SMOORE Office by Super Tomato embodies the brand spirit in spatial expression

Despite function and utility being paramount when crafting workspaces, the and of office spaces, especially headquarters, have evolved significantly. These are conceived as tangible statements of ‘who we are’ as a brand, a corporation or a company. With a similar intent, this by design practice Super Tomato strives to embody the corporate culture and spirit of its brand in its spatial expression. Located in Dongcai Industrial Zone, within the Bao’an District of , , with an area of over 2500 square metres, the SMOORE Office aligns with the daily needs of its business while conveying the company’s ethos.

SMOORE Office aims to represent the brand’s commitment to innovation in the spaces Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
Entrance lobby and reception area on the first floor Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin

Super Tomato, a design practice with a diverse oeuvre, provides design services and research in China as well as across the globe. They expand themselves in multiple spheres such as , architecture, , installations, and interaction. The use of materials, spatial order, scale and proportion is carefully approached to inject unique connotations into projects and explore a range of interventions. In addition to projects in mainland China, Super Tomato has ongoing projects in , , and .

SMOORE Office – building facade Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
SMOORE Office – atrium Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin

The original space that the design team began work with was decluttered and square—easing the new organisation of functions and circulation routes. The on the first and the fourth floors are the primary areas used for communicating SMOORE’s corporate culture. Black ceramic atomisation coil with metallic film, the representative product and of SMOORE, becomes the reference point for the project’s revised colour palette. The design team resorted to darker tones to define the ambience of the office—echoing the company’s product design and responding to the client’s needs. A series of greyish-black screen walls delineating the public area allows daylight to permeate the interiors while guiding the visitors into the office area.

SMOORE Office – reception area Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
A feature brick wall embedding the brand logo Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
Reception and waiting area – details Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin

As visitors enter the space, they encounter a striking corporate logo wall and the bright ‘fireplace’ in the entrance lobby—setting the tone of the . Featuring a water bar and a reception area on the side, this section aims to exude openness and serves as a place for the employees to relax. A brand logo wall made out of red bricks punctures the ambience of the dark-toned space with a relatively more youthful language. The rhythmic wall on the other face of the area features windows that bring into the space; the recurring elements establish a sense of order in the overall composition of the lobby. A juxtaposition of varying elements comes into play across this area: the formal grey and dark tones of the interior design are equalised by relaxing pops of colour in the and the orange sofa; the natural daylight converses with the , complementing each other and emphasising the detailed textures of each component.

Meeting room on the first floor Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
Reception tea room on the first floor Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin

From the comfortable setting of the reception area, one moves to the meeting room and the more private reception tea room where a different spatial expression comes to the fore. Contrary to the darker initial tones, here brighter and minimal settings take centre stage. The well-lit, bright and decluttered spaces invite the users to concentrate their thoughts while engaging in discussions and communication.

The fourth floor features spaces catering to in-house purposes Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
Staircase and recreation area on the fourth floor Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
The staircase leads to the terrace Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin
Water bar and recreation area on the fourth floor Image: Courtesy of Luo Xianglin

Unlike the lobby on the first floor, the public spaces on the fourth floor are designed to cater to in-house purposes. The area conforms to the black and grey and has an adjacent staircase that leads to the terrace. The appears lightweight and dynamic owing to the overlapping blocks used to create it. A band of bright orange, running along the stairs, emerges as a visual focus amidst the dark colours, accentuated further by the light trickling in through the skylights. For the staircase, the also took cues from the black stone monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s classic film , speaking of precision and exploration.

SMOORE Office – axonometric and circulation diagram Image: Courtesy of Super Tomato
SMOORE Office – first floor plan Image: Courtesy of Super Tomato
SMOORE Office – second floor plan Image: Courtesy of Super Tomato
SMOORE Office – fourth floor plan Image: Courtesy of Super Tomato

With the of SMOORE’s office, Super Tomato strives to narrate an ethos of technological innovation, high quality and precision that guides the company’s products. In tandem, the design also communicates SMOORE’s humanistic approach and care towards its employees. For these interventions, the brand’s tenets become the touchstone; simple forms are contrived to play with an array of functions and the spatial experience is moulded to echo SMOORE’s brand identity.

Project Details

Name: SMOORE Office
Location: Building 8, Bao’an Avenue, Dongcai Industrial Zone, Bao’an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong
Client: SMOORE
Area: 2,520 sqm
Design firm: Super Tomato
Architectural design: Shenzhen Diagonal Architectural Design Co., Ltd.
Design development: Tomato Plus Design (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
Construction firm: Santu Group