The Partner Plex at Google HQ — a high-profile executive experience center themed "Future Motion," showcasing innovation through movement, interaction, and story.
Overview
The Partner Plex at Google HQ is a high-profile executive experience center used to host global VIPs, enterprise partners, government dignitaries, and senior leadership including the CEO. The 2020 refresh, themed "Future Motion," reimagined the space as a kinetic, narrative-driven environment showcasing innovation through movement, interaction, and story.
I contributed across both design and construction phases, guiding creative direction and managing technical installation from concept through commissioning.
My Contribution
Design Phase: Co-led creative direction for VIP environments including interactive exhibits, cafes, auditoriums, and executive board rooms. Shaped "Future Motion" and "Googley" style for multiple touch-points including interactive exhibit animations, graphics, signage, and Artist-in-Residence installations.
Construction Phase: Oversaw daily on-site installation, AV integrators, interactive exhibit vendors, prop teams, and artists from installation through opening day.
Developed custom show control system wireframes outlining Show Zones and translating creative goals into engineering requirements.
Directed the animated lobby logo wall installation, selecting David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and choreographing motion, timing, and emotional pacing.
Show Control Systems
Developed custom show control system wireframes translating creative goals into engineering requirements. This technical documentation bridged creative vision and installation reality, ensuring all interactive moments functioned as designed.
The show design intent package defined timing, trigger points, and behavioral logic for each installation, creating a cohesive narrative flow throughout the center.
Art & Environmental Design
Led creative direction for Artist-in-Residence installations, curating 2D and 3D artworks that reflected Google's cultural values and the Future Motion narrative.
Developed graphics, signage, and environmental content maintaining visual consistency while supporting the operational needs of a high-profile executive center.
Digital Wayfinding & Content
Designed digital wayfinding systems, daily bulletins, and branded environmental content maintaining visual consistency throughout the center.
Oversaw daily on-site installation, directing scenic teams, AV integrators, interactive vendors, and artists through build and commissioning.
My Hero Moment
The lobby looked like Google. I wanted it to feel like the curtain just lifted. I reimagined the animated logo wall as a micro show opener and scored it to David Bowie's "Let's Dance." We choreographed the turning slats in a call-and-response pattern that echoed Bowie's vocal breaks and the band's background rhythm- so the wall didn't just move, it responded.
Guests instinctively leaned in. Energy snapped into place. It became the unofficial "welcome to the show" moment- proof that even a wall can set the tone.
What This Project Taught Me
This project taught me how to carry creative intent through complex technical delivery… not just conceptually, but in real time, on the floor, with systems coming online around me (all managed in the height of C-19 restrictions). I learned how to translate narrative into show logic, how to orchestrate emotional pacing through control systems, and how to make confident decisions when I'm the one holding the design vision on site.
It proved I can lead environments from strategy to activation, protect the guest experience under pressure, and operate as a creative lead who understands exactly how the room should feel and how to make the system deliver it.