If you’ve been into a popular business in Minneapolis in the last several years, you’ve probably been in a space designed by Studio BV, the architecture and interior design firm headed by founder and CEO Betsy Vohs. Her firm has designed everything from coffee shops like FRGMNT, to Larissa Loden’s storefront, to offices and apartments around the Twin Cities. In 2025, The Social Lights’ office in Minneapolis’s North Loop joined Studio BV’s roster.
A flourishing social media agency, The Social Lights needed an established place to operate from. By the time 2024 rolled around, the company had grown so much that running The Social Lights from its remote headquarters in a WeWork office just didn’t fit anymore, so CEO and founder Emily Pritchard enlisted the help of Vohs to create its new, permanent home.
An unusual opportunity presented itself: a 15,000-square-foot, first-floor retail space in the North Loop, which Pritchard secured for office use with a little negotiation. The fact that the space was originally designed for retail turned out to be an integral part of the brand’s story when moving in, and an unexpected opportunity connect to the community.
The office space now sits amid the North Loop’s foot traffic, one of the city’s most social hubs. Vohs shared more about the vibrant, lively space with Midwest Design—and how you can capture this spirit in your own home, just in time for spring.
What were some of the inspirations and driving forces behind the concept for The Social Lights’ office?
They had this desire for their workspace to feel like a newsroom. Emily wanted a space where she could create the energy around social media campaigns, but in a physical space.
Having office space on the first floor of a pedestrian street is so rare. So, doing social media work, connecting to the community through technology, while being physically connected to it through all the garage doors that open up, that was part of the design strategy.
Were there any unique needs their business had, as a social media enterprise?
They wanted a photo studio, so we built that studio to be really flexible. The offices also have a residential kitchen because they do a lot for food brands in this town. They’ll make food, do the food styling, and do the shoots. So they needed a real residential kitchen—that looks like it’s in someone’s home. Now they can also bring clients into the space and host them in a way that couldn’t before, so that was a huge resource for them.
Can you tell us more about the use of vibrant colors in this project—paint, furnishings, decor, etc.
We wanted to have color and texture radiate out of the space, to the people. Our design strategy was to create this vibrancy and capture The Social Lights’ whole ethos of communicating and community.
We leaned into color, like the coral colors on the ceiling and the gemstone green that anchors everything, and the sculptural light piece above the cafe, and all sorts of stuff that allowed the space to feel vibrant, to feel reflective of who they are. And we also wanted to share that with the community, through the transparency of the office’s glass garage doors and the windows, and make it something interesting to the surrounding community and that also feels like something they can engage with.
When you walk in the space, you know it isn’t an accounting firm. And I feel like that’s what good design does—when you can walk into space and you understand what this business is about through the way their space makes you feel.
[Read this next: Inside Watershed Spa: How Design Details Enhance Well-Being]
What are some of your core considerations when designing workspaces and places of productivity?
I think daylight is a really big one. People that have access to daylight are much more productive, they’re happier, and they have more energy. Space is a luxury, and so we really think about how people access privacy, both acoustic and visual. Will they have spaces that are more quiet, or spaces that are more connected to other people?
Productivity is important when you’re in the office, but we also know that visibility and connectivity are as well. So in a world where people can work anywhere, when you come to work, you want to feel like you can do your best work, but you also want to be seen and connect with people that you work with. We’re always trying to find that balance for clients.
How can Midwest Design readers make the most of bright colors and/or natural light in their own offices, to bring the spring into their workspaces?
I think people are less afraid of color. I think we’re going into a design era, if you will, where there’s a lot more. I mean, if you look at any magazine, there’s so much pattern in residential wall coverings, like wall coverings are back and color is back, color drenching is back. I think people want to see life again and they want to see color.
Paint is a very inexpensive way to experiment. It’s not a huge risk, and you can really change your space and change how you feel. Painting the ceiling colors coral is probably a bold move for a lot of folks, but people are sick of gray—let’s not do it anymore. Maximize brightness and maximize expression. I mean, it’s just color, you know?
Live your life. Do what you want. Put a little color in there. Trust me, it’s not going to hurt.
[Want more inspiration? Read Liquidpink Interiors’ Shed-Turned-Studio]
|
|
|
