A bold risograph workspace defines Risotto Studio headquarters in Glasgow

In Glasgow, designer Gabriella Marcella has reimagined a former industrial unit as RISOTTO HQ, a workspace that merges print production, exhibition, and public engagement into a single, adaptable environment. Conceived for her risograph-based practice, the studio translates a graphic language of colour and pattern into spatial form, creating a setting that is at once practical and expressive.

Founded by Marcella, RISOTTO Studio has built an international reputation for its vividly coloured stationery and printed works. After more than a decade at the Glue Factory creative hub, she has expanded into a 100 square metre former screen-printing workshop, transforming it into a new headquarters that reflects both the growth of the studio and its evolving ambitions. The project extends beyond function, positioning the workspace as a three-dimensional manifestation of her design approach.

The studio is organised around flexibility. Curtains divide and reconnect spaces as needed, while workbenches, storage units, and sculptural elements are mounted on wheels, allowing the interior to shift continuously between production, workshops, installations, and events. This capacity for transformation reflects the dynamic nature of risograph printing, where layering and variation are integral to the process.

Marcella describes the space as a working system rather than a fixed composition. It accommodates a wide range of activities, from RISO CLUB production runs to brand workshops and self-initiated projects, positioning the studio as both a site of making and a platform for exchange.

The studio is anchored by the Green Room, a custom-built structure by furniture maker Alexander Garthwaite conceived as a stepped volume rather than a conventional enclosed box. Designed to reclaim underused space, it absorbs residual interior volume while projecting outward as a series of oversized platforms that double as display surfaces for Marcella’s sculptural works. Within, the negative space is precisely calibrated into cantilevered shelving systems, accommodating paper stock and print materials with efficiency, while keeping the main workshop open, flexible, and in constant motion.

Material and furniture systems play a central role in defining the space. In collaboration with British manufacturer Bisley, the studio incorporates a curated selection of steel storage units, including MultiDrawer, Outline, and LateralFile systems, alongside classic filing cabinets and card filers.

Rather than receding into the background, these elements are composed into bold chromatic arrangements, forming partitions, workstations, and sculptural configurations. Finishes range from Bisley Blue and Bisley Pink to Cardinal Red and Golden Sunflower Yellow, complemented by the brand’s classic Coffee and Cream tones. In this context, storage becomes both functional infrastructure and a medium for visual expression, reinforcing RISOTTO’s distinctive identity.

RISOTTO HQ extends beyond the boundaries of a conventional workspace. It operates as a cultural hub, hosting workshops, exhibitions, and tours that make the process of risograph printing visible and accessible.

Its opening coincides with RISO CLUB 100, a retrospective exhibition at the Glue Factory Galleries presenting 400 postcard designs by international artists. The exhibition marks nearly a decade of the not-for-profit initiative founded by Marcella in 2017, which distributes artist-designed prints to a global community. The programme includes public events, workshops, and a digital atlas mapping contributors across 100 locations, highlighting the collective dimension of the project.

RISOTTO HQ ultimately positions itself between studio and exhibition. It is a space designed to work, but also to be experienced. Production, display, and social interaction overlap, creating an atmosphere where making is both process and performance.

Through its integration of flexibility, colour, and modular systems, the project redefines the contemporary creative workspace. It is not only a place where objects are produced, but where the values of collaboration, accessibility, and experimentation are embedded into the architecture itself.

Project Credit

Project Name: Risotto Studio Headquarter
Location: Glasgow, UK
Designed by Gabriella Marcella / @risottostudio
Photo Credits: Richard Gaston / @richardgaston, Alix McIntosh / @alixmcintosh