{"id":1615,"date":"2025-08-18T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T09:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scientificmediagroup.com\/?p=1615"},"modified":"2025-10-02T16:28:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:28:37","slug":"civilian-designs-workplace-with-mission-control-centre-for-space-company-vast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.scientificmediagroup.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/18\/civilian-designs-workplace-with-mission-control-centre-for-space-company-vast\/","title":{"rendered":"Civilian designs workplace with mission control centre for space company Vast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vast<\/div>\n

Aerospace company Vast has worked with interiors studio Civilian<\/a> to bring a human-centred feel to its Californian headquarters<\/a>, which incorporates a mission control centre and clean room dedicated to the building of space<\/a> stations.<\/span><\/p>\n

A start-up that is only four years old, Vast<\/a> is building the world’s first commercial space station, the Haven-1<\/a>. It is also vying to provide the successor to the retiring International Space Station<\/a> with its bigger follow-up, Haven-2.<\/p>\n

For its campus, the company has taken over three warehouse buildings totalling 17,620 square metres in Long Beach, a hub for the commercial space industry.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial
Vast’s campus is set across renovated warehouses in Long Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vast and Civilian<\/a> have now completed the renovations on the first of these buildings, forming the heart of the facilities.<\/p>\n

The company’s space station interiors feature elements such as wood panelling, soft surfaces and domestic-inspired accessories.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the goal with the headquarters has been to bring a more “human” feel to an industry associated with cold, clinical and industrial workplaces.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Customers are hosted in the SkyLab, or Astronaut Lounge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

White oak, limewash, wool and a two-storey-tall tree feature within the space, while the layout is intended to reflect Vast’s vertically integrated business model, where everything from design to fabrication and mission operations takes place within one company.<\/p>\n

In the physical environment, that has meant situating the key areas of the business within one unified space, and creating sightlines and opportunities for interaction between them.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
The headquarters includes a clean room for fabrication<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In particular, engineering is given a prominent position. Views of the 1,400-square-metre clean room, where fabrication takes place, were created throughout.<\/p>\n

“When you walk into our facilities, you come across these big glass windows, and you are seeing Haven-1 being built in real time,” Vast chief design officer Hillary Coe told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Views of the clean room are provided across the facility<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“That is purposefully designed, because having the progress of our stations being built visible throughout where we work encourages collaboration and keeps the mission at the forefront of everyone’s minds,” she added.<\/p>\n

Entry to the Vast headquarters is via a double-height lobby. The space was designed to evoke the feel and proportions of the inside of the Haven-1 space station module with chamfered edges and a circular oculus cut into the mezzanine.<\/p>\n

Limewashed walls, a 7.5-metre-tall bottle tree and oak and leather bench seating introduce the interior’s material themes.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
The lobby features an oculus cut-out that mimics the proportions of Vast’s space station module<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond oversized oak doors, another double-height space \u2013 an all-hands area with long communal tables for dining and socialising \u2013 sits at the centre of the facility.<\/p>\n

To one side of it, the glass-walled clean room allows employees and visitors a view of the fabrication of the Haven space stations, while an aluminium-sided ramp leading to the mezzanine wraps the space.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
The all-hands area adjoins the clean-room fabrication zone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This ramp “pauses” with a viewing platform overlooking the mission control centre, where flight controllers and other support personnel will manage craft and crews in space.<\/p>\n

The viewing points around this room allow staff from across the company to feel part of launches and other important moments. The interior was intended to create optimal ergonomic and acoustic comfort for the staff within and allow them to absorb huge amounts of visual data.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
A viewing platform looks into the mission control centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Civilian co-founder Ksenia Kagner explained that through speaking with mission control personnel, she and co-founder Nicko Elliott had learned that they have some of the most intense jobs within the business, working highly focused eight-hour shifts where even a trip to the bathroom requires arranging cover.<\/p>\n

“Your physical presence and your attention for these very long stretches of time is the thing that’s required in those rooms,” said Kagner.<\/p>\n