Since 2016, Nimble. has had the sincere pleasure of partnering with Keppel Pacific US REIT (KORE) as design consultant across property brand repositioning and capital efforts ranging from brand development and holistic campus signage packages to spec suite builds and multi-phase amenity activations. It’s been a labor of discipline and continued pursuit of reimagining the living workplace, and we’re so grateful for the opportunity to serve.
Recently, our Founder and Head of Studio, Candice Riley Campbell, co-led a presentation with Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT (KORE) educating on the why behind our design philosophy and our shared lens for workplace success.
Together, Nimble. and KORE have executed more than 250,000 SF of capital projects across its national portfolio—and we’re not slowing down.
Read more about our guiding capital design principles in this 5 min. On Record.
The Value of
Design Thinking
“When we talk about brand, what we’re really talking about is a living reputation—how a property meaningfully adapts to connect to its target consumer.”— Candice Riley Campbell, Founder and Head of Studio, Nimble. Design Co.
Our role at Nimble. is to make the intangible tangible. Building an emotional connection between an end user and their workplace is as complex and dynamic as we know that end user to be. The way we manage to do this is through a strategic design philosophy we’ve coined as Branding for the Built Environment®.
When someone walks into a KORE-owned property, we want them to have an emotional response and form an immediate connection with the physical place. Every aspect of the experience we’ve created in the space should strengthen that bond.
KORE invests in design early and allows for intentional iteration of its property brands through strategic capital spin. Thanks to this approach, we’re able to adapt to companies’ and individuals’ evolving needs and exceed their expectations. We challenge ourselves to design for a property’s unique factors and market dynamics, while also pushing for experience distinction across KORE’s portfolio.
There are three pillars that delineate our capital design program:
01. Defining a brand built for connection
Every KORE acquisition goes through a strategic brand development process in which we determine a guiding visual language and design vocabulary that will weave through every aspect of the digital marketing and on-site experience.
At Bellaire Park in Houston, Texas, we utilized a dual wayfinding color scheme to help diverse medical patients and daily office users more seamlessly orient to their correct destination within this mixed-use setting.
Gold stands out and to visually direct medical patients to appropriate parking and drop-off areas, simplifying their wayfinding process from point of arrival to point of return. Similarly, on the office side, a streamlined experience provides a funnel to help everyone navigate to their desired destination.
02. Smartly programmed move-in ready tenant spaces
Spec suites deliver two unique advantages to their target consumer:
Speed
Tenants can physically or virtually tour a spec suite in real time and make an informed and immediate decision to lease. This is particularly helpful to companies who are still navigating right-sizing discussions and their return-to-work strategy in this hybrid world.
Innovation
Spec suites deliver a complete vision to the end user, from finishes to fixtures to feeling. By delivering the whole picture, the user can see, touch and embrace the vision and instant potential the space has for their business. It’s a connection felt, paired by design.
At KORE, we strive for above-market finish, living and fixture packages that achieve an extra level of detail and design distinction. When someone physically tours a KORE property, it will make a more lasting impression versus other options in the marketplace.
The 1150 building within Iron Point Business Park, a five-building suburban office campus in Folsom, California, was newly 100% available, following a single-tenant move-out in late 4Q.
When we learned of this opportunity to begin anew, we posed a series of questions to inform our design strategy:
What do we want to achieve with this building?
Do we want to wait for a tenant to backfill in place?
Do we want to expand this building to become more amenity forward?
Do we want to convert it into a spec suite building and offer something fresh and dynamic for the campus?
We began with a Discovery conversation to determine who we wanted to become and for whom. We surveyed local teams and researched the market for both competitive and aspirational brands to help us highlight our differentiators and position ourselves a step above.
Ultimately for Iron Point, we decided spec suites below 3,000 square feet were our sweet spot. We were able to achieve a 15% increase in our amenity footprint simply by capturing underutilized storage spaces into additional meeting spaces and an enlarged wellness studio with indoor-outdoor connection.
Open space is met with enlivened nooks for recharging.
By the time the current tenant vacated 1150, we were ready to mobilize and begin demo on this exciting amenity hub-meets-spec suite incubator—ushering in a new experience-driving anchor within this multi-building campus.
Common area and amenity spaces that engage and inspire
With KORE, every capital project we take on is considered a brand extension with user experience at the center of our design decision making.
At Westmoor 3 in Denver, Colorado, we recently wrapped up a full-building common area and amenity core refresh to transform a tired formerly single-tenant headquarters building into a hospitality-forward hub that promotes interaction and engagement.
Pre-renovation, there were lots of dated neutrals, sun-faded materials and overwhelming geometric details. Walking into the space didn’t make you feel great.
Westmoor | Amenity Space Render Visualization
Through render visualization and design exploration, we landed on a ‘less is more’ approach featuring a blend of neutrals and calm, paired with brand activation by way of custom signage and art details that lead your eyes up and through the entirety of the building.
Activations in the lobby and at the start of the amenity space connect users from one place to the next throughout their building experience.
Westmoor | Lobby Render VIsualization
Design is a vehicle for influence
Design begins with brand and carries into the built environment through study and purpose, a living reflection of and for its end occupants. When done well, it becomes a vehicle for conversation. When flat, it becomes simply a pass-through experience, a common place vs. a celebrated one.
Lean in to places worth celebrating.
Let’s collab! We’d love to discuss how design thinking can influence your living workplace (or retail, mixed-use or community environment).
If this post resonated with you, connect with us at: newbusiness@nimbledesignco.com.