LPA Studies: Pacific Dental Services Page 8

By Karen Thomas, CID, LEED AP BD+C

A far cry from a simple sign on the entry,
today's progressive company branding
schemes have evolved into immersive
environments which truly tell a story about
their organization.

Along with digital signage, graphical
elements, creative lighting, furnishings and
infographics, designers are carefully detailing,
proportioning and styling interiors to make a
lasting impression.

"The success of branding is measured by
whether a space is memorable," relates
LPA Senior Designer Rick D'Amato. "Ideally,
you want people to take with them a deeper
understanding of the company."

Case in point, for the design of Blizzard
Entertainment's corporate headquarters in
Irvine, LPA utilized imagery, materials and
deep, rich colors to brand individual floor
areas as different video games. To further
mimic the video game environment, a
darker setting is created by back-lit, glowing
translucent panels and uplighting in place of
ambient light.

"3D graphic representations of creatures
and elements from Blizzard's video games,
combined with creative lighting, decorate the
lobby, and convey a sense of being inside a
video game," explains D'Amato.

With corporations competing for the best and

Architecture + Engineering + Landscape Architecture
+

Interiors + Graphics

+ Lighting + Sustainability

Integrated Design.

Supplement

brightest, branding is becoming almost vital to a
company's recruitment and retention efforts.

"Employees want to feel like they're a part of
something bigger, so making the environment
really speak to what the company does and what
the community is about is essential," he says.

For the Yard House corporate headquarters in
Irvine, LPA designers took the characteristic Yard
House theme of piping beer from the kegs to the
draft pumps at the restaurant's bar and applied
it to the ceiling treatment in the office's main
lobby. In addition to the pipe-styled ductwork
and lighting, reclaimed wood, plants and natural
materials also mimic the organic feel of this
popular eatery, all the way down to Classic Rock
playing quietly in the background.

Going way beyond simple signage, the Yard
House's corporate setting is another example
of how today's branding strategies are all about
engaging the senses to create an immersive
experience.

Karen Thomas has more than 30 years of
experience in all areas of commercial interiors
(i.e., corporate headquarters, tenant mprovements,
tech companies, firms and financial institutions).
She maintains an impressive roster of corporate
clients, including The Irvine Company, Aetna Health
Plans, Pacific Life, Cisco Systems and Western
Digital Corporation. Thomas is a Principal at
California-based LPA Inc.