A Mexican-American Home for 100 Co-workers

Siete is a Mexican-American food brand that has become a pantry staple. As a family of seven (hence the name), the Garza familia grew up in a vibrant Mexican-American culture that now inspires the Siete brand.

Based in Austin, the office that Siete first called home was literally a house. The dining room table was the conference room and the kitchen was an R&D lab. As the company outgrew the house, they decided to look for a new home to fit their much larger familia — which they found in an abandoned kombucha factory.

Having partnered with Siete for several years to build their brand through packaging, promotionals, and trade show events, the familia asked Drawn to make this old factory feel like a Mexican-American home for 100 co-workers. It was important, however, that we design a home that matched Siete’s working culture. The decision to move away from their first home came with fear that their close-knit feeling would be lost in the move. So we laid out on the table all of the ingredients that make for a rich and vibrant community, including food, a central place to gather, and flexible spaces to connect.

‘Adaptive reuse’ design projects give an existing building a new purpose, like converting a former kombucha factory into a Mexican-American home (office) for 100 people. While these projects present additional challenges, they also provide opportunities to create spaces with unique character — like the evolution of historic towns.

When looking at early cities, it was common to find all of the streets leading toward a central courtyard, connected laterally by narrow alleys. We applied this principle to the former factory, added a commercial kitchen nearby, and designed all of the halls to funnel into this gathering space. Visiting guests are greeted by a barista next to the courtyard, with offices lining the wandering streets and connecting alleys.

“I was originally sad about the move,” said Bobby Garza, “but after a month in this new place, I was so comfortable, and realized how much I love to come home to work everyday.”