Santa Cruz Bikes. Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz Bicycles moved from their original facility in mid town Santa Cruz over to the old Wrigley chewing gum factory on the westside in 2013.  Stripe had the opportunity to design the exciting new home for this home-grown super brand. The raw 1950's factory architecture of the building was celebrated and it provided the perfect raw backdrop for the beautifully engineered precision product. Stripe designed large scale display racks to emulate rather than replicate the environment in which the bikes are ridden. The showroom was furnished with lighting located at multiple levels to emphasis the depth of field. The walls were left raw or lined with massive scale photography of team riders in action with the exception of the backdrop to the reception desk which boasts an undulating gypsum texture.  The board room was appointed with custom made furniture, including a light fixture made from solid walnut which Stripe designed to represent the architecture of the unique bike frames.

The building houses enormous goods elevators, one of which travels between the production department and management on the upper floor. In an effort to acknowledge to the heritage of the brand and it's roots in a much less curated and internally adored facility in mid town, Stripe installed a 'secret room' in the still functioning elevator. As a nod to a less serious company culture at its core, the elevator was flanked in wall-to-wall button tufted bronze leatherette, leopard carpet and a full 1950's mid century furniture suite, replete with a fully stocked bar. Going up?