Responding to the company’s rapid growth in the region, Roar has imagined a versatile office environment centred around the user. Pallavi Dean, Founder and Creative Director of Roar, comments: “Flexibility and adaptability sit at the core of the project. We wanted to create a space that stays relevant over the coming years, and that can easily adjust to the employees’ evolving needs.”

Roar’s design offers the ability to shape the space according to specific purposes or personal preferences, enabling optimum comfort and productivity. At the heart of Roar’s concept is the ‘Staff Hub’ area that can be arranged into a variety of scenarios – from boardroom to meeting room to training room.

Pallavi Dean explains: “We looked at how a typical day for an Oliver Wyman’s employee might unfold: they come in, grab a coffee, then head to a meeting or perhaps sit down to write a presentation. We focused on all those different moments and came up with design solutions for each of them, for example, instead of the conventional reception area, a coffee bar greets you when you walk in. The zones we’ve created are tailored for different types of activities. We have a series of brainstorming rooms and team meeting rooms for group work; a lunch room and chill-out area for exchange and relaxation; a pitch room to present ideas back to the client; and also more removed and quiet areas for focussed solo work.”

Roar was commissioned by leading management consultancy Oliver Wyman to design its new office in Abu Dhabi, and create an agile, experience driven workplace, which fosters both individuality and collectiveness.

Responding to the company’s rapid growth in the region, Roar has imagined a versatile office environment centred around the user. Pallavi Dean, Founder and Creative Director of Roar, explains: “Flexibility and adaptability sit at the core of the project. We wanted to create a space that stays relevant over the coming years, and that can easily adjust to the employees’ evolving needs.”

Roar’s design offers the ability to shape the space according to specific purposes or personal preferences, enabling optimum comfort and productivity. At the heart of Roar’s concept is the ‘Staff Hub’ area that can be arranged into a variety of scenarios – from boardroom to meeting room to training room.

Pallavi Dean explains: “We looked at how a typical day for an Oliver Wyman’s employee might unfold: they come in, grab a coffee, then head to a meeting or perhaps sit down to write a presentation. We focused on all those different moments and came up with design solutions for each of them, for example, instead of the conventional reception area, a coffee bar greets you when you walk in. The zones we’ve created are tailored for different types of activities. We have a series of brainstorming rooms and team meeting rooms for group work; a lunch room and chill-out area for exchange and relaxation; a pitch room to present ideas back to the client; and also more removed and quiet areas for focussed solo work.”

The journey starts with the hospitality bar, which opens up to a boardroom that can also, in turn, expand to a broader space or ‘Staff Hub’. The latter provides an informal tiered- amphitheatre seating for town-hall style meetings. The office also includes plenty of hot desking space, business-class focus pods, and a maternity and wellness room, alongside a children’s zone.

Pockets of greenery infuse the interior with a sense of freshness and create a connection with nature. Rich materials, such as wood panelling, ceramic tiles and textured upholstery fabrics, bring calm and tactility to the space. A careful combination of warm, earthy tones complemented by dusty pink and sage green with dashes of striking black accents
make up the colour palette.

Roar has infused the space with its signature playfulness and introduced small moments of surprise. The coffee bar’s bold asymmetrical pattern, and the furniture’s round silhouettes seek to inspire conviviality and stimulate creativity. The fabric-clad columns surrounding the amphitheatre make an intriguing visual variation while some parts of the ceilings have been exposed to reveal an unexpected contrast.