Virtual wellbeing has arrived in a big way. We now have access to professional yoga, meditation and counseling at our very fingertips, in the form of gorgeous apps on our phones.
One of the early leaders in this field is Headspace, a mindfulness and meditation company offering its subscription-based services via an easy-on-the-eyes app and science-backed programming.
Headspace, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, was expanding from a smaller office in the up-and-coming arts district of Bergamot Station into a 22,000 square foot space in the same neighborhood. The new offices were designed by the California firm Montalba Architects.
We spoke with David Montalba, founding principal at Montalba Architects, about working with Headspace as a client, blending indoors and out, and creating moments of solace in the midst of a humming office. Coming into the project, Montalba Architects had the unique benefit of being a fellow resident of Bergamot Station, which has been Headspace’s home since 2016.
“Our job is a little bit like an archeologist’s. We’re uncovering ideas and processes that were already in place within the company culture,” Montalba said. “The familiarity we had – where you understand the complexities that other people may not see, and understand the context the neighborhood presents – it lends itself to being able to add value to the design and to the experience your client has.”
Reaching nearly 60 million users in 190 countries, Headspace was one of the first meditation apps in the world – so it was important that its new offices communicate values of mindfulness, wellbeing, dedicated purpose, and innovation. The company also wanted their new space to “inspire our team to cultivate creativity, productive collaboration and a sense of play,” said Louisa Cartwright, Vice President of People at Headspace, in the project notes.
David Montalba and his team of architects sought to find ways to blend group and individual spaces, and to offer an incredible outdoor experience. The design emphasizes the importance of small spaces in relation to larger ones, where “employees could find a moment of personal solace that wouldn’t deter from the surrounding communal environment.”
“This was a substantial expansion for Headspace, from a smaller office in the same neighborhood. This project was really creating a campus for them – and it was all about connecting the indoor and outdoor. We wanted to provide the kind of spaces we all look for in our daily life. We crafted a concept of an outdoor living room, of additional smaller outdoor spaces, and then a series of micro-living spaces. We were not obsessively programmatic – our process was a little more spiritual, more organic. We were not tied to a strict program.”
From project notes: “Montalba Architects’ primary design gesture, in addition to seamlessly creating a modern workplace for employees within the industrial vernacular of the site, was to turn former parking spaces into a large and expansive outdoor courtyard, which flows through the workspace into the central, open-air courtyard on the second floor. The open-air enclosure filters light and greenery into previously dark, isolated spaces and offers a necessary moment of reprieve within the buzzing office environment.”
An overhead door connects interior to exterior, in the form of an indoor/outdoor theater that has the ability to project from either side. Company-wide presentations one day, an outdoor film screening the next. “The feature entry stair functions as a workspace that transitions into large stadium seating for company-wide events, providing flexibility throughout the design,” notes project details. “A media screen rolls down in front of the large bi-fold door, while a large suspended curtain encases the screen to control light and sound.”
“The complexity around creating an acoustically sound environment was a big challenge,” said Montalba. “The technical aspects of it, including reducing glare, and designing and installing a huge retractable felt curtain were important to get right.”
“Flexibility is really important to workplace environments now, yet flexibility is incredibly complicated to design for. To find the right design strategies and fit the right pieces together is sometimes incredibly difficult.”
From project notes: “Montalba Architects’ new design responds to both the necessary requirements of an office space, as well as Headspace’s cultural needs: flexible workstations, a group meditation area for daily morning mindful breaks, open outdoor areas for work or for meditation, lounge spaces for collective brainstorming and extracurricular office gatherings, private phone booths, collaborative meeting rooms, and large kitchens for daily lunches…True to Headspace’s brand philosophy, free-standing meditation pods and quiet meditation areas are available throughout the space to allow employees additional moments of solitude whenever necessary.”
In this project, client and architect were paired well.
“There is a simplicity and a silence in our work that I think lends itself well to their brand,” Montalba mused. “The meditation, spirituality piece. Their focus on materiality, on color, and on bringing in natural light – it all aligns with our values really well. We’re not a company that focuses solely on creative offices. We’re more focused on finding the right type of clients for us, which leads us to many different types of projects.”