Pixar’s Emeryville studios, located on a 15-acre site in the city’s warehouse district, embodies the company’s culture of ideas exchange and collaboration among its many story artists, animators, and computer scientists. The project’s industrial aesthetic responds to both its physical context and the technical creativity of the company. Designed for a staff of 600, the two-story steel-and-masonry building has an expansive atrium at its core that acts as a central piazza for the campus. Activated by the lobby, conference rooms, lounges, and cafe, this dynamic town center links offices, pathways, and a 250-seat theater.

The facility is rigorously detailed and crafted with a palette of brick, sandblasted clear-coated structural steel, exposed wood decking, glass and stainless steel. Custom roof trusses support saw-toothed skylights that provide diffused natural light throughout the space. Two pedestrian bridges, cable-suspended from the roof, span the 60-foot wide atrium—a visible demonstration of the beauty of structural engineering. These materials are used throughout the site and campus to maintain Pixar’s language, quality and culture.