The decline of heavy industry in western Europe has prompted a rise in so-called “white collar factories”. The warehouses these companies inhabit were originally snapped up by artists looking for cheap, rugged space. Unwittingly, these creative trailblazers prepared the ground for the next wave of occupiers, usually start-up businesses. Today, one only has to examine the Tea Building in Shoreditch – where architects rub shoulders with advertisers – to see how far the typology has…

Nestled in the leafy community of Los Altos, California, this headquarters for one of the world’s wealthiest charitable foundations serves as a physical representation of its worthy goals. Every year, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation grants hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, primarily to conservation and community projects, with the top line of its mission statement proclaiming support for “leaders and institutions working to achieve a biologically rich, sustainable world”. So when it…

Jeju island, a volcanic island province of South Korea once popular as a honeymoon destination, is set to become Korea’s answer to Silicon Valley, with internet company Daum Communications paving the way by relocating 350 of its 1,500 staff away from the capital of Seoul. Consonant with this breakaway to the countryside, Daum’s new headquarters, designed by Korean architectural practice Mass Studies, is purposely miles away (aesthetically) from the urban high-rises it has left behind.
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For its carefully chosen residents, the Zentro building is a welcome oasis of calm from the bustling Peruvian capital, Lima – hence the inclusion of ‘zen’ in its name. Set back from the road, the structure is contemporary and minimal with a predominantly glass facade encased in raw concrete, one side of which is separated from the neighbouring building by a two-storey green wall. In between this wall and the building, employees of the shops…