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Oakley's Blade-Runner-Inspired Headquarters
Designed by Colin Baden and Langdon Wilson
In 1975 Jim Jannard, a college dropout in his mid-20s, started a company in his garage. He named it after his dog. With an initial budget of $300, Jannard figured out how to mold unique motorcycle grips. He then began selling these Oakley grips at motocross events.
By the 1980s, Oakley had a line of motocross and BMX accessories, then branched out into goggles. Then ski goggles, then sunglasses.
By the mid-'90s, Jannard brought the company public, which brought in $230 million.
It was time for a new headquarters. Jannard, who was friends with Ridley Scott, wanted a building that evoked Blade Runner. Oakley's then-Director of Design was architect Colin Baden, who was tasked with the project along with architecture firm Langdon Wilson. The architectural metalwork was handled by the A. Zahner Company.
"The project features a blackened steel interior metalwork throughout, a spun aluminum architectural motif exterior, and a terne-coated stainless steel roof. The custom fabricated metal cladding was created from cold rolled steel plates and cast steel 'bolt heads'. The Zahner-applied blackened metal finish produced an artistic, aged steel appearance."
Located in Foothills Ranch, California, the headquarters was completed by 1998.
In the mid-2000s, Jannard went on to found the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company, and sold Oakley to Luxottica. In 2019, Jannard retired a billionaire. He owns two islands in Fiji and a third in the San Juan Islands archipelago.
Colin Baden, who rose to become CEO of Oakley from 2009 to 2015, now runs his own design consultancy, One Icon Design.
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Comments
Pretty sad - - -
I have to disagree. It's so rare to see companies actually trying to do something cool these days. There's no soul left in most brands. I worry designers are forgetting how to have fun! This atrium fits super well with Oakley's design language, not just another boring building.
This was built in 1997-1998, so not a company doing something cool 'these days'. In fact Oakley is now just a brand of Luxottica, which has the sunglasses market pretty much tied up.
As a 90's temporary Las Vegas trade show booth, the aesthetic was a statement. Never realized it was committed to a structure. My mind hurts from all the dumbness of scale and butch metal bravado.
Yellow grips lead to hideous wasteful monstrosity and escape to various islands, surely each with landing strips to land the jet. From one to the other, they never know where you are.