IBM Workplace Design

Connect zones allow clients and IBM employees to engage in a variety of formal or informal interactions. Whether open or closed, these environments provide space to present, share and co-create ideas and business solutions.

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Signature moments

Connect zones are centrally located spaces for clients and IBM employees to meet, share and co-create. They are easily accessible and visible upon arrival onto the floor and are typically adjacent to Welcome and Play zones. These spaces are fully equipped to enable sharing and co-creation activities. A broader spectrum of accent colors in textiles, finishes and graphics can be used to energize these spaces.

Finish palette

Connect zones are places to absorb input from and share ideas with clients, and the surroundings shouldn’t overwhelm these important exchanges. Wood continues to play an important role in our finish palette, unifying the interior design across different space types. In Connect zones, wood finishes create proportional and structural relationships among furniture, wall surfaces, flooring and core elements. Additional finishes, such as tile and concrete, provide extra durability for heavy traffic areas. Area rugs, textiles and furniture can provide a pop of color and interest within this neutral shell.

Color strategy

As a backdrop to the collaboration and co-creation activities with clients that happen in Connect zones, a wider color palette should be used with restraint and for specific emphasis. Although we lead with blue in the Welcome and Arrive zones, a richer spectrum of accent colors across architectural finishes, furniture and textiles in the Connect zones can help fuel active, creative interactions.

Brand expression

Connect zones cover a broad spectrum of space types, from more formal, enclosed spaces, to open co-creation workspaces, where clients and IBM employees can innovate together. Calibrate the brand expression to fit these varied environments. For example, the formal space may use less overt brand elements, such as texture and pattern, but consider more playful, expressive elements to energize the co-creation environment.

Furniture

Conference rooms and multipurpose rooms should have comfortable seating on casters for extended work sessions, and to allow for rooms to be reconfigured more easily. When used, high-top cafe chairs should have cushions and back supports. A co-creation Connect zone can be implemented in a variety of ways, depending on the site program and business needs. These spaces are intended to be a workspace for clients and IBM teams to innovate and share ideas. The furniture in these spaces, including work surfaces and seating, should be easily reconfigurable to accommodate visioning and knowledge sharing sessions with our clients, agency partners and guests.

Flooring and ceiling

Meeting rooms may use a variety of ceiling solutions, including slat pattern systems, acoustic tile or gypsum. Lighting should integrate into the ceiling system and allow for rooms to be reconfigured. Co-creation spaces may also use an open or exposed ceiling that’s painted with a neutral finish.

In enclosed meeting rooms, neutral-colored carpet tiles are often used to soften the space. The high-traffic and more energetic co-creation spaces can use lightly sanded or polished concrete and, when appropriate, luxury vinyl tile solutions in neutral finishes.

floor and ceiling options for presentation space

floor and ceiling options for connect space

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Space types: Welcome

Space types: Collaborate