架构师提供的文本描述。skype的主要目标是创建一个世界级的办公室，在招聘人才方面将他们与海湾地区的竞争对手区分开来。他们的新空间不仅必须是反映他们现代但有趣的个性的设计声明，而且还必须满足非常具体的声学要求，以支持公司广泛使用AV。Skype雇佣了“设计闪电战”的建筑师来设计他们新的北美总部，他们的预算和时间表都很激进。

Text description provided by the architects. Skype’s primary goal was to create a world-class office that would differentiate them from their Bay Area competitors in the recruitment of talent. Their new space not only had to be a design statement that reflected their modern but fun personality, but it also had to meet very specific acoustic requirements to support the company’s extensive use of AV. Skype hired Design Blitz architects to design their new North American headquarters on an aggressive budget and schedule.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

为了真正了解skype是如何在文化上运作的，DesignBlitz进行了广泛的用户组调查，并研究了工作区类型，然后才开始用笔写字。Skype文化的一个重要部分是围绕Scrum开发(迭代思想生成)和一种叫做“敏捷思维”(环境对思维过程的影响)的哲学。为了支持Scrum，Blitz设计了一个名为Skype的移动白板系统-它分布在整个项目中。它们可以很容易地被移动和存储，这取决于开发团队的流程和需求。闪电战还创造了许多不同的环境来支持不同的思维过程。所有的临时会议区域都是独特的，有三种不同的电话亭类型：光和明亮的积极思维；中等颜色的冥想思维；和黑暗洞穴般的房间进行内省思考。

To really understand how Skype operates culturally, Design Blitz undertook extensive user-group surveying, and researched workspace typology before ever laying pen to paper. A significant portion of Skype’s culture is built around Scrum development (iterative idea generation) and a philosophy called ‘Agile Thinking’ (the affect of environment on thought process). To support Scrum, Blitz designed a system of mobile white boards called Skype-its that are distributed throughout the project. They can be easily moved and stored depending on a development team’s process and requirements. Blitz also created a multitude of different environments to support different thought processes. All of the casual meeting areas are unique and there are three distinct phone booth types: light and bright for active thought; medium colored for meditative thought; and dark cave-like rooms for introspective thought.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

和许多组织一样，Skype需要三种不同类型的空间：协作、思考和集中空间。由于“设计闪电战”认为，人，而不是会议室，应该自然光，建筑师利用外部窗户，并将所有工作站在建筑周边(集中)。然后，由于噪音和注意力分散，他们又回到了中间，最吵的功能是在空间的中间(协作)。会议室和电话亭被列为优先事项，因为没有任何工作人员有私人办公室(采用开放式楼层计划，并设有长凳工作站系统)。沉思空间以重叠的休闲休息室的形式穿插在一起。

Like many organizations, Skype required three distinct types of spaces: collaboration, contemplation and concentration spaces. Since Design Blitz believes that people, not conference rooms, deserve natural light, the architects took advantage of the exterior windows and located all workstations at the building perimeter (concentration). They then worked their way back to the middle by degree of noise and distraction, with the noisiest functions being at the middle of the space (collaboration). Meeting rooms and phone booths were prioritized as no member of staff had a private office (an open floor plan with a benching workstation system was implemented). Contemplation spaces were interspersed in the form of overlapping casual lounges.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

有了这么大的楼板，用户能够定位自己是很重要的。这个项目是沿着一个中央高速公路组织的，有各种节点会议空间，以传达一种地理位置感，同时也鼓励工人们真正地在中间碰面。鉴于Skype员工的国际性、暂时性，这一点变得更加重要。

With such large floor plates it was important for users to be able to orient themselves. The project is organized along a central highway with various nodal meeting spaces to convey a sense of location, while also encouraging workers to literally meet-in-the-middle. This becomes even more critical given the international, transient nature of the Skype workforce.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

建筑本身提供了设计灵感的最大源泉。这是一个黑暗和黑暗的空间，多年来疲惫的租户改善项目层层叠叠。它空置了很长一段时间，而邻近的建筑物在几周内就被出租了。在参观现场时，闪电战弹出了几块天花板瓷砖，剥去这些层并揭示现有结构的机会立刻变得明显起来。建筑师们做了一个决定，把所有现存的天花板和周围的钢卷起来，再也不回头看了。由此产生的空间是原始的，工业的，并使人联想到一个仓库，它与布利茨插入到开放空间中的高度精细的会议室吊舱形成了完美的对比。

The building itself provided the greatest source of design inspiration. It was a dark and dingy space with years of tired tenant improvement projects layered on top of one another. It stood vacant for quite some time while neighboring buildings were being leased within weeks. While touring the site, Blitz popped out a few ceiling tiles and the opportunity to strip away the layers and reveal the existing structure became immediately apparent. The architects made a decision to rip out all the existing ceilings and furring around the steel and never looked back. The resulting space is raw, industrial, and suggestive of a warehouse, which stands in perfect contrast to the highly refined meeting room pods that Blitz inserted into the open space.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

吊舱的会议和协作功能，并要求很高的声音衰减水平(远远超过典型的TI建筑)。为了实现浮动吊舱的美学(吊舱是自我支撑的)和达到skype的声学要求，闪电战必须发展一种独特的建筑类型。建筑师们采用了一种在大跨度施工中常用的结构屋面板，在吊舱上方提供了结构隔膜，提供了很高的声衰减，同时也起到了完成吊顶的作用。这种多功能的质量是贯穿整个项目的一个关键焦点-一个项目实现了多个功能。

The pods house the meeting and collaboration function and require a very high level of acoustic attenuation (far exceeding typical TI construction). To achieve the aesthetic of a floating pod (the pods are self-supporting) and achieve Skype’s acoustical requirements, Blitz had to develop a unique building typology. The architects utilized a structural roof deck, commonly used in large span construction, that provided them with the structural diaphragm over the pods, provided a high level of acoustic attenuation, and also functioned as the finished ceiling. This multi-function quality was a key focus throughout the project - one item fulfilling multiple functions.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

在预算紧张的情况下，“设计闪电战”必须具有创造性，并以新的和创造性的方式使用简单、普通的材料。在寒冷的地区，他们用一堵墙涂上了草皮，另一堵墙上铺着工业用的毛毡.这些覆盖物作为声音衰减和整理材料，但也提供了一些怪诞。在Skype中，建筑师们使用了普通的3/4“桦木胶合板，并对壁龛进行了尺寸调整，以适应标准的材料模块。胶合板提供了较高的STC等级，也是完成材料。董事会的房间穿着葡萄酒风味棒，发现在一个打捞场。这些为这个特殊的吊舱提供了一个独特的结局，并巧妙地庆祝加利福尼亚-Skype的一个重要程序元素。

With a tight budget, Design Blitz had to be creative and use simple, ordinary materials in new and creative ways. In the chill-out area they clad one wall with astroturf, and another with industrial felt. These coverings function as sound attenuation and finish materials, but also afford a little whimsy. At the Skype-it niches the architects used common 3/4” birch plywood and sized the niches to fit standard material modules. The plywood provides a high STC rating and is also the finish material. The Board Room is clad in wine flavor sticks, found at a salvage yard. These provide a unique finish to this particular pod and subtly celebrate California - an important program element for Skype.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼

尽管该项目是Skype今年几个新办公室之一，但该项目已被确定为这家国际通信公司的标准。它还获得了LEED银牌认证。

Despite being one of several new offices this year for Skype, this project has been identified as the standard for the international communications company. It also achieved LEED Silver certification.

 © Hoffman Chrisman & Matthew Millman

霍夫曼·克里斯曼