By Star Hughes-Gorup

We love tech up-and-comer Stripe’s creative new headquarters in San Francisco. The company, which helps businesses accept payments over the web and from mobile devices, has created a lush, vibrant space for its team, while managing to incorporate a color palette consistent with its brand. The bright blue accent wall color contrasts beautifully with the exposed wood beams and wood floor, making for a warm, inviting reception area.

Lounge furniture welcomes guests to sit back, relax, and enjoy the space while admiring the half-exposed ceilings (lighting, sprinkler systems, HVAC and wood beams are on view, while mechanical systems remain hidden).

One of my favorite design elements in Stripe’s San Francisco space is the beautiful, steel staircase surrounded by potted plants and vintage glass fishing floats suspended from hemp ropes. It adds a bit of a “Jungle Book” feel to a professional office environment. Is this cool or what? I am in love.

The natural wood and hemp theme continues throughout the space, with natural wood dining tables contrasting with the modern, industrial kitchen. This is one of my favorite trends in office space today. Mixing natural elements – in this case wood beams, wood floors and plants – with industrial elements is a classy, high-end way to bring a creative, edgy, “tech” feel to your office space.

Like most of today’s creative offices, Stripe chose glass conference rooms and private offices as the way to go. These private workspaces are carpeted to help dampen sound, and also use systems glass – a single structure that connects the glass to the door – to provide additional insulation from noise.

Another popular and easy-to-achieve trend that you’ll find in many creative spaces today is the addition of phone rooms. Small, four-by-four foot rooms that house a computer, chair, and phone provide team members with private places to make calls, while allowing companies to maximize their space with as many open workstations as possible. I’d recommend building them either with glass inset doors or wood doors with glass sidelites to allow natural light to come through (and make the phone room feel less like a closet!)

The best part of this amazing space is that you can achieve a similar look in any type of office space if you have the right vision – and a budget to support it. Be sure to communicate with your tenant representative about the type of look you’re going for in any new space so that you can negotiate a tenant improvement allowance that will meet your needs.

Congratulations, Stripe, on such a cool new space! We can’t wait to see what you do next.