The Courtyard Workspace
- Category
- Commercial
- Location
- Westlands, Nairobi
Overview
A concept for a small professional-services office arranged around an internal courtyard. Desks sit along the brightest edge, meeting rooms are pulled to the back, and a generous lounge in the middle gives the team somewhere to work that is not a desk.
Design brief
Design an office that people choose to come into: varied places to work, good acoustic separation for calls, and a reception that makes a calm first impression for visiting clients.
Client requirements (fictional)
- Around twenty workstations with a mix of fixed and shared desks.
- Two enclosed meeting rooms and several single-person call spaces.
- A kitchen and lounge that can host a team gathering.
Design approach
Zones are arranged by noise: focused work along the window, collaborative space at the centre, and calls and meetings in acoustically lined rooms at the back.
Timber, textile and plants soften a concrete shell, while a restrained palette leaves room for the company's own brand colours in signage and graphics.
Furniture is specified for flexibility — mobile tables, stackable chairs and modular lounge seating — so the space can be reset for presentations or events.
Image gallery
Material & colour palette
Raw concrete
Floors and existing columns
Light oak
Joinery and table tops
Moss
Upholstery and acoustic panels
Chalk
Walls
Materials
- Sealed concrete floor with wool rugs in lounge zones
- Light oak veneer joinery
- Fabric-wrapped acoustic wall panels
- Glazed partitions with frosted bands for privacy
Furniture & lighting
Furniture
- Height-adjustable desks for fixed workstations
- Modular lounge seating that can be reconfigured
- Mobile flip-top tables for workshops
Lighting
- Glare-controlled linear lighting over desks
- Warm pendants in the lounge and kitchen
Design considerations
- Acoustics
- Hard surfaces are balanced with absorptive panels and rugs; meeting-room acoustic performance would be confirmed with the fit-out contractor.
- Landlord requirements
- Fit-out works in a commercial building are typically subject to landlord approval and fire-safety review by the appropriate professionals.
This is a fictional concept project prepared for the studio portfolio. It does not represent a real client, and no costs, measurements or outcomes are implied.
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Planning something similar?
If the Courtyard Workspace reflects what you have in mind, we'd be glad to talk about your own space.