TAKE A LOOK | This SA architecture firm designed Nike’s HQs in SA, Greece, Netherlands, Turkey | Business Insider

Nike’s headquarters in Johannesburg (Supplied)

• Inhouse is a South African architectural design company that has designed Nike’s headquarters in South African, the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, and Israel.
• The Cape Town-based design company also created work spaces and sports environments for Nike in cities like Johannesburg, Athens, Tel Aviv, and Hilversum.  
• Inhouse’s current three-year project, to be completed in 2023, involves the concept ideation, interior design, and complete architectural design of the Bill Bowerman Centre in Hilversum, Europe.
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Inhouse, a South African architecture firm, has designed various Nike headquarters and key site in Johannesburg and other cities across the globe, including Istanbul, Tel Aviv, and Athens.

The Cape Town design company has created work that involves various other projects for Nike’s European headquarters in The Netherlands. So far, it has designed 184,000m² under Nike’s roof, and is currently working on another big project.  

“We love that we get to work within walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean in our beautiful Cape Town studio everyday but that we have global exposure both in Europe and Asia or elsewhere at any given time, it makes our design life very diverse and rewarding,” said Inhouse co-founder and creative director Aidan Hart.

Its most recent three-year project, set to conclude in 2023, involves the concept ideation, interior design, and complete architectural design of the Bill Bowerman Centre in Hilversum, Netherlands – Nike’s  Europe headquarters – about 30 kilometres from Amsterdam.

According to Inhoue, the European science centre offers a vast logistics hub, sports environments and full food service offerings for staff and guests.

In this project, the company will redesign and rethink several thousand square meters of workspace planning and more.

“Working with the Nike Workspace Design & Connectivity (WD&C) Team has been really rewarding and it is a rich collaborative process – we engage with them on every level as their design partners, from brand storytelling through graphic applications within different zones to the practicalities of commercial and technical refurbishments of spaces like their new European centre court food service offering.

“This is very much in keeping with our style – we like to embed ourselves in a brand’s narrative from every touchpoint and to ensure that a thread of intent can be seen and felt throughout”, said Hart.

In South Africa, Inhouse is responsible for the headquarters in Melrose Arch. Here the design company tapped into their knowledge of South African visual style, material heritage, and local content.

This helped bring together Mzansi-style with current Nike sensibilities that embrace both the brand and styles reminiscent of a South African aesthetic

Joburg workspace (Supplied)

Joburg sport environment (Supplied)

“The Nike design language is really interesting and their working methodologies and systems, while complex, are very consistent, and have become refined over time.

“It has brought many learnings for us as a design studio and has shown us the capacity we have for working with brands and businesses all over the world, and most importantly that South African expertise is relevant and respected,” said Hart.

Here are other the workspaces and their design elements.

The famous “World Cup Stadium” inspired focus space. Provides both a creative space to engage, and a stylish backdrop for the surrounding workspace.

One of the most popular workspace types, the booth, either single, double or more. Used to meet, when a private meeting space is not required.

As part of an alternative workspace option, these single focus booths allow for heads down focus. This space is also allocated as a “do not disturb” zone. Working here is pure focus.

The workspace is located to allow for the best natural light and external visual connection. Height adjustable desks are used to provide variable posture options for a more active work process. The ability to stand for periods of time provide healthy adjustments over a work period.

Break away café-style spaces with high level of brand connection are designed to ensure the end user can connect with each other in appropriate spaces.