L’Oréal, West Coast HQ

Project Highlights

• As part of a high-flying design collaboration with Studio Blitz and Pair, two selected key furnishings for L’Oréal’s new West Coast HQ, a revamped hangar of over 100,000 square feet that unites four brands into one space.

• To help Studio Blitz’s bold, colorful design vision take off, we zoomed in on fabrics, finishes, and dividers contributing to a vibrant and cohesive look for work areas, cafes, open collaboration areas, and a training academy.

• To elevate form and function in conference rooms, we coordinated the manufacturing of reconfigurable custom tables, adaptable for video conferencing and large in-person meetings.

L’Oréal’s new West Coast headquarters—housed in a revamped airplane hangar—was a monumental color-driven collaboration across more than 100,000 square feet. Designed by Studio Blitz, this hub brings together four of L’Oréal’s brands (NYX, Pulp Riot, Urban Decay, and Youth To The People) into one unified space.

To meet Studio Blitz’s bright, fun design vision, we focused on distinctive details—from sofa fabrics to finishes to dividers—as we outfitted office and collaborative spaces, plus facilities for L’Oréal’s first West Coast professional Academy. Pair, a workplace furniture manufacturer known for bringing creativity and color to the table (no pun intended) supplied the vivid-hued workstations from their Swing system.

Go with the flow

Referencing the Los Angeles River, the headquarters has its own “River”—a two-story vaulted space that runs the length of the building. With a café area in the middle and collaborative spaces at either end, it connects social spaces and amenities. Tuning in with the project’s bold color scheme, we picked chairs in coral from Petite Friture and “sweet pink” from Gubi, pairing them with a playful variety of tables by US manufacturer Grand Rapids Chair Co.

Schooled in beauty

Following Studio Blitz’s design, we arranged clusters of inviting living room-style seating for L’Oréal Academy’s entrance lounge. To make beauty mavens feel at home, our comfy-meets-chic selections include velvet moss McQueen Club Chairs by Industry West, mod teal lounge chairs by Martin Brattrud, and sculptural coffee tables by Mater.

A quick study, we expanded our know-how to include beauty-industry procurement and helped outfit the full gamut of the Academy’s training facilities, including Styling Chairs by Belvedere Caruso and wall-hung storage stations by Minerva. 

Creative Influence

The Creator’s Studio offers a photogenic enclave for content creators. Located near the main entrance, this lounge is the perfect backdrop for striking a casual pose or unboxing a favorite product. Studio Blitz’s design goal here was a soft-toned, beachy-luxe feel. To complement this, two selected a sand-tinted sofa by Rove Concepts and cushy lounge chairs by Gubi, paired with an eclectic mix of slim-topped tables by Article, RS Barcelona, and Bend Goods.

The Studio also provides a refreshing view of the Working Garden. For this chlorophyll-centered oasis, we picked furniture that boosts the biophilic mood, including the Isabella Chair by Resident and the Inyo Lounge Chair by Martin Brattrud in fresh green tones.

Unstructured play—at work

L’Oréal aims to channel a sense of discovery with collaborative spaces called Unstructured Play. To encourage a freewheeling attitude, we focused on fun, flexible pieces that reconfigure easily —including congregating around a screen for zoom meetings.

When collaboration calls for tabletop working, multi-height tables on casters by Watson are a perfect fit. With a nod to L’Oréal’s signature trade, the accompanying La Palma bar stools rock a trim salon chair-inspired silhouette. To delineate cozier, let’s-play-together zones within the vast open layout, we sourced Steelcase Flex Active Frames powder-coated in peppy colors—such as cloud blue above and rose quartz below. The partitions offer added storage, as well as whiteboards and tackable surfaces.

We decked out this Unstructured Play area with a bouquet of informal seating. Framing a mix of poufs and stools, the modular Bell sofa by Steelcase delivers group-friendly comfort in a funky gradient of pinks. Budget-friendly and design-minded, this standard sofa model was one we used in multiple spaces, customizing its modular attributes with different colored upholsteries. We also coordinated the manufacturing of bright custom-cut EGE rugs—selected by Studio Blitz—for a perfect-fitting foundation for playful work.

V is for versatility and vogue

In L’Oréal’s boardrooms, beauty and power team up for a glam executive look. Seeking a potent combo of chic and uber-functional, we selected the Bernhardt L.A.M. chairs and coordinated with California manufacturer Woodtech to build custom tables. The round-topped table was created as the fixed central location for power and data to be pulled from the ground.

Meanwhile, the long rectangular tables were designed for easy reconfiguration—they can be arranged in a V for optimal video conferencing or pushed together for a larger gathering. The statement-making allure of these pieces is cinched by a subtle detail: the rectangular tables are planned just below their circular counterparts for a sleek continuous look.

Brightening up heads-down work

Heads-down work gets a pick-me-up, thanks to a color-centric collaboration with Pair and Studio Blitz on these pretty-meets-practical workstations. Throughout the headquarters, Pair’s tackable Swing dividers and height-adjustable Belay desks are dressed-up in seven punchy colors, amping the project’s theme of blues, purples, greens, and—yes—pinks.

To meet the inevitable need for a working tête-à-tête, two employed Tecno’s moveable wall system. Just beyond the desking area, the minimalist partitions carve out intimate meeting space without disrupting the sweeping lines of the vaulted ceilings.

Summary

To launch L’Oréal’s new West Coast headquarters, two joined with Studio Blitz and Pair for a monumental color collaboration. In a revamped hangar of over 100,000 square feet that unites their four California brands under one vaulted roof, we worked alongside Pair to help Studio Blitz’s bold, colorful design vision take off. Our furnishing selections brought vivid-hued style, intimacy, and functionality to office space, open collaboration areas, and a training academy. Find out more about two’s work on this top-flight L. A.-county beauty command post!