DLG UNVEILS NEW OFFICES IN GENEVA AND SHANGHAI

In line with its steady growth in both Switzerland and China, DLG (Digital Luxury Group) has unveiled new office spaces in both its Geneva headquarters and Shanghai outpost. Besides addressing the need to accommodate its growing team of digital experts in both markets, the new offices also reinforce the agency’s focus on offering brands holistic digital marketing and communication services to international luxury brands.“We recognised the need to adapt our offices to the growing needs of our organisation,” says David Sadigh, founder and CEO of DLG. “And this goes beyond simply accommodating larger numbers, but creating spaces that are catered to the tastes and preferences of the specific teams and the work that they do.”While both offices showcase very different design aesthetics, they are similarly rooted in the concept of shared spaces. A recent study discovered that 74 percent of employees felt more productive in communal areas and within that number, over two-thirds of them expressed that such a setting helped them in being more creative and collaborative. It is with this and employee demographics in mind that DLG set out to redesign its offices.Designed by Bloomint Design, the Geneva office presents a quiet, restrained aesthetic that is decidedly modern and versatile. To encourage the flow of activity from one point to the next, areas are kept open and spacious. Communal meeting and dining areas also feature heavily in the office to encourage dialogue within the team.Noting the need for integrated services, the new office also comes with a studio area that allows for the filming of short clips for social media. “We want to be able to come up with and deliver the best 360 marketing strategies for clients, and in order to do that, we needed to be well-equipped with a space for all of that to happen,” says Sadigh.Set within a Naked Hub facility in downtown Shanghai, the China office is far less minimalist in terms of design. “Our Shanghai team is a lot more youthful, comprising almost entirely of millennials and Gen Z-ers,” shares Pablo Mauron, Partner and Managing Director China. “And we wanted to capture that energy and vibrancy within these walls.”Here, a primarily black-and-white colour scheme gives way to splashes of colour in the form of neon lighting fixtures and signages by The Texture Group. Glass panels are also used liberally in lieu of walls to both let in natural light and create the feeling of openness within the organisation. “Metaphorically, we wanted to break down the sense of strict hierarchy and inspire a culture of mutual sharing and learning,” explains Mauron. “This is especially important when it comes to millennials. They want to be heard, and we want to encourage this conversation,” he elaborates of the open concept.As the agency’s Shanghai outfit focuses on delivering social media, e-commerce and social CRM services to clients, teams are often required to collaborate extensively on projects. To accommodate this, teams are grouped in clusters within the closed office space. However, employees are also encouraged to make use of hot desks in the external common areas as well.“While the effectiveness of this new approach remains to be seen, we would certainly like to see this as a step in the right direction,” concludes Sadigh.