“Flexible and Bullet-proof” were concept requests from the head of facilities that needed to be woven into the fabric of a wonderful, timeless workplace design for Affirm’s new San Francisco home base. Capturing these seemingly disparate concepts, the design of the firm’s expansion allows for future growth or contraction by adding or shedding full floors of 15,000 rentable square feet at a time. Under this set of design solutions, Affirm can adapt quickly in response to their ever-changing market demands without great cost or schedule impact.

At approximately 150 RSF/employee, the headquarters design maximizes the potential density of the real estate solution yet still offers a 50/50 ratio of “me space” to “we space.” Generous formal and informal collaboration spaces as well as a variety of individual work settings allow ubiquitous choice for each team member in how they wish to work. Each employee has their own motorized height adjustable workstation. A catered servery for over 500 staff members is also a part of the design. The new design fully embraces the firm’s culture of open, honest transparency and reflects employees’ sense of pride in their mission.

Photography: Jasper Sanidad