As the creators of the media message for such brands as Coors, Diet Coke and Taco Bell, Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide was looking for a Southern California office space that would “Knock them out.” The ad agency, among the global top 10, required a design that would allow account and creative personnel to intermingle without distinction and without boundaries in a building that was once home to a heart-valve factory.

While a challenge for most, this was another demanding advertising space for Clive Wilkinson, who had already successfully designed space for TBWA\Chiat\Day in both Marina del Rey and its New York headquarters.

Clive and the design team were accustomed to using what he defines as “Rubber STUD” flooring, and received help from Johnsonite with the FCB Worldwide project. Johnsonite Roundel Raised Round Rubber Tile in colors like Lemon, Diablo Red and Moon Rock, complement such mind-popping spaces as a boardroom defined by 160 custom-made surf boards, an entry with lime-green Kawasaki bike and chain link fence and an employees’ lounge with upholstered “sheep” for seating.

Besides the acoustical and comfort properties, rubber is a flooring material that Clive turns to often for what he defines as its “sexiness.” The white rubber “studded” flooring used in Maison de Verre made an impact on Clive while in school in London. He views the material as something special that creates a special feeling in a space.

If the FCB Worldwide offices are any indication, this special feeling is as much a part of the flooring as the space in which it is installed. For a creative client who demanded to be “knocked out”, Clive created a space that has kept them on the floor.

www.johnsonite.com