2020 and 2021 have proven to be seminal years for CLOU: One year after launching the Shanghai branch near the Bund, the Beijing office has now expanded into sparkling new premises.

Bright Lights, Big City – New Beijing Office

Within the familiar surroundings of Sanlitun SOHO, the space has doubled in size to take up half a tower floorplate on the 17th floor, with a fully glazed facade offering sweeping views across Sanlitun and into the mountains of North Eastern Beijing. Cool and clean lines define different zones of work, communication, research, and display, connected by CLOU’s signature silver galvanised walls – a feature that has been threading through all spaces since the office’s inception.

Black and white materials and furniture contrast with warm wood and color accents, softly mirrored in the reflection of the steel. Brightly lit open office zones are complemented by various meeting rooms for in-person and virtual encounters. 

Each space adds its own characteristics –the boardroom with its glass enclosure around bright blue flooring and warm orange-red fabric, more intimate conference space with warm wood furniture on speckled green terrazzo, and a cave-like all-wood retreat for quiet work and conversation.  

A proper workshop occupies a large area of the office: in a zone for modelmaking, design tests, and material research, the wood-clad environment integrates workbenches and 3D machinery with library storage and archive rooms. Flexible furnishing allows for quick conversion into a photo studio or a mini-auditorium for inter-office presentations.

Stepped display areas connect workplace and workshop along a communal meeting zone: where steel and wood intersect, models of projects past, present, and future showcase progress and variety while benchmarking possibility and quality.