Preface: The interior design of Goa Elephant Design Headquarters was independently crafted by the Goa team. Situated within the “Tianmu Li” park, this design not only harmonizes with the park’s overall “cool & natural” aesthetic but also seamlessly incorporates the architect’s daily work environment. Its intricate and diverse interior spaces, combined with a unique humanistic touch, highlight creativity and mark an exciting chapter in this journey of exploration.
Located in the Tianmuli Comprehensive Art Park in Hangzhou, the Goa Elephant Design headquarters features an interior designed exclusively by their team. The design adheres to the park buildings’ strict modular system while integrating the functional work scenarios typical of large design enterprises. This approach results in a refined and emotionally rich environment that embodies the park’s “Cool and Natural” style.
1st Floor Lobby: A Centralized Showcase of Integrated Design
Goa Elephant Design’s new headquarters occupy buildings 9-10 in Tianmuli Park, spanning approximately 16,900 square meters. The space combines offices, conference rooms, fitness facilities, dining areas, and more. It offers an ideal environment for designers’ daily creative activities while reflecting GOA’s design standards.
As the full-cycle integrated design team for Tianmuli Park, Goa provided comprehensive technical support for the project over seven years. The headquarters’ interior design honors the park’s architectural style, presenting both architecture and interior design through a unified visual language.
△ 1st floor lobby © Goa Elephant Design
One of the park’s defining features is the exposed plain concrete structure. The lobby’s design continues this theme with a minimalist and unornamented aesthetic. The only visual element on the walls is a projected image display. The smooth concrete walls are cast in one continuous pour, with structural components serving as prominent design elements, creating a memorable indoor atmosphere.
The only wall element in the 1st-floor lobby is the projected image display © Goa Elephant Design
△ Elevator button construction and corner details on plain concrete walls
Staircase Courtyard: An Open Vertical Library
From the third to seventh floors, two interconnected courtyards link all open office areas, forming a vertical staircase library. This design supports diverse usage scenarios, effectively creating a free and flexible learning environment.
The atrium spanning the 5th to 7th floors is equipped with projection, curtains, sound, and lighting systems. It can be transformed into a lecture hall accommodating over 100 attendees. Meanwhile, the atrium on the 3rd and 4th floors uses height differences to create several small discussion zones that coexist without interference. The immersive book displays and convenient traffic flow make this an ideal space for “learning while working.”
△ Atrium on the 5th to 7th floors © Goa Elephant Design
Partial view of the atrium on floors 3-4 © Goa Elephant Design
8th Floor Conference Center: Enhancing Communication and Collaboration
Meetings are an essential part of designers’ daily routine. The 8th-floor conference center houses 10 meeting rooms of various sizes, accommodating 1 to 30 people. Three large conference rooms can be combined into an open space for up to 150 participants. All rooms are managed via an electronic reservation system, ensuring an open, shared, communicative, and efficient experience for every team member.
△ Conference center featuring various meeting rooms © Goa Elephant Design
The southern section of the conference center offers a public landscape terrace and an open leisure area with the building’s best views. The design continues the park’s core concept—the “natural green core”—by bringing in more greenery, sunlight, and fresh air. This enhances spatial transparency and creates a comfortable, bright atmosphere.
△ Leisure area © Goa Elephant Design
The interior intentionally minimizes directional cues, making the leisure space feel more open. The unconventional furniture adds a playful touch.
△ Terrace landscape © Goa Elephant Design
Material Laboratory: A Collection Space and Studio
Goa’s materials laboratory, called “g material lab/g material room,” spans over 200 square meters and houses more than 1,000 types of building and interior materials. The company’s self-developed data platform records specifications, origins, manufacturers, and real-life photos of each material used in projects. Architects can conveniently scan codes with their mobile devices for quick and efficient information access.
This material room serves both as an exhibition hall and a studio. Ample natural light reveals the true texture and color of materials, ensuring accurate selections and realizing designs at a 1:1 scale.
9th Floor Office Area: Play of Light, Shadow, Interior, and Exterior
The standout feature of the 9th-floor office area is the Sunshine Courtyard. Warm wooden veneers and vibrant evergreen plants bring a sense of stability and calm. Meanwhile, the changing patterns of light and shadow reveal the presence of the outside world and the flow of time, creating a subtle dialogue between interior and exterior that fills the space with tension. The designer also cleverly integrates structural modules and functions, discreetly concealing office amenities and storage.
△ Sunshine Courtyard © Goa Elephant Design
Open Office Area: Complex Logic within Simple Modules
In typical projects, ceilings often conceal complex mechanical, electrical, and irregular structural systems. However, the rhythmic visual effect of exposed ceilings is a hallmark of the “Tianmuli” park buildings.
All exposed concrete beams are arranged within a horizontal 9m x 9m modular grid. Coordinating the structure with mechanical and electrical systems is a complex challenge. The interior design team engaged early in construction planning, collaborating with architects, structural engineers, and MEP engineers to untangle and integrate these elements under specific aesthetic principles.
Design efforts included coordinating construction details and properly positioning embedded elements like lighting, sprinklers, grilles, and air ducts. This ensures the beams are cast in one continuous pour and presented as intentional visual features indoors.
3rd Floor Operations Center: Diverse Exhibition Design
The 3rd-floor operations center opens a window for visitors to experience Goa’s corporate culture, iconic projects, and artistic crossovers. The exhibition features static displays of corporate cultural products and historical publications alongside dynamic screenings of engineering documentaries. Visitors can also interact with an advanced triple-screen setup to explore Goa’s stories more freely and engagingly.
Brand Display Area © Goa Elephant Design
Basement 1: Cafeteria
What does a designer’s restaurant look like? This space offers an ideal answer. Although located in the basement, a sunken courtyard brings ample sunlight and a dry landscape facing the dining area. The transparent interface allows diners to enjoy a wonderful experience. The Kushan Mountain landscape was designed by Japanese master Shunmei Kano.
△ Employee Restaurant © Goa Elephant Design
△ “Wind” themed dry landscape © Tianmuli
Project Information
Project Name: Goa Elephant Design Headquarters
Design Category: Interior Design
Design Firm: Goa Elephant Design
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Building Area: Approximately 16,900 square meters
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