Cultural brand building in corporate spaces drives measurable returns. The WeWork Madrid project shows what happens when creative strategy meets spatial design.

When a corporate space earns genuine attention — from employees, visitors, and the wider cultural community — it stops being overhead and starts being an asset. That shift doesn't happen through décor choices. It happens through strategic cultural investment: commissioning work with substance, from artists whose visual language has depth, and integrating that process into the brand's spatial identity from the earliest stage of planning.

WeWork's Madrid location is a precise example of what this looks like in practice.

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The question most brand and workplace managers ask when cultural investment comes up is some version of: what do we actually get back?

It's the right question. And the answer has two parts.

 

The first is measurable in the conventional sense: employee experience, retention signaling, visitor impression, press coverage, social amplification. These are documented. The numbers are striking: according to the Art of the Workplace Report, commissioned by Brookfield Properties in partnership with The School of Life and based on a survey of 3,000 office workers across the UK, 69% of adults believe that interesting and visually attractive artworks positively impact their wellbeing at work. Among workers aged 18 to 29, 63% already prefer working in the office to working from home — but that figure rises to 75% among those who work in offices with a significant amount of art. And 87% of workers with no exposure to cultural events at work report feeling uninspired day to day. 

The second return is harder to put in a spreadsheet but arguably more valuable: what the space communicates about the brand. A corporate space that contains meaningful, well-curated cultural work signals investment in craft, in community, in permanence. It communicates that the brand thinks beyond the transaction. For a company like WeWork — whose entire value proposition is built around the quality and energy of shared spaces — that signal isn't peripheral to the product. It is the product. 

This is what Victor Lipman, writing in Forbes, called Return on Environment: not aesthetic ROI, but motivational ROI. The argument is that art in the workplace is "less about aesthetics and more about pride in one's environment" — and that pride motivates. That's good business. 

WeWork came to Basa Studio with a spatial problem and a creative instinct. The outdoor terrace at their Madrid Goya location — a significant amenity — wasn't performing as a destination. It needed something that would anchor the space, give it visual identity, and make it worth spending time in.

The initial direction WeWork provided was a rendered concept: a geometric, colourful composition that would cascade across the wall and integrate with the terrace's modern aesthetic. This wasn't a finished brief — it was a starting point. A creative signal. The kind of directional input that tells a studio what the brand is reaching for, without prescribing how to get there.

That distinction matters. Brands that arrive with fully resolved concepts often end up with executed briefs rather than genuine cultural moments. The space for interpretation — for the artist's visual intelligence to operate — is precisely where the cultural depth gets built.

 

While brands and artists collabs can yield stunning results, they often come with unique challenges. In this case, the project faced an initial hurdle: securing the artist's participation in the PR opening event. Professional artists like Sabek typically only agree to such public appearances when they feel a strong connection to their work (or the brand). 

The key to unlocking this impasse lay in understanding the delicate balance between brand requirements and artistic integrity. Basically, Sabek wanted to have as much artistic freedom as possible, under a general briefing WeWork would give him. 

WeWork's willingness to embrace Sabek's distinctive style proved crucial in gaining the artist's full engagement with the project, including his participation in the opening event.

This flexibility highlights a critical aspect of successful brands and artists collabs: respecting the artist's creative vision can lead to more authentic and impactful results.

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The mural project, spanning an impressive 17 meters in length and 5 meters in height, came with a clear budget. This transparency in the budget, from the beginning, streamlined the planning process, allowing all parties to focus on the creative aspects of the collaboration.

With a four-month timeline from briefing to completion, the project demonstrated the efficiency that can be achieved in artists and brands collabs when expectations are clearly defined from the start. This timeline included the initial concept discussions, design approval, wall preparation, and the actual painting process. The clear communication and well-defined scope allowed Sabek to work efficiently, completing the large-scale mural within the agreed timeframe without compromising on artistic quality or vision. This smooth execution highlights the importance of thorough planning and mutual understanding in successful artists and brands collabs. Generally, a project this size can be completed as fast as one week, everything included. However, the more time in advance our team at Basa Studio has to source the right artist, the better. This extended timeline in the WeWork project allowed for a more considered approach, ensuring the perfect match between the brand's vision and the artist's style.
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One notable aspect of this collaboration was the direct line of communication between WeWork and Basa Studio, without the involvement of an intermediary agency. This direct approach in brands and artists collabs can lead to clearer communication, faster decision-making, and a more seamless creative process.

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The resulting mural not only transformed the physical space of WeWork's Madrid location but also created a talking point for members and visitors alike. By featuring Sabek's work prominently, WeWork has positioned itself as a patron of local art, enhancing its brand image and creating a unique identity for this particular location.

 

The successful collaboration between WeWork, Sabek, and Basa Studio serves as a blueprint for future artists and brands collabs, aligning with emerging insights on the impact of art in the workplace. An Art at Oxford Saïd seminar highlighted the evolving role of art in professional settings, emphasizing its potential to create welcoming spaces and boost productivity when implemented thoughtfully.

The seminar referenced a 2012 survey by International Art Consultants, which found that 90% of respondents reported having art in their workplaces, with 94% feeling that art made their workplace more welcoming. Moreover, research by Dr. Craig Knight at Exeter University, discussed during the seminar, demonstrated that workers in an “enriched environment” could be up to 32% more productive compared to those in lean or functional environments.

These findings underscore the value of initiatives like the WeWork and Sabek collaboration. As businesses move away from trophy corporate art collections towards more strategic use of art, and artists, brands collabs offer a way to create culturally relevant, visually striking spaces that serve both aesthetic and practical purposes.

The WeWork project demonstrates how companies can leverage local artistic talent to transform corporate spaces into vibrant canvases that reflect the spirit of their communities while enhancing the work environment. As more businesses recognize these benefits, we can expect to see an increase in thoughtful, well-executed artists and brands collabs.

These partnerships have the potential not only to beautify workplaces, but also to significantly impact employee well-being and productivity. By creating environments that are both functional and inspiring, companies can foster a sense of pride and motivation among their workforce, ultimately contributing to better business outcomes.

As we move forward, the integration of art into corporate spaces through artists and brands collabs will likely become an increasingly important strategy for businesses looking to create dynamic, productive, and culturally rich work environments.