Stripe – Pioneer

Occupying 23,000 sq. ft. of the landmark Pioneer Building, Studio BBA’s design for Stripe’s new headquarters provides a cohesive, connected spatial experience between three floors and two buildings, accomplished within a fairly tight budget and an extremely tight time frame. Stripe sought out Studio BBA to shepherd their complete process:  space planning, Schematic Design, Design Development, interior graphics, furniture coordination, Construction Documentation, project administration, accessories, and art procurement.

To relate to their densely-populated Mission District location, we realized their vision for an informal work environment that maintained its connection to the city and the needs of its urban dwelling staff, as well as the feel of their previously close-knit work environment (40 people in 4,000 sq. ft.). For us the project epitomizes “Jane Jacobs in an office”, an organically structured interior that will celebrate the beauty of growth over time.

On arrival, Stripe’s waiting room is marked by intentional, subtle details in the signage and furnishings, enough to pique one’s interest while settling in. But bolder moves await inside. A new three-story blackened steel stair unifies the floors, providing a visual and physical relationship between spaces, enhanced with first and third floor garden lounges—one prim and proper, the other wild and overgrown—that invite exploration and connectivity.

Myriad communal workspaces occur throughout the offices, from bar-height common tables to artful jungle lounges, and a series of progressively private ”code caves” provides the staff of software programmers a variety of code-writing environments. The ground-floor utilizes space that was formerly a garage for a professional kitchen, a rustic, comfortable lunchroom and an adjacent outdoor patio with covered bike rack structure, tumbled-brick pavers and café-style lighting. A library lounge flanks the busy lunchroom path, offering reprieve; the idea of a quiet introspective space; books as ornaments. On the third floor, a speak-easy bar provides a central gathering place and much-needed ‘time out’ for a work force that often burns the midnight oil.