First impressions are important. Conventional wisdom says people establish an impression of someone after just seven seconds, but the most recent science says it’s even faster than that — a mere tenth of a second.
That’s barely enough time for a visitor to make it through the front door of an office, hotel or gathering space.
While buildings aren’t people, you can be sure that guests are taking in the design, colors, layout and feel of your entrance or lobby, and these first impressions will contribute significantly to their overall view of the company.
“It’s really important — it’s our first impression,” said Peter Martini, president and co-founder of iboss Cybersecurity, of the firm’s lobby. He said the entrance was designed with not only visitors in mind, but employees and potential employees, as well. The interior of a space may serve a very specific purpose, but the lobby has to appeal to and draw in all types of guests.
As Greg McKee, startup accelerator CONNECT’s president, put it, the lobby has to be comfortable and welcoming for everyone — from a foreign dignitary visiting for the first time to a regular who spends hours in the office each day.
Restaurants, hotels, community groups and companies across all sectors spend a lot of time and resources trying to design an entrance that aptly reflects their space, and gives visitors a better idea of a firm’s mission as soon as a person steps through the door.
If eyes are the window to the soul, then lobbies are the window to an organization’s purpose.
The San Diego Business Journal selected a sampling to share.
BO-Beau
Designer:
Philippe Beltran
Size: 500 square feet
Theme: Warm, soulful, bohemian
Step into Ocean Beach’s top spot for French fare, Cohn Restaurant Group’s BO-Beau, and Philippe Beltran hopes you step into a memory.
“My mission statement is to transport people who come to dinner with us to a place of well-being and feeling well,” Beltran said. “I wanted people to walk in and say, ‘Oh,my gosh, it reminds me so much of when we went to Spain or France— do you remember?’ And the conversation starts around traveling and experiences.”
BO-Beau’s lobby, and entire interior, makes use of furniture Beltran found in gypsy markets during his travels around Spain, France and Italy that aim to portray the simplicity and soul of those cultures. Beltran said lighting was also an important component of the restaurant’s entrance, giving off a feeling of warmth and comfort.
iboss Cybersecurity
Architect:
Darrel Fullbright,
assisted by
Diane Hyink, Gensler
Size: 1,500 square feet
Cost: $250 per square feet
Theme: Natural, outdoorsy, collaborative
iboss Cybersecurity completed its 42,846-square-foot Torrey Pines facility remodel in October 2015 with the goal of bringing the outdoors in. The lobby plays a key role in creating that vibe through concrete floors, glass panels and doors that let in 98 percent of light while reflecting heat, and a natural Brazilian wood wall running on the outside of the building and coming inside at the lobby. Oh, yeah, and the 16-foot walnut tree trunk.
“We want you to come into the space knowing that the company gives off the presence of fresh, natural, cutting-edge, very open and inviting,” said Peter Martini, co-founder and CEO. “And the space is designed to be very collaborative. If it is employees walking in, the first impression they get is it’s not an older space, it’s not an older company, it’s a very modern company, but more importantly, it’s very natural.”
Because it is a cybersecurity company, computer servers can be seen through glass walls so the company’s purpose and mission are at the forefront of the physical space.
As Martini puts it, “Cybersecurity technology is really hidden behind the natural world— it’s surrounding us, behind us.”
Bizness Apps
Architect:
Bizness Apps Team
Size: 200 square feet
Theme:Simple, cost-effective, bootstrapped
Mobile app platform Bizness Apps made a splash when it relocated from San Francisco to San Diego in April 2016, opening an office in La Jolla. Andrew Gazdecki, Bizness Apps CEO, said while lobbies are certainly important and give potential employees a first impression of the firm, his company hasn’t focused on this area just yet.
“We’re a bootstrapped company so it’s not really in our company DNA to hire a designer or architect to make an amazing-looking lobby,” Gazdecki said. “We try to focus our funds elsewhere to grow our business.”
He said the company has worked to create a positive space for employees, including painting a custom mural, installing standing desks and adding a Ping-Pong table.
The Alexandria at Torrey Pines
Architect/designer:
Christina Kelley, Gensler
Size: Approximately 5,000 square feet
Theme: Modern, chic, informative
The Alexandria at Torrey Pines aims to be a central spoke in the Torrey Pines Mesa wheel, attracting the scientific and life science communities surrounding the University of California, San Diego to the community center-like facility. The Alexandria Real Estate Equities property offers a fitness center, Brian Malarkey restaurant, meeting spaces large and small and a host of amenities and concierge services to Alexandria tenant members and visitors.
The large lobby and pre-function space just off the lobby are modern, but not at the expense of keeping their busy and brainy guests informed. A digital media screen serves as a hub for news and happenings at the site itself, as well as featuring tenant videos, news, weather and traffic updates, and the occasional surf video. This is San Diego, after all.
A large abstract art installation helps create that modern, chic vibe, though it is actually made of 40,000 pieces of paper from Alexandria’s annual reports dating all the way back to its 1997 IPO. On a micro scale, the art looks like a microscopic view of nerve fibers and connective tissues, but take a step back and it’s representative of a satellite view of Alexandria’s innovation cluster locations.
The US Grant hotel
Designer:
Rodrigo Vargas Design
The Project: $13 million for a restyling including the lobby, meeting and wedding venues, expanded fitness center and all 270 rooms and suites
Theme: Presidential, historic, classic
Downtown San Diego’s The US Grant hotel was built by the namesake president’s son in 1910, and underwent a renovation in 2006. Ten years later, the iconic landmark is restyling the space, including the lobby, to better reflect its Kumeyaay Native American roots and presidential heritage. The refresh will be complete in early 2017.
The updated lobby features mirrored walls, a seating arrangement and custom rugs inspired by the $50 bill, Kumeyaay artifacts to honor the site’s tribal history of ownership by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and a Vieux Carre (aka French Quarter New Orleans) cocktail cart. The colors of the space—navy blues and golds mixed with earthy natural hues—elicit a presidential vibe, as does the restored oil portrait of President Grant in the lobby.
Architect/interior designer:
CONNECT
Hollander Design Group
Interior design/furniture: bkm
OfficeWorks
Size: 740 square feet
Cost: Approximately $50 per square foot
Theme: Welcoming comfort, industrial chic
Startup accelerator CONNECT moved into a new office space in La Jolla roughly a year ago, and wanted to make sure visitors instantly felt at home in the fresh digs.
“We wanted people to feel comfortable walking in, sitting and having a conversation, and basically using the space as if it were their own,” said Greg McKee, president and CEO of CONNECT. “As a community organization, we have all kinds of people coming in on a daily basis — people from San Diego and around the world, people who are well-versed in CONNECT, and those visiting us for the first time. The space had to be welcoming to anyone who might walk in, be impressive, reflect our fast-paced nature, and be modern.”
This vibe was created through concrete floors and an exposed ceiling, a digital screen for communicating news, and nontraditional furniture that promotes interaction between visitors.
Hotel La Jolla
Architect:
Marengo Morton
Architects
Size: 1,624 square feet
The Project: $5 million renovation including work on guest rooms, Cusp Dining & Drinks restaurant on the 11th floor, Hiatus Poolside Lounge and the lobby
Theme: Sophisticated, natural
The Hotel La Jolla joined the Curio by Hilton brand in April 2016, and was remodeled to reflect this new affiliation. The lobby uses natural light and wood and natural-looking decor to highlight its location just steps from the beach, and bring elements of the outdoors in.
“The large, sun-drenched lobby living room features floor-to-ceiling windows and embodies the understated yet fashionable ambiance of the area,” said Tyler Garcia, general manager of the hotel.
J. Craig Venter Institute
Architect:
ZGF Architects
Size: 4,500 square feet
Theme: Sustainable, natural
The J. Craig Venter Institute, a genomics research powerhouse situated across from UC San Diego overlooking a small coastal canyon and the Pacific Ocean, makes use of its location by having an outdoor courtyard serve as its lobby. The courtyard is a visual and physical connection between the Institute’s wet labs and office research space, and is half covered by solar panels while still allowing natural light to filter in. The building is LEED Platinum certified and the world’s first bio lab to generate all of its own electricity.
