Grand Opening of RDC and Studio One Eleven Office
Yesterday marked the exciting unveiling of the Retail Design Collaborative/Studio One Eleven Space in Long Beach, CA. Oculus was happy to serve as lighting designers for the office, especially since we’ve had the opportunity to work with both groups on a great variety of projects since our inception. The office itself is around 30,000 sf and exudes a welcoming, industrial yet creative vibe from the start. Oculus employed two main strategies in order to break up the space. The first are long, slender linear fixtures that lead the eye inwards, welcoming guests to the reception and social gathering areas such as the kitchen. The second was to utilize industrial high bays over the open work space in order to deliver more uniform light over desk areas. Additionally, all vertical surfaces are illuminated not only to show off special features such as colorful art and green walls, but also to subtly balance daylight from the glazing at the offices’ street frontage.
The event was much more boisterous than the average office remodel in that there was media coverage that touted the opening as the first step in a re-branding effort for the complex, formerly called “City Place”, that was originally announced in 2015. In an article on the opening, Press Telegram states “The now-completed conversion of a former Nordstrom Rack into a work-space — a “creative office” in the parlance of nearly 170 people working there — is part of a broader plan to convert the six square blocks that composed City Place into something new. If all goes to plan, an influx of new restaurants expected to begin in about half a year’s time would result in former City Place blending, aesthetically and culturally, with the eclectic shops, bars and restaurants that can be found on Pine Avenue and The Promenade.” Retail Design Collaborative and Studio One Eleven are behind the redesign of the center, now to be named “The Streets”, and hope that the re-design will provide more fluidity with downtown Long Beach. Oculus is serving as the lighting designers for ‘The Streets’ project as well.
Congratulations to Retail Design Collaborative and Studio One Eleven on the official opening of their beautiful new office space! Long Beach Press Telegram featured the opening in their newspaper and some additional photos are included courtesy of Retail Design Collaborative/Studio One Eleven.