The Underwater offices

100architects was commissioned by Club Med to design their new Asia-Pacific headquarters in the Bund Financial Center in Shanghai, the building designed by Foster + Partners and Heatherwick Studio, in collaboration with product designer Diego Fuertes. Club Med is an unconventional all-inclusive holiday company, and the brief was that the office should reflect their young, fresh, extravagant identity. The agreed concept was an office that inspires vacations, holidays, and the happiness of arriving at a sunny seaside destination. Although the scope covered the whole office, special emphasis was placed on the lobby and the pantry. Based on the Mediterranean holiday feeling of swimming, the lobby was designed to mimic a swimming pool, making visitors feel submerged underwater. A deep blue suspended pipe loops around the lobby, defining mini-areas, and its shape is projected onto the floor: blue PVC carpet as pool water, wood-look PVC flooring as the deck. Each loop hosts a mini-function, such as reception, meeting rooms, waiting areas, informal meeting spaces, and hanging phone booths. The pantry was designed to be as multifunctional as possible: a long yellow kitchen solves cooking, storage, and coffee making, while a wooden mini-amphitheatre at the end provides seating for communal events and speeches. Work areas use an open-plan typology with glass-partitioned private offices to enhance transparency and bring natural light to every corner, and hanging greenery generates a positive mood. Two signature pieces of furniture were designed for the open office to provide platforms for employee interaction, hosting team briefings, small workshops, and informal meetings.