for the Seattle based shoe design company Topline's office/factory.
Their main production base is Southern and Eastern China and Head has worked with Topline to provide design and administration premises over a period of ten years. Following a renovation of their existing sample production factory in Dongguan, China, the architecture firm assisted in the selection of an existing factory complex and then designed a new centralised centre that would allow the streamlining of their prototyping process within one site.
While much of the accommodation schedule was standard – design sample factory, showrooms, dormitories, offices, cafeteria etc, the architectures we were keen to infuse a positive energy into the workplace. The storage, display and handling of the thousands of fabric and leather samples provided an opportunity to have fun with colour in the work areas. All spaces are decorated with large graphics and bright colours. In the cafeteria, table football, pool and movies are available and the courtyard houses a heavily used floodlit basketball court and two badminton courts.
Footwear modelling, an important part of the shoe prototyping process, is done on circular discussion plinths around which a panel of designers and manufacturers can work and on top of desks which double as long catwalks, bringing fun and informality to the workstations.
By implementing these easy ideas, the architects believe they have made a tangible improvement to the quality of the working lives of hundreds of factory workers in southern China. The success of this is born out by greatly improved staff retention at all levels.
