After more than two decades of leadership, vision, and design influence, Susan Orange’s time at Baskervill reaches a defining conclusion—one that invites reflection on the career she’s built and the Workplace Studio she’s helped shape.
Susan’s career at Baskervill began at a moment when interiors was focused on real estate broker and corporate facility needs, optimizing square footage and specifications more than an experience linked directly to a company’s brand, mission, and people. With her influence, the work shifted toward placemaking—streamlining interior design and architecture from the outset and implementing form, flow, and function into a holistic environment.
With equal parts bold ambition and polished communication, Susan helped shape Baskervill’s workplace expertise into a nationally respected practice, earning repeat recognition among Interior Design’s Top 100 Giants.
Her impact is perhaps best illustrated in her work with mission-driven projects. Susan brought a unique perspective to nonprofit and community-enriching environments, grounding each project in careful listening and observation. At the Faison Center, she led an intensive predesign effort that immersed the architecture and interior design team in the daily realities of teachers, families, and students through workshops, classroom visits, and open dialogue. What emerged was not simply a renovated building, but an extensive campus intentionally shaped to support the confidence of faculty and students.
Repeat clients across corporate, nonprofit, medical, education, and startup sectors tell a similar story. Susan viewed trust as a privilege. To guide organizations through change was a job she never took lightly. She believed in honoring the work when it was done—sometimes sketching upside down and backward, translating ideas in real time. She would later frame those marked-up trace sheets or napkin sketches from a working session and gift it to a client as a reminder of the back-and-forth, the trust, and the shared momentum.
Inside the studio walls, she was equally committed to teamwork. No project was ever a solo effort, and she championed collaboration, made tough deadlines easier through shared laughter, and mentored emerging designers with candor and care.
Because of this and so much more, Susan leaves behind more than a body of work. She inspires a way of practicing—one grounded in listening, partnership, and immense gratitude.
Susan’s Side Quests
Over her illustrious career, Susan embarked on many adventures, including:
- Flying to Germany with a client team to immerse in the culture of their headquarters, and navigate German planning and building codes.
- Designing a lobby with a curly slide, a bike path, a bar tap, and deep occupiable risers for gathering and viewing.
- Creating dog-visit rooms, cat-atoriums, and an indoor training arena for the SPCA.
- Reimagining a traditional downtown high-rise with a graffiti wall and basketball goal.
- Leading a strategy to accommodate major staff growth in a New York City office—expanding meeting and gathering spaces while staying on a single floor.