Gala Magriñá Design transformed a compact space into a bright, airy office for developer, building, and property management firm NRP Group. Located in Manhattan’s Union Square neighborhood, the new space echoes the exuberance of the young staff. The contemporary workplace aligns with the NRP Group’s mission while showcasing a broader vision of what design can achieve.
“As a certified holistic designer and feng shui practitioner, I am very much in touch with not only beauty and function, which I think is what defines traditional interior design, but also, beyond that, how spaces, shapes, color, and nature affects us,” said Gala Magriñá, founder and principal of Gala Magriñá Design.
Magriñá worked closely with Jonathan Gertman, vice president of development at the NRP Group, to define every aspect of the office, from overall style to color palette. The staff members are often out at job sites, and many are working remotely, but they still wanted a workplace where they could gather when necessary. Consultants and company partners are set to visit the office for post-pandemic business, so it had to be a spot for both work and socializing.
Yet this wasn’t a typical large corporate campus. Only 1,400-square-feet, the space is small even by New York standards. Magriñá had to include a kitchen area, a private office, and a meeting room all within the finite area. “With such a tight footprint, and really being limited by the square footage, we still had to complete the checklist that the client gave us. It was definitely a challenge,” she explained.
With every detail front and center, Magriñá wanted the office to have a certain polish. With all of the furniture and fixtures in full view, it was essential that they have maximum appeal. “If you have potential clients coming in, you typically don’t want them to see your kitchen. You don’t want them to see where your staff is working. And in this case, it’s all out in the open. It’s not about creating one focal point. Everything has to look good, because it’s going to be seen by everybody that comes in,” she noted.
That visibility was at the front of mind as Magriñá chose materials and artwork to ensure that the office was inviting but would never look too cluttered. The furniture was carefully selected and configured so that it appears seamlessly integrated, while still supporting premium performance. A café-style round table in the kitchen, for example, can be used for meetings or lunch breaks. This table was placed strategically adjacent to an LED screen, that can be used for presentations. A more traditional, rectangular conference table was added to the open interior, ideal for team brainstorming or collaborative work.
Prefabricated and custom pieces were mixed and matched, because flexibility was required for sections of the interior that were not a standard size, “All of the color-blocked rugs that we did were custom, because they had to fit into very defined spaces, especially in the reception area and the meeting room. The spots where we needed it we went custom, and everywhere else we went ready-made,” Magriñá said.
The color-blocking served as the inspiration for the rest of the palette, with verdant tones bringing a fresh, vibrant feeling inside. Magriñá pulled from her research library, with thousands of points of reference for review. “Jonathan liked a lot of the images of the color-blocked rooms in some of these deeper colors like the maroon and the dark green. That was the starting point,” she noted.
A lush mint hue enlivens the focal wall in the reception area, and then was used again on the wall looking toward the kitchen, where a white credenza sits. The burgundy pillows on the couch in the reception section match the rug in the adjacent meeting room. By using the same tints throughout, paired with complementary pops of color, like the NRP Group’s signature navy blue, for emphasis, all of the features of the interior are tied together.
The team utilized colors that evoke “yang” spirit—promoting focus and activity—perfect for fostering productivity at the office, but never overpowering. “We chose colors that were suitable for work. The mint is a very uplifting color and the dark green is more grounding, so you get this nice combination. We didn’t want to infuse a space that small with too much color. I think that the energy would’ve been bouncing off of the walls,” Magriñá said.
The loft-like large windows were a bonus that allows illumination to surround the workplace. Having this bit of nature indoors increases the wellness of employees, and Magriñá wanted to amplify those organic facets in any way she possibly could. “All of the arched windows and the views of Union Square, you really can’t beat that in New York. So, here, it was just about maximizing the natural light. We brought plants in, and to be able to see the outside world made it that much better,” she added.
Incorporating biophilic elements is intuitive for Magriñá, she never has to overthink the process. It’s what makes her projects successful, and she is in more demand than ever because of her deft touch. “Typically, offices can be very square and rectangular. It’s a natural instinct to kind of soften the space and round it out. So, we brought in a lot of the circular shapes, because you see more circles in nature than you do hard, right angles,” she explained.
Gala Magriñá Design partnered with the O’Hagan Group Limited to complete the office, and despite a halt in work due to the pandemic, installation wrapped in September of last year. Magriñá is most pleased that all of the details make the space feel like a comfortable residence, and she believes we’ll see even more of that trend continue.
“The idea of wanting our workspaces to feel more like home, it’s going to be tenfold now, because we were working there for a year, and we want that relaxed vibe. We want the office to be softer and less rigid, and I feel like this space really does that,” Magriñá said.