In effort to recruit top talent, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has relocated their Product and Innovation Center from their long-term home in Winston Salem to Charlotte, North Carolina. This new office houses their R&D team, design & marketing teams, as well as groups leading various international initiatives to advance Krispy Kreme’s global market share.
Krispy Kreme needed an office environment that would fuel these employees’ creativity and collaborative spirit. A historic warehouse building was selected by Krispy Kreme in Charlotte’s vibrant South End neighborhood as their new home. The design of their office highlights this industrial charm while amplifying Krispy Kreme’s own unique brand.
The main entry leads employees and visitors into a dramatic Welcome environment. This space delivers multiple functions: as reception, casual lunchroom environment, and also as a space for team collaboration. A dramatic window offers an immediate glimpse into the R&D laboratory, giving Krispy Kreme an opportunity to highlight the product itself. Focus rooms for Krispy Kreme product tastings are directly adjacent to the Welcome space. They are housed in a ‘box’ decorated with the Krispy Kreme heritage polka dot pattern, fashioned out of individual light bulbs.
The workspace is an open environment of team neighborhoods. Other features integrated throughout the open office include a vintage Krispy Kreme truck that has been refurbished to serve as a coffee bar, stadium seating directed at a media wall to provide room for an all-hands-on-deck meeting, and the working R&D laboratory itself. The playful spirit imbued by the design lives up to the promise of the brand.