Music Box

Designed by local firm Bean Buro, Warner Music’s new Hong Kong office is a bright and energising space with flexible working areas designed for optimal acoustics

Six years after designing Warner Music’s former Hong Kong office, and having also designed their offices in Beijing and Singapore, local architecture and interior design studio Bean Buro was approached once again to design the company’s new Hong Kong location. Located in an office tower, the 1,500-square-metre space retains the DNA of the previous workplace while achieving a greater sense of collaboration, flexibility and well-being thanks to innovative IT and acoustic solutions implemented in various settings across the office. ‘The original site was a bare shell with no partitions. It required a full refurbishment, so we had to explore and produce the best acoustic solutions,’ explains Bean Buro co-founder Lorène Faure. ‘For example, the recording studio “floats” as an insulated room with cavities all around, and is purposely isolated to prevent external street noises from entering.’

The initial inspiration for the office, Faure explains, was the idea of creating a ‘music box concept, like a small building within the building to house various meetings rooms’. In these rooms, operable partitions were created to open onto the social area, making the layout playful and flexible. Here, ceilings and walls are covered with wood wool to absorb the sound, while the recording studio utilises individual concave slats to reduce reverberation. The team also incorporated a range of fabrics to bring extra colour and increase acoustic absorption in the various collaboration areas.

Daylight pours into the space through ample window that overlook the city. The colourful material palette includes teal timber slats and green terrazzo, and in the social space, a large bespoke rug in an orange-tan gradient adds further vibrancy. ‘The colour palette was inspired by the idea of celebrating the joy of music through design’, says Faure’s co-founder Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui. ‘Each meeting room has a different colour concept expressed through acoustic fabric wall panels, wall coverings and loose furniture.’

Sustainability was also a consideration. Kinugasa-Tsui and Faure explain that they chose high-grade, environmentally friendly materials wherever possible, including carpets made from recycled fishnets and acoustic panels made from recycled materials. ‘Copious amounts of vegetation are also planted across the workplace as biophilic elements to improve well-being,’ says Faure. ‘And we designed the layout to ensure all employees have good access to natural light and views, thereby improving energy usage efficiency by limiting artificial lighting’.

Text / Nina Milhaud
Images / Courtesy of Bean Buro