Happy Money recently engaged Rapt Studio to solve its emerging workplace challenges brought on by its rapid growth, inviting the team to design a multi-level headquarters that embodied, evoked, and promoted the fundamental principles of happiness. In response, Rapt prioritized connecting Happy Money's various internal teams together and creating new opportunities for fun and synergy, all while bringing their playful, effervescent brand to life.
The new space features bold, graphic murals, custom art installations, glass garage doors that bring the outdoors in, an 'All Hands' area with stair seating, a variety of working and meeting room space with flexible design features to allow for all types of work and collaboration, and much more.
Upon entering, visitors are greeted by swag. Then, across the office, bold graphic murals inspired by the brand's iconography and colors wrap around walls and cross corners and doorways, painted by design fabricators SPMD as well as Coco Nella, a woman-owned mural company in LA. Custom art installations and curated framed prints inject bright hues, while the company's altruistic manifesto is spelled out with raised lettering using shadow and dimensionality. A cohesive wayfinding system tying it all together leads people where they want to go.
Inviting light and fresh air to the first and second levels are glass garage doors that open up to balconies. The indoor-outdoor connection lifts everyone's spirits. Across the floors, individual desks are grouped by teams - those working on nurturing existing partnerships and those devoted to developing new ones. Placed at an even rhythm between clusters of desks is reconfigurable furniture arranged in 'huddle zones,' or open areas where teammates meet to hash out ideas using floor-to-ceiling cork boards and whiteboards. Adjacent, enclosed 'squad rooms' are bookable by teams for more structured collaboration. Each team has its own huddle zone and squad room.
At the heart of the office is 'All Hands' with its wide bleacher stair bridging the first and second levels. Open and inclusive, it draws together employees throughout the workday to chat and catch the sun streaming in through double-height windows. As host to weekly Happy [Money]
Hours and events like TED Talks that bring in visitors, it's flanked by a café and serves as a social hub. A custom mobile fabricated by Powerhouse Sets is suspended above and catches the light with pink, blue, green, and yellow discs. Balancing mid-air, it's a nod to the old money scales used in banking.
Employees come together for dedicated play in a gaming area featuring large-scale games like Connect 4 with custom embossed discs. An altogether different kind of space called 'Movement Experience' is host to high-profile meetings with potential investors, credit union partners, and the company's Board. Modular furniture, flexible partitions, and concealable storage allow the space to easily flex between those high-touch meetings and internal event hosting.
Photography: Courtesy of Rapt Studio