ValueAct Capital, a prominent investment management firm, is located in the historic San Francisco Presidio in the Letterman Digital Arts Center. The interior architecture of this new workplace balances competing desires, namely the ability for ideas to flow freely or be contained at the individual’s discretion.

To achieve this, private offices along the perimeter are interspersed with open, collaborative work areas. The Investor Wing’s generously sized offices have glass doors that close for complete acoustical privacy and feature break out meeting spaces. A large analyst desk nicknamed the “snowflake” allows up to nine people to work together face to face, facilitating sharing of time-sensitive information. Refined and elemental natural materials create a warm, modern environment expressive of ValueAct Capital’s culture.

A ribbon wall of board and batten eucalyptus starts at the reception desk, wraps around the glazed main entry, and proceeds around the entire space. The wall bends to form benches, bars, and break out spaces. The lobby ceiling is paneled in acoustical Eucalyptus slats, transforming into a dramatic faceted ceiling in the Investor Wing. The choice of Eucalyptus is a historical reference, as the sand dunes of the original Presidio landscape were planted over with a Eucalyptus forest that remains today. In other areas a woven metal ceiling and a dappled gray carpet offset the softness and warmth of the wooden elements.