SoFi is a new kind of finance company taking a radical approach to lending and wealth management. From unprecedented products and tools to faster service and open conversations, SoFi is about helping their members get ahead and find success. As a rapidly expanding company, the need for more space became a challenge – so SoFi engaged us to design their new office – a 100,000 square foot, breakout fintech project situated in a historic building in the heart of San Francisco’s SOMA district – an increasingly tech-focused neighborhood.

SoFi challenged the designers to craft a space that would elevate their collaborative-based efforts while capturing and promoting the essence of their culture and core values- transparency, openness, and honesty. Another challenge was to convey the sophistication, balance, and blend of merging two traditionally different and often opposing industries together, that of high tech and development with banking and finance, with a focus on attracting and retaining top talent in an unprecedented competitive market.

Their new office mixes innovative and flexible spaces with natural light and soft, warm calming tones and materiality, while respecting and incorporating the building’s historic features. A strong emphasis on community engagement was placed on the design team, so the building’s double-height lobby takes advantage of the large industrial-style windows, allowing the outside in, cultivating the transparency SoFi strives for. Other features include studio spaces fully equipped with video and lighting for content creation, a mix of creative pockets with distinctive differentiators from floor to floor, a large all-hands space that also doubles as a meeting space for SoFi members and industry events, and scrum spaces to accommodate the different working styles representative of the two distinct tech and finance industries. A large rooftop deck takes advantage of San Francisco’s gorgeous weather and doubles as an event space.

Photography: Garrett Rowland