MKDA designed the Related Group offices with a sophisticated style and playful touches in Miami, Florida.

MKDA worked closely with Related’s expert in-house curators to craft an environment that would look and feel like a modern art gallery. The design team applied museum-quality lighting and striking black and white walls to deliberately highlight the hundreds of hand-selected pieces that grace the workplace and rooftop sculpture garden that acts as the company’s primary event space. Ensuring the artwork matched with executives’ respective tastes and preferences, the team curated art from emerging artists and master artists such as Jaume Plensa, Eduardo Ponjuan, Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Frank Stella, Sol LeWitt, Nick Cave, Stanford Biggers and Ai Weiwei.

MKDA branded the space using the geometry of Related’s deconstructed logo. In the reception area, the rich exotic Rosewood feature wall and custom reception desk, as well as the floating decorative light fixtures, mimic the logo’s clean lines and 90-degree angles. The team contrasted the use of Rosewood in reception with muted white and cool modern gray marble, setting the stage for the color tones and materials to be used throughout the space. The timeless color palette of the reception area, along with high end details and finishes, compliment the boldness of the art that reveals itself at every turn.

Intentionally curated by MKDA, an oversized sculptural version of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona daybed was deliberately placed across from the reception desk. Formerly installed in the lobby of Mies van der Rohe’s IBM building in Chicago, the 16-foot long functional bench was custom fabricated of fiberglass and steel to withstand the high-traffic space, and boasts an impressive level of detail and realism.

This building’s offset core—a vertical space used for circulation and services— was at first a challenge for the MKDA team, however it proved to be an unexpected benefit in the space planning of the workplace allowing MKDA to wrap perimeter offices, collaborative areas and workstations around the glass-walled courtyard. The result is a vertical lightwell that bathes each space within the workplace in warm natural light and lush greenery.

MKDA crafted a collection of lounge and collaborative areas next to the courtyard. Each vignette is composed of art and statement furniture to create unique moments such as a pair of naturally distressed 1970s brown leather chairs set against a backdrop of colorful art. MKDA crafts another memorable moment in the lounge near the CEO’s private office that features four colorful chairs and portraits, and a window-framed vista of the twisted facade of the new Grove at Grand Bay by famed Danish Architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

Glass railings and a deliberately simple and unencumbered staircase with elegant finishes connect the penthouse and lower level to allow the artwork to shine through from all vantage points. On the lower level among workstations, private offices and collaborative spaces, MKDA designed a cafe lounge with terrazzo walls, custom banquettes, and unique light fixtures that add a touch of whimsy to reflect Miami’s roots and the geometry of Related’s logo.

Design: MKDA
Photography: Alexander Severin

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