LinkedIn, Dubai

LinkedIn gave Perkins+Will exactly the kind of challenge designers dream of, and they soon realized that they would have to pull a rabbit from a hat to catch and hold their attention. LinkedIn were looking to create a space that represented the company’s culture of innovation while embracing local heritage. KPS and the design team, headed by Valentina Cereda, took this and connected it to the concept of ‘journeying’. What a fantastic story to tell – the story of a city such as Dubai housed within the space of an innovator such as LinkedIn. It became imperative to understand how LinkedIn worked, communicated, relaxed and generally conducted every day business. Armed with this knowledge, the design team was able to plan a space that fully supported staff members’ different personalities, providing spaces for concentration, connectivity and socializing alike. In terms of the journey concept coupled with the heritage of Dubai, there is a real sense of evolution as you move through the city and the idea was to connect this to different parts of the space. For example, within the breakout area a shipping container was sourced which enclosed the kitchen area. The seating areas outside of the meeting room were a reference to Dubai’s Metro which of course is the spine of the city. These subtle references translate well into the innovative graphic design work and it produced a beautifully balanced design, which was both uniquely professional and playful.