Dropbox HQ

Project Highlights

• We sourced a blend of bespoke and artisan pieces from over 100 vendors worldwide, crafting an eclectic yet curated vibe.

• To proactively manage the needs of the largest commercial office space lease in San Francisco, our project management and installation teams were placed strategically at the job site to manage multi-phase installation directly in the field.

• We handled all millwork elements ourselves, including the design, manufacturing, and installation of wall systems, fixed shelving, and an amphitheater-sized seating system—a one-of-a-kind value add for designers and architects.

Humble materials and bespoke solutions

The brief from Dropbox was deceptively simple: they asked for a design that would explore a more enlightened way of working, unleashing creative energy for their people. Translating this open-ended prompt into a tangible plan for design with the architects at Johnston Marklee was the first step.

Our role in the project was to co-design tailored furniture, desking, storage, and decor solutions that would meet Dropbox’s needs and the overall design intent. The architects wanted to incorporate humble elements like plywood, cork, and metal mesh, which they felt reflected Dropbox’s down-to-earth values. By the completion of the project, we’d sourced bespoke, artisan, and vintage pieces from more than 100 vendors.

A holistic timeline of moving parts

As one of the largest commercial office leases in the Bay Area, and one of our largest projects to date, the Dropbox project required profound attention to project management. We facilitated installation in multiple phases as construction moved forward, situating our project management and installation teams on site to enable hands-on work. With a project of this scale, a straightforward checklist mentality was out of the question, as each section of the office progressed through the stages of construction, design, and installation on a separate schedule. Instead, we conceived of the project as spreading out on one immense, holistic timeline, which incorporated the components of each space and each stage of the install as discrete, overlapping elements. Even with this dynamic approach to choreographing the project, the installation was a lengthy process: our project manager worked directly on site for six months.

two and Dropbox have been working together for a decade, teaming up on each new iteration of the company since its founding in 2007. We’ve collaborated with this hugely successful tech startup on multiple offices in the Bay Area, plus several locations beyond. To keep up with Dropbox’s growth and evolving taste with each project, we draw from our in-depth working knowledge of their needs, prioritizing core functionalities and their unique company culture even as we reinvent the aesthetics of every new space.

How we work together

Because of the scale of Dropbox’s operations, there are many moving parts when we interface with them on design projects. Their larger projects go out to bid to multiple firms, and each location has a different architect, typically from the local area. Dropbox’s internal “black ops” department, made up of designers with a range of practices from graphics to interior design, supervises each project. They work on branding and marketing, develop consistent standards to guide all projects, and ensure that every aspect of the project stays true to the Dropbox experience. 

A vibrant, sophisticated aesthetic

As Dropbox developed as a company over the past 15 years, its look matured along the way. Dropbox flaunted a maximalist, color-forward aesthetic in its early days, which its web branding still retains. In its interior design choices, however, this saturated effect has been toned down into occasional, intentional pops of color, creating a sophisticated aesthetic that still retains the vibrancy and energy of the company’s days as a budding startup. 

Something old, something new

As a company that emphasizes staff wellness, Dropbox is deeply aware of how space impacts its people’s happiness and productivity at work. Even in its largest multi-floor workplaces, it cultivates the uniqueness of individual spaces through subtle changes in color and furnishing details. This creates a continual experience of discovery for its employees as they circulate among different work areas. Dropbox also leans into the hospitality look, curating unusual pieces and custom furniture from both local artisans and international vendors. Teamworking spaces and white boards abound, highlighting its commitment to relationship-building among its staff.

For a cloud storage company, what better motif could we dream up than clouds themselves? Both two and architect Johnston Marklee drew loosely from the classic cumulus cloud shape to imagine custom elements throughout the space. This overarching design concept brought softly scalloped angles to everything from rugs, sofas, cushions, and tables to prominent structural elements like dividers and shelving systems.

We designed low scallop-shaped cork walls for workstations near circulation paths, providing an attractive divider that both created privacy and dampened sound. In other areas, similar walls with more height encircled informal open meeting rooms. We arranged the workstations themselves in curved arrays for a look that took standard linear desks to the next level. Working in tandem with fabricators and vendors, we customized rugs from Nodi, a Cloud Table from The Tank, diamond mesh library shelves, and many more pieces to integrate references to the cloud’s evocative, serene form across the zones of the workspace.

Custom pieces? The sky's the limit.

two has profound expertise in designing custom elements for a wide variety of environments. We thrive at the intersection of form and function, where we can envision cutting-edge aesthetics while meeting company culture and work needs. For us, the new Dropbox space was a dream project: it allowed us to use our years of know-how on Dropbox’s requirements for its workspaces, while also letting our creativity flow as we generated concepts to meet its brief.

The Library gets the two touch

As we knew from our previous work with Dropbox, each of their workplaces includes a library space. For this project, the space was conceived of as a modern interpretation of a college library, featuring cozy carrels for independent work, tables for co-working, and open stacks that invited large windows to keep the space brightly lit. Unusually, we took on the custom bookshelves ourselves, designing them in collaboration with the architect before coordinating fabrication and installation. This type of fixed element, called millwork, typically falls within the scope of the architect; however, we rose to the occasion, achieving the architect’s design vision with a high degree of quality and skill. We designed the Cloud Table in the center, which was custom-built by Andrew Woodside Carter, a prior collaborator of ours with years of experience in fabricating fine bespoke furniture. The yellow lamps on the Cloud Table were sourced from a European vendor, but we put the finishing touches on them ourselves, testing many colors before powder-coating them the perfect sunshine yellow. This attention to detail is a sure sign of the two touch and the white-glove service we provide, from vision to build to installation.

The atrium was envisioned by the architect as an endlessly reconfigurable space stocked with movable seating. We created everything in the atrium space, developing its benches and mobile stadium seats with the architect and custom-fabricating natural leather cushions. To meet Dropbox’s need for different arrangements and uses of the space, the furnishings would have to be easy to push around, while also looking sleek—and staying stable—when not in motion. We solved this by installing durable casters, which we recessed to keep them looking minimal, and a user-friendly foot pedal brake to lock and release them. The planters were created in collaboration with local manufacturer Concreteworks. We worked with them in multiple sections of the space to meet the growing need for green elements, or biophilia, and their enlivening of the workplace.

With the Dropbox café, we encountered a new challenge: a two-floor food court with several different zones, including a central section of stadium seating. Here, we curated vintage pieces to blend with new furnishings, crafting a distinctive, original aesthetic. Chairs were sourced from celebrated furniture designer Vitra, through a dedicated program in which they buy back quality furniture in bulk and recondition it for new use. We were excited to add a new level of sustainability to the café’s design that took advantage of Vitra’s timeless aesthetic. Pieces from European and Scandinavian brands helped round out the space, as did more custom planters from Concreteworks. We also custom-designed and fabricated booths with scalloped gray cushions, continuing the cloud motif.

Music is a central element of Dropbox’s culture, dating all the way back to company-wide karaoke nights organized by the founders in early startup days. Each Dropbox office has its own music-inflected space, known as the Mint, inspired by the San Francisco karaoke bar where these gatherings took place. The current imagining of the Mint showcases a moody bar feel, enhanced by an eclectic mix of new and vintage furniture. We worked closely with the architect to design this space: they built in the benches along the wall, while we sourced furniture and developed the one-of-a-kind cloud-shaped vintage rugs. To create them, we found rugs at a vintage shop, then teamed up with a fabricator in Marin who assisted us as we painstakingly templated and cut out the scalloped cloud shapes that would complete the space.

The new HQ features an abundance of sunny work spots—but what about Dropbox’s engineers, who tend to prefer a darker workspace? The study, designed just for them, shuns the sun altogether. It inhabits an interior space with no windows to the outside, and its dark blue curtains create a relaxing nighttime atmosphere to unlock creativity. The cloud theme appears prominently here in custom study pods with cork exteriors and felt interiors to absorb sound. We provided specifications for all the loose furniture in this space, including custom upholstery with playful fake fur, and we also designed and coordinated fabrication for the study pods.

A new addition to the Dropbox office brief, the family room is a space in the wellness wing designed intentionally for children. As the company has evolved, it has begun investing more in family spaces like this, demonstrating its growth as well as its increased emphasis on holistically meeting the needs of its employees. The family room features whimsical elements that retain the high design standards of the rest of the workspace, such as the Eames Elephant and the Eero Aarnio Magis Puppy. A custom rug from the Rug Company evokes a feeling of rolling hills, while the Ecobirdy Charlie Chairs, made from recycled plastic, show off cherry rounded silhouettes.

Even imaginatively designed office spaces often fall short when it comes to the everyday elements of desks and office seating. But we wouldn’t be two if we stuck with the basics. We joined up with Pair, our frequent collaborators, to develop a version of their Belay workstations with special enhancements. Pair came up with a custom beam that would attach to each desk and take care of power needs, and they also adapted the tuck, usually a small cover to hide cables, to run the full length of each desk. With these clever adjustments, the desks could be linked together into curved four-packs and six-packs, evoking that dreamy cloud motif while also transcending the typical linear “desk farm” office aesthetic.