Founded in 2007 by Stephan Pachikov, Evernote’s core business is to deliver a suite of software and services, designed for note taking and archiving. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, located on the San Francisco Peninsula approximately 43 km south of San Francisco.

Evernote products reach more than 100 million users worldwide, and the company employs nearly 400 people. In 2012 Studio O+A finished the interior design of Evernote’s 80,000 square feet headquarters on Walnut Street just off Bayshore Freeway.

The task for O+A when creating the new headquarters was to transform an existing nineties office building into a modern and well functioning space for the company. O+A chose to make the various existing construction elements in the building part of the aesthetic, and the result is a relaxed, untraditional and most inspiring environment. The predominant features are the concrete floors, plywood elements, happy bright colors and the way the designers managed to incorporate daylight throughout the building.

You arrive at the Evernote headquarters via a two story lounge featuring a white painted installation and a zig zag shaped lighting fixture from the ceiling. A Douglas fir plywood element, the full height of the room, frames the reception and coffee bar with donuts ready for serving.

The lounge is furnished with four Shell chairs designed by Hans J. Wegner, in walnut and black leather. The chair group stands on a grey rug placed diagonally in the room, demonstrating how Wegner’s furniture design – in this case from the 1960s – adds elegance, style and format to an untraditional and raw interior.

Evernote hired chalk artist Dana Tanamachi to draft a wall-sized representation of the company’s identity, with tagline: “Remember Everything” and the company’s elephant (never forgets) logo. You notice the board at once when you enter the lounge, and it serves as an unconventional and decorative welcome.