We began working on Flywire's Chicago office in 2018. Founded in 2011 with headquarters in Boston, Flywire has grown to seven offices around the world. The company grew quickly and hadn't yet established an environmental brand concept. However, the way Flywire's workplaces operate is very well established. Each space has an open layout with no individual offices, plenty of meeting rooms of various sizes and seating arrangements, a large kitchen/dining space that doubles as casual meeting spaces and allows a large enough space where all the employees could meet. In other words, the spaces offer many ways to work. Desks are small, so employees move around, sometimes working in lounge seating, sometimes taking calls in "phone booths", sometimes sitting at a counter along the window in the kitchen, sometimes standing.

So while the programmatic requirements were well defined, the look was not.

The Chicago office was moving to a new space so it was an opportunity to establish the look and feel of the company going forward. These images show the initial intent. We created a light filled space with white oak millwork, natural materials, plants, exposed concrete floors, and an open ceiling. The lounge furniture is light enough to be easily rearranged. Comfort and flexibility are essential. The overall atmosphere that we designed for Flywire might best be described by the Danish word "hygge".

While the construction of the Chicago office was underway, we redesigned the Boston headquarters, a two floor space that we expanded to three floors, all with incredible views of the Public Garden. Photos of both spaces are forthcoming!