Motion Sickness: Beyond the trends

A once-industrial constructing has undergone a daring transformation to grow to be the third house of Movement Illness — a inventive promoting powerhouse identified for its heavy-hitting campaigns and rebellious spirit. Surprise, the workforce behind the redesign labored in shut collaboration with the company to craft an area that surpasses developments, opting as an alternative for one thing iconic.

Movement Illness needed greater than only a workspace; they sought a cultural headquarters that might include and mirror their boundary-pushing concepts. To attain this, Surprise steered away from hot-desk work space and chosen finishes and supplies divergent from company minimalism, as an alternative making a tactile, atmospheric setting.

The design workforce took cues from the ability and aptitude of 60s–70s ‘Mad Males’-era promoting — rose-tinted glass and baby-blue carpet meet brushed aluminum and tan leather-based, harsh and heavy concrete plinths are eased by the big home windows and heat lighting fixtures. The result’s a venture that balances daring character with surprising softness.

The boardroom is the place eyes are drawn; it’s not solely a spot for conferences however a stage for technique, negotiation and long-form collaboration. Assembly rooms are sometimes a personal space with few visible distractions and impartial colors, strictly enterprise — Surprise went for one thing completely different. The company typically collect for lengthy conferences, generally operating hours and even days, the area wanted to really feel open, contemporary and related to the skin workplace. Rose-tinted blurred-glass doorways line the partitions, and child blue carpet brightens the room additional. With sweeping views throughout the encircling industrial district, the room supplied further area for motion, enlargement and impromptu gathering of groups of as much as 40 members. A heavy, sculptural concrete desk anchors the room — each symbolically and actually — constructed to hold the load of massive concepts.

Exterior the boardroom, the studio turns into a glowing beacon at evening, casting heat, curated mild onto the industrial streetscape beneath. It’s a visible juxtaposition, one which instantly distinguishes the company from its environment and lets the studio’s inside id soak into the general public eyes. By way of the rose-tinted glass and into the workplace area, the blue carpet and glass is a visible motif carried into smaller seating areas, exhibiting how concepts transfer all through the studio.

The foyer showcases a few of the boldest and playful color, with vibrant orange furnishings and paintings in ready areas. A shelving part shows Movement Illness’ many inventive awards, whereas a sculptural bin beneath holds those who didn’t match — tongue-in-cheek. It’s half celebration, half commentary and totally according to the company’s playful id.

All through the studio, desks are organized to not observe developments of open deliberate scorching desks, however to foster creativity. Referring to the transfer away from scorching desks, Buster Caldwell, inventive director of Surprise, said “The efficiency of concepts will be generated when small groups are put into little microcosms”. Constructed from strand board, the desks mirror the sensible wants of small, agile groups who require a personally organised desk to attain the work Movement Illness is thought for. These clusters of labor areas act as nests for the subsequent massive thought. Giant cozy couches supply area for casual work, taken up largely by the youthful members of workers. It’s unstructured, purposeful chaos.

Whereas their earlier studios exuded an ironic student-flat aesthetic — classic, second-hand, a bit unruly — this newest evolution indicators maturity with out shedding their edge. The youthful power stays, however the aesthetic has sharpened. Furnishings have been individually chosen collaboratively between Surprise and the company, not strictly deliberate or made bespoke — every merchandise incomes its place for the way it contributes to the company’s tradition relatively than the way it satisfies design orthodoxy. But, the objects by no means detract from the inspiration of the venture, sustaining a style of the 60-70s. The area resists pattern and embraces texture: powder blues, classic pinks, brushed metal, and playful finishes layered over structural rawness.

Previous marketing campaign imagery is elevated by way of gallery-style curation, forming a inventive heraldry that paperwork the company’s journey and output. Downstairs, a sofa — once more claimed by the youth — faces a concrete plinth in entrance of a giant street-facing window. This body turns into a web site for rotating native artwork installations, bridging the area between studio and group. A novel methodology to work together with the group whereas showcasing the work the company is thought for, is a peep-hole instillation by earlier artwork director, Anna Maxwell. Affectionately often known as New Zealand’s smallest billboard, it includes a view simply inches extensive, inviting passersby to have interaction with the surprising.

With its central location and concentrate on sustainable commuting, the company had no use for extreme parking. As an alternative, Surprise reclaimed just a few areas and reworked them right into a social deck, lovingly dubbed “Household Bar.” It’s a nod to native tradition, in-jokes, and the significance of shared downtime. It’s right here that exemplifies how Surprise explored and met Movement Illness’ distinctive nature — cheeky, relaxed but deeply intentional — to create an area by no means conforming to expectations of a office.

Movement Illness’ new headquarters is a spot the place their inventive previous and current collide in an setting constructed for what’s subsequent. It doesn’t ask for consideration — it calls for it. Identical to the concepts born inside.

Surprise was the Worplace as much as 1000m2 winner within the 2025 Inside Awards.See the reside presentation from Buster Caldwell right here.