Gabardine Creative Office

Company: Gabardine
Location: Westport, CT
Size: 1,500 square feet
Website: www.gabardine.com

Gabardine is a creative marketing communications company that helps brands tell their stories and then weaves those stories across a range of media, online and off, to help strengthen the brand fabric.

The suite is one of about 15 spread across two traditional-looking New England clapboard buildings. Each suite is unique—and comes with its own set of design challenges. In Gabardine’s case, their office hadn’t been updated in over 10 years and was covered in commercial-grade mauve carpeting with lots of heavy, built-in furniture that made the space feel dark, confined and unwelcoming. They opened things up to take advantage of natural light and foster collaboration; added amenities and conveniences, such as a break bar; and updated the IT infrastructure to support their digital operations.

Stylistically, they combined color and materials to create a space that reflected Gabardine’s brand personality—open, inviting, calm and creative. They also introduced unexpected design touches, like wall art and cut-out letters under the conference table glass, that add a sense of whimsy to the space, keeping it light and fun. Virtually all the work was done by them, for around $7,500, using readily available materials and a bunch of yankee ingenuity.