Corporate Environments
Interior Design, Environmental Storytelling & Brand Installation
Role:
Creative Director & Interior Design Lead
Scope:
Multi-space corporate interior design including corporate lobby, podcast studio and suites, TV studio and suites, CEO executive office, and executive boardroom
Scale:
Full spatial design across multiple high-visibility environments within a corporate headquarters
Each space presented its own functional requirements, but the design problem was singular: transform a collection of underutilized and outdated corporate environments into cohesive, brand-aligned spaces that communicated organizational identity without sacrificing utility. The work spanned the full breadth of the campus, from a ground-up podcast studio and broadcast suite to a corporate lobby redesign, a selling floor refresh, executive and private offices, a guest lounge, a kitchen, and a custom archive room. I applied spatial thinking and environmental storytelling to each space individually, developing concepts through renderings and floor plans before moving into fabrication and installation. From there I directed all phases of execution, managing contractor coordination, vendor procurement, furniture selection, finish specification, and on-site installation across multiple concurrent environments with different stakeholder expectations and functional demands. Wherever possible, existing furniture was repurposed to maximize budget impact, with new pieces selected and purchased strategically where they would make the greatest visual difference. In every case the before state was either bare construction, dated and mismatched, or visually disconnected from the brand. The result was a unified suite of built environments that elevated the company's physical presence, supported its culture and identity, and functioned as polished, professional spaces for leadership, media production, and client-facing use.
The Buffini & Company corporate lobby redesign transformed a dated, cluttered entry into a clean, modern arrival experience that reflects the company's brand with intention. The before state was functional but visually unfocused, with mismatched furniture, promotional signage competing for attention, and no clear sense of arrival or brand identity.
I addressed flow, furniture, and brand expression simultaneously. I reconfigured the entry seating area with a cohesive furniture selection that balances hospitality with professionalism, and rebuilt the branded feature entirely, replacing flat painted typography with a warm wood slat panel, backlit dimensional Buffini & Company signage, and a clean, modern mission statement treatment that reads with clarity and authority. Navy accent chairs anchor the space and introduce the brand's color language into the environment.
I also developed and rendered additional concepts for the secondary lounge areas, including updated furniture selections, refined accessory curation, and a bold navy paint treatment incorporating the Irish heritage phrase Céad Míle Fáilte as a meaningful brand touchpoint. Budget constraints meant those designs weren't implemented, but they represent the full creative vision I developed for the space.
The installed work alone produced a noticeably more professional and cohesive arrival experience, communicating who the company is before a single conversation takes place.
The Brian Buffini Podcast Studio
I created the Brian Buffini Podcast Studio from the ground up, with no existing infrastructure to work from. I led the full creative design and build-out from concept through installation, collaborating with A/V specialists, consultants, and contractors to create a broadcast-quality environment that was also visually distinctive on camera. The centerpiece of the studio is a custom display wall with color-adapting, non-flickering LED lighting, paired with a custom-designed credenza housing a removable TV on casters for flexible production configurations. I custom designed the audio-enabled desk and selected all finishes, including paint, acoustic panels, and flooring, to meet both aesthetic and technical requirements.
The scope extended well beyond the studio itself. I designed and oversaw the installation of two wall murals and curated a gallery of framed photography throughout the space. I transformed the suite lobby from a construction shell into a warm, light-filled sitting room with intentional furniture selection, accessories, and art. I designed and furnished a dedicated green room for guest hosting and pre-show preparation, and fully redesigned the kitchen, selecting new cabinetry, countertops, hardware, sink, and appliances down to the last finish detail. The surrounding suite encompasses nine private offices and a custom-built archive room, all carried through with a consistent design language across the floor. I designed every space as part of a unified environment that needed to function simultaneously as a professional workspace, a broadcast facility, and a polished client-facing experience.
The Buffini TV Studio Suite includes a fully operational broadcast environment used for webinar production, live training programs, and small-scale in-person events, with offices and common areas designed as a cohesive brand environment throughout the floor. I led the interior design and installation of the surrounding suite, transforming bare, underutilized spaces into purposeful brand environments. My work included a curated memorabilia wall featuring framed photography, props, and artifacts spanning the company's history, a large-scale wall mural, and a brand-immersive workspace refresh with motivational graphic installations and accent paint treatments. I redesigned a dated waiting area with updated furniture selection and accessory curation to create a more polished, welcoming client-facing space, and chose paint, finishes, and decor throughout to create a unified experience that reflects the company's identity and gives the suite a professional presence that extends well beyond the studio itself.
The Buffini & Company selling floor redesign was driven by a specific moment: employees returning to the office after COVID needed a space that felt worth coming back to. The goal was to reactivate the environment as a place of culture and pride, not just a place to work. Brand expression was the primary design lever.
I refreshed the open floor, introducing color, plant life, and dimensional brand installations to break up the visual monotony of a standard cubicle environment. Hanging banners celebrating the company's 30th anniversary added vertical interest and marked the milestone throughout the space. I refined and modernized the core values installation, replacing a busy photo-collage treatment with a clean, bold graphic presentation of the company logo and values hierarchy that reads with far more clarity.
The signature feature of the redesign is the world map wall, which transformed an empty expanse of unused wall into a statement about the company's global reach. A large-scale dimensional dot-matrix world map serves as the backdrop for a curated selection of client photos pinned to their regions, celebrating real people whose lives the company has impacted across multiple continents. The lounge seating area positioned in front of the wall creates an informal gathering space that invites employees to engage with the installation rather than walk past it.
I gave a separate workspace a focused treatment as well, replacing a scrawled-on whiteboard wall with a bold dark accent wall and a triptych art installation, for a finished look the before state entirely lacked.
The executive boardroom redesign converted an outdated private office into a sophisticated, multi-functional meeting space dedicated to the memory of the company founder's late mother.
I replaced flat painted walls with warm wood slat panels, anchored the room with dimensional Buffini & Co signage, and added curated shelving, accessories, and sconce lighting for a finished, intentional quality the before state entirely lacked.
I designed the room to function on multiple levels simultaneously: a large conference table seats the full executive team, a built-in coffee and beverage station supports extended working sessions, and a dry erase board is integrated without disrupting the design language of the space. The result is a boardroom that feels more like a refined hospitality environment than a standard corporate meeting room.
The personal significance of the dedication informed every design decision, balancing professional utility with a warmth and quality of finish appropriate for a space that honors someone meaningful to the organization's founding story.
