Entrepreneur

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Helping
↓ ROOM TO GROW
Dani Arps, and
a recent project in
New York (left).
Startups
Grow Up
New York–based interior designer Dani Arps is giving
startup offices a chic, adult makeover. And there are no
Ping-Pong tables in sight. by MIMI M I FAUCETT
T
Do
D
not ask Dani Arps for beer kegs, ball pits, or beanbag chairs—
the interior designer won’t give them to you. As frat-minded
features have become ubiquitous in startup offices, often in
an attempt to communicate youthful energy, Arps has made a name
for herself by doing the complete opposite: forcing entrepreneurs
to act like adults.
“An office can be fun without being infantile,” the 33-year-old
says. Since launching her eponymous firm in New York in 2014,
Arps has designed workspaces for such brands as General
Assembly, Venmo, Contently, and SeatGeek, and has become an
expert at convincing 20-somethings that an office can foster creativity
without looking like a dorm room. Her portfolio contains
visually quiet workspaces with neutral tones rather than branddriven
patterns. She nods to clients’ personalities with restraint,
like in a recent project where artisan-made caricatures of employees
line the lunchroom wall. Her preferred ergonomic modular
furniture (most of which she designs herself) can easily transition
from meeting to meeting.
The Arps philosophy is simple: A space has to function well before
anything else. And she isn’t fond
of the all-too-common openoffice
plan. “Employees have different
acoustical and visual
needs,” she says. Last year, when
SeatGeek expanded its New York
City office, her solution was to
divide the cavernous space by a
row of conference rooms, sequestering
coders from a necessarily
chatty sales team. The fact that
companies are so willing to
wholly reconfigure their workplaces
is catnip to Arps, who dabbled
in residential design early in
her career. “The startup culture is
incredibly creative,” she says. “My
clients are busy, trusting, and
open to new and quirky ideas.”
Those clients are growing. In
just three years, Arps’ projects
Age-Appropriate Design
have jumped from an average of 3,000 square feet to 30,000.
Many of those big jobs have been commissioned by returning customers
who, upon finding their own success, lean on Arps to help
transition to larger spaces. And Arps, for her part, is continuing to
grow her own business, launching a collection of modular office
furniture later this year.
“Office design helps create office culture—something that’s
important for the success of any company,” she says. “To be part of
that success, even in a small way, is incredibly exciting.”
Arps’ three rules for offices.
1/ Choose materials wisely.
EXAMPLE
SLICE, Manhattan
“How can a material be functional
and not just visually pleasing? Here,
employees have a place to make
calls in an open setting, and the brick
enforces acoustical soundness.”
2/ Elevate the essentials.
EXAMPLE
ELIGIBLE, Brooklyn
“A sleek, double-height nap nook
allows for rest and privacy during
long workdays. We upholstered it
with high-quality cushions and
fabric. Comfort is key.”
3/ Always multitask.
EXAMPLE
UNCHARTED PLAY, Harlem
“This is one of the chicest
spaces I designed. It's a
destination for board meetings,
and a testing area for [energygenerating
toy] products.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIEL TYLER (ARPS PORTRAIT); PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF DANI ARPS
60 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / September 2017