F5 Tower

Practice Area

Client

F5 Networks

Industry

  1. The ‘line of connection’ leads users to amenity spaces, while Customer Story niches create connections between F5 employees and the positive impact of their services. Photo Credit: Sean Airhart

  2. A simple line extends into corridors, and up to a blade sign identifying neighborhood quadrants. Graphics at neighborhood entries are inspired by F5’s extensive network. Photo Credit: Sean Airhart

  3. Directional information is thoughtfully integrated into the wayfinding line. Blade signs penetrate the core, allowing the line to conceptually weave in and out of walls. Photo Credit: Sean Airhart

  4. Diagram shows complexity of user navigation, breaks down tiers of building organization and conceptual wayfinding ‘Line of Connection’. Photo Credit: Yusuke Ito

  5. The Clock Wall is an abstracted world map representing F5’s global reach, energizing the space and inspiring users to connect with colleagues around the world. Photo Credit: Sean Airhart

  6. The Patent Wall celebrates F5’s expertise and leadership in discovery within the technology sector. The installation empowers staff to continue pushing technological capabilities forward. Photo Credit: Brooke Shary

  7. A series of 42 puzzles are hidden within the F5 social lounges, encouraging users to explore the building and engage with their fellow colleagues. Photo Credit: Sean Airhart

  8. Double-sided sculptural brand identity inspired by the conceptual ‘Line of Connection’ hangs over immersive red vestibule, greets users as they enter the building. Photo Credit: Brooke Shary

Project Vision

The F5 Tower is the new headquarters for F5 Networks, a savvy tech firm with a quirky personality. The 28-floor tenant space is located in downtown Seattle, the center of a booming tech ecosystem. F5 sought to establish an environment that enabled their unique culture and skilled employees to thrive.

Comprehensive signage and wayfinding took inspiration from the F5 brand, encouraging daily movement throughout the vertical campus, and promoting staff engagement within the space. The result is a thoughtfully designed environmental graphic design system that includes a dynamic wayfinding tool, a consistent graphic language, architecturally integrated puzzles and a series of analog landmarks that enhance the user experience and aid with orientation in the tower.

Architecturally, the new HQ is located in a tower with a central core and 28 unique floor plates. Social floor “stacks” act as community spaces every three floors and are connected by rotating social stairs that maximize views and encourage vertical movement to neighboring floors. Together, these conditions create varying paths of circulation between the floors and utilize a singular wayfinding ‘line of connection’ that leads users to the stairs, key destinations and amenities.

Additionally, F5 has an extensive and diverse art program that the graphic and signage work intends to complement. Aimed to celebrate the brand and reintroduce organizational energy, the workplace environment maintains a balance of function and simplicity to allow the art from local artists and employees to shine through.

The F5 tower proves that by combining wayfinding with unique landmark installations, and community spaces a company’s office space can reflect the characteristics of the company and act as the ideal home for the F5 Networks. On numerous site visits, users expressed a sincere affinity for the wayfinding system and its effectiveness.

Project Details
Design Team

Eric LeVine (principal in charge), Yusuke Ito (lead designer), Choung Tonnu (designer), Brooke Shary (project manager)

Project Area

456,600 sq ft

Consultants

Sandor Wiesz (Master Puzzle Creator, established F5 Tower puzzle mechanics and hints), Jonas Kuo (lighting designer, provided consultative guidance on lighting for wayfinding and landmark elements)

Fabricators

(production and installation of graphics, wayfinding, signage and landmark components)