It's not just the decor that is changing at the Haworth Shanghai Creativity Centre. Opened in 2004 on the fifth floor of Corporate Avenue, the multi-purpose venue incorporates Haworth's Asia Pacific HQ with free public workstations, meeting and event space, Internet access and Illy coffee. Stop by in the daytime and you might spot freelancers scribbling on their laptops, designers leafing through Wallpaper* and Contract in the lounge, and a product launch by Celine in the public meeting area.

But anyone breezing through the Centre since May will have noticed something new. "This is not just an ordinary office, but a place to support creativity and innovation," says Anita Lin, Haworth's brand marketing director for the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. "After three years, we decided it was time to freshen up the interior and layout." Lin describes the new look as "Victorian contemporary, with lots of black and white and a more residential feel," contrasting with the previous 'contemporary office meets art-house loft' ambience. Henceforth, Lin says, the interior will be redesigned each year.

The timing for the revamp is deliberate since the Haworth Shanghai Creativity Centre is preparing to welcome a stylish new guest to complement its signature office furniture. On June 21, the company will unveil a new partnership with ¨¹ber-hip Danish furniture maker Fritz Hansen. Jointly, the brands will comprise the new Haworth Collection which, Lin says, provides "a one-stop solution for interior design projects," with more creativity and greater synergy.

"Our major objective this year is to develop strategic alliances," says Lin. "Fritz Hansen is a perfect fit for us. The company has been operating for 135 years, so it has a lot of design heritage, and is an exclusive furniture maker." The alliance will bring Arne Jacobsen's famous Egg chair to China, 50 years after the designer transformed the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen by complementing the hard sleek lines of the lobby with the revolutionary fluid roundness of its furniture.

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