Let there be (more) light.

Docker is an open platform for developers and system administrators to build, ship, and run distributed applications, from laptops, to on-premises data centers, to public clouds.

Their mission centers around the concept of packaging an application with all of its dependencies into a standardized unit for software development. Inspired by the idea of shipping containers, docks, and the sea, the Docker brand includes nods to nautical themes with “Moby Dock” the whale as its trademark symbol.

DOCKER

LOCATION
San Francisco, California

SIZE
45,000 SF

SCOPE
Architecture
Interior Design
Furniture Design
Lighting Design
Environmental Graphics

PHOTOGRAPHY
Michael David Rose

In order to enhance limited daylight, the Blitz team used a layered approach to creating neighborhoods within the office space, prioritizing window adjacency for workstations.

Docker tasked Blitz with converting a dingy and dark three-floor, 45,000 SF storage warehouse in the South of Market area of San Francisco into a light and open workspace with access to daylight and amenities for staff across all floors while also meeting very tight budget and schedule goals. The building’s long floor plate and tight column bays limited the access to windows and views and created a challenging set or parameters to meet the program. In order to enhance the limited daylight and fit the programmatic requirements of the space, the Blitz team used a layered approach to creating neighborhoods within the office space, prioritizing window adjacency for workstations and keeping the support spaces to the center of the plan.

The main reception serves as the first entrée into the company culture and is the focal point for most social interactions in the space. The front desk is flanked to the left by a small seating area with a featured Lego Sculpture of the company mascot and a series of phone booths used for quick informal meetings. To the right is a fully equipped coffee bar with bar-height conference seating that serves as a quick informal meeting area for guests. A series of glass partitions separate the main entrance from the collaborative workspaces behind reception without creating a stark visual barrier. The glazing frames the view into the office all-hands space and break area beyond.

Subtle nods to the Docker brand appear throughout the office without resorting to overtly literal translations of the brand attributes.

Reclaimed wood paneling, soft hues of blue varying from deep indigo to a steely arctic snow, Docker-designed reclaimed wine barrels filled with tropical plants, and custom Docker palette containers play off the company’s SHIP-ing theme. The second floor is designed specifically for visitors with several glass-enclosed conference rooms clustered together around a central coffee bar area. The third floor, which is staff-only, features open workstations that are strategically stationed next to the windows bringing in natural daylight and a collaborative setting.