Design Office Interior · Zurich, Switzerland
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An office is not just a place to work — it is where a small team spends the majority of their day, and for a design studio, it is also a statement of intent. The brief here was clear: create a workspace with genuine atmosphere, built to impress clients without overpowering the people who work in it daily.
The premises — a top-floor unit in a historic Zurich building with roof-level skylights — already had character before a single piece of furniture was placed. The task was to match that character rather than fight it: to design a space that felt curated, functional and uniquely itself.
Storage was the core functional challenge. A design studio operates on samples, catalogues, material swatches and reference books. The interior needed to absorb a large volume of objects without looking chaotic — and without relying on décor to create warmth.
Desk systems, reception counter, lounge seating, meeting table, pendant lighting, shelving units and storage. Consolidated specification across residential and contract manufacturers.
The reception counter — marble top, natural timber base, brass detail — was produced by a local craftsman to a custom specification. The accent wall plasterwork was executed by a specialist decorator; the pigment mix was developed with the client over three rounds of samples.
The green decorative plaster for the accent wall required sourcing a specialist applicator and developing a custom pigment mix. Brass fixtures and fittings were specified across multiple suppliers to maintain consistency of tone throughout.
Full coordination with the fit-out contractor, electrician and decorator to sequence the installation of wall plaster, built-in shelving and furniture within one uninterrupted site programme.
The skylights changed everything. Natural light from above — the kind that falls vertically and shifts through the day — meant the space had a quality that most offices never achieve. The design decision was to protect it: keep surfaces pale, keep furniture low, keep the perimeter wall clear.
The accent wall was the exception — and it became the project's defining element. Running the full length of the studio, finished in a deep-toned decorative plaster that reads like compressed moss, it anchors the space without darkening it. Against this, the natural timber shelving and marble reception counter read as warmth rather than weight. Brass details — handles, lighting pendants, a small number of accessories — were introduced sparingly, as punctuation rather than pattern.
The storage strategy was resolved through floor-to-ceiling shelving along the main wall: open enough to display the studio's reference material, structured enough to contain it. No additional decoration was needed — the objects themselves become the interior.
The meeting zone at the rear of the studio was treated as a separate register: a large oval table, generous upholstered chairs, a single statement pendant. A space that signals attention.
38 SKUs across 9 manufacturers + 2 bespoke craftsmen — fully coordinated.
The green wall
Decoratively plastered walls are common. A specific shade of green — the one that reads like natural stone, that shifts between grey and deep olive depending on the light — is not. Three sample rounds, two pigment suppliers, one specialist applicator. The result is unrepeatable, which is exactly the point.
The sequencing
The accent wall plaster had to be applied before the shelving was installed. The shelving had to be installed before the furniture was delivered. The furniture had to arrive before the client's opening. This kind of dependency chain requires the entire programme to be mapped from the end date backwards — which we do as a matter of course, but which too many procurement processes ignore until it becomes a problem.
The skylights and the leather
Direct overhead sun on a leather sofa in a Zurich top-floor studio is a problem waiting to happen. The lounge zone was positioned to sit outside the skylight fall zone — a detail that required the furniture layout to be confirmed before the fit-out began, not after.
A studio that works like a studio and feels like nowhere else. The green wall became the thing every client mentions first. The shelving does what shelving should: disappears into the space while holding everything together.
38
items sourced
9
manufacturers coordinated
2
bespoke craftsmen
3
plaster sample rounds
6
months from brief to handover
The brief was difficult — a lot of storage, strong atmosphere, nothing excessive. They understood immediately what that meant and didn't need us to explain it twice. The wall alone was worth the project.
Design Studio Director, Zurich
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