[Photos: Gabriel Benzur]

Low partitions define individual workstations in a bright, airy two-level space that wraps around a courtyard at the Vero Beach office of engineering and land-planning firm Kimley-Horn. Team tables are scattered throughout the office — there are glass-walled rooms for more private meetings. A stairway linking the office’s two levels is designed to foster social interaction — at 15 feet wide, the stairs allow room for impromptu encounters, says project interior designer Robert Kelly of Cooper Carry, the Atlanta-based architectural firm that worked on the design. As a counterpoint to the neutral sea of white furniture, hot fuchsias, oranges and reds on one level and aqua and blue hues on another highlight the “town center” kitchen area and other gathering spaces, Kelly says.