Róisín Lafferty Designs a Story-Driven Environment that Balances Privacy and Connection

This week’s instalment of the Project of the Week series features an expressive office design by 2025 SBID Awards Finalist, Róisín Lafferty.

The Malin South Gulch is a members-only co-working space that reimagines the workplace through expressive, story-driven design. Reflecting both The Malin’s ethos and the creative energy of Nashville, Róisín Lafferty’s vision delivers on the brand’s core promise: to offer thoughtfully designed environments that enable people to work beautifully. Set within a 1930s former John Deere warehouse in the vibrant South Gulch neighborhood, the interior blends industrial character with sculptural detail, rich materiality, and functional elegance. The result is an inspiring, immersive space that balances creativity and comfort—elevating the everyday experience of work.

What was the client’s brief?

The Malin team asked us to design a members-only co-working space that would reflect Nashville’s creative energy while delivering on the brand’s ethos of thoughtful, elevated work environments. Housed in a 1930s John Deere warehouse in South Gulch, the project marked The Malin’s first collaboration with an external design studio. The brief was about balance: preserving the industrial heritage while transforming it into a richly layered, immersive destination where members; many of them creatives and entrepreneurs – could feel inspired, supported, and part of a community. At 1,130 sqm, the space needed to function intuitively, with zones that could adapt to different working styles while still feeling like one cohesive narrative.

What inspired the design of the project?

The inspiration came directly from Nashville itself: its rhythm, grit, and layered cultural identity. We wanted the space to unfold like a cinematic sequence of chapters, with each zone offering a distinct mood and pace. From a sunlit atrium to quiet corners, from phone booths to a library-style lounge, members are guided through a story-driven environment that balances privacy and connection.

Materiality was crucial. Rich rosewood, terrazzo, coloured glass, and brass are layered with softer boucle, leather, limewashed walls, and velvet upholstery. Natural light floods through undressed Crittall windows, animating surfaces like lacquered cabinetry, marble accents, and bespoke joinery. Colour was used not just decoratively, but as a tool to set tone and atmosphere; tonal contrasts in the library encourage focus, while playful pattern mixing elsewhere sparks creativity. The aim was never to feel like a traditional office; instead, The Malin South Gulch is a sensory hub of creativity and comfort, where sculptural furniture, vintage finds, and commissioned artwork merge storytelling, function, and soulful elegance.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

The biggest challenge was the tight programme and geography. Designing from Dublin while sourcing lighting, vintage furniture, and artisan craft in Nashville required immense coordination. Lead times were tight, and every decision had to balance logistics with uncompromising design quality. At the same time, the technical challenge was to reinvent a co-working model often dominated by utilitarian layouts. We wanted to deliver a bold, maximalist, story-driven workplace without sacrificing function. That meant carefully choreographing how each environment connected: sculptural joinery doubling as infrastructure, tonal zoning guiding moods, and layered acoustics ensuring productivity. It stretched us, but ultimately made the project richer and more deeply grounded in its Nashville context.

What was your team’s highlight of the project?

The highlight was the collaboration with exceptional craftspeople and furniture makers, both in Ireland and locally in Nashville. Every element, from custom rosewood stools and marble bullnose tables to amber crystal privacy screens and striped rosewood reception cladding – was bespoke, designed for this project. That gave us the freedom to experiment with materials and forms, pushing the design beyond standard workplace solutions. Seeing those sketches evolve into sculptural pieces that now define the character of the interiors was incredibly rewarding. They bring individuality and richness – a mirrored ceiling in the library reflecting playful striped banquettes, a boldly coloured kitchen with stained timber joinery, a central marble-topped desk beneath an oversized pendant. These moments make the space feel truly one-of-a-kind and memorable.

Why did you enter the SBID Awards?

The Malin is a brand committed to elevating the experience of work, and this project exemplifies how design can transform a workplace into a destination. By merging storytelling, cultural grounding, and innovation – while championing wellbeing and community; it challenges what a co-working space can be. SBID provides an international platform that celebrates bold creativity, and we wanted to share how design can turn the everyday act of working into something inspiring.

What has being an Award Finalist meant to you and your business?

It’s a huge achievement for us. Being recognised at this level reinforces the importance of storytelling, craftsmanship, and collaboration in our work. It also demonstrates our ability to deliver ambitious, detail-driven projects globally, even with the challenges of distance. For the team, it’s a proud moment; proof that thoughtful, design-led workplaces resonate just as strongly as homes or hospitality spaces.

Questions answered by Róisín Lafferty, Founder & Creative Director of Róisín Lafferty.