We started Imagine RED to offer a design process focused on the psychology of the user, and to offer smart, visceral environmental experiences as a design result. The years since have found us in Singapore designing a showroom/workplace for an international financial services firm, in Bhutan designing a destination retreat, in the Sahara Desert of Algeria designing a school, in Hawaii designing a coffee plantation and all over the United States in service to the idea that a powerful environment serves users, developers and owners alike: it turns an abstract investment in real estate into a visceral investment in the people that work and visit there.

Imagine RED is also the founder of a new consortium, Imagine NEXT. COVID has disrupted our common understanding of the workplace, focused us precisely on the experience of the user, and ushered in an era of new possibilities. To capitalize on this opportunity, we have invited a select group of partners to join us in re-imagining the workplace and workplace cultures. Our team of experts spans disciplines from Human Resources to Environmental Graphics to Mechanical Engineering to Interior Design and Architecture, every unique problem and unique workplace culture receiving the customized attention of the appropriate disciplines. Our goal is to work strategically and with great agility to deliver customized solutions and spaces. In doing so, we believe we are re-inventing the modern workplace.

Two themes have connected all of our efforts to date: a focus on psychology and the experience of the user to design spaces our clients find emotionally engaging and deeply meaningful, and a commitment to tackling unique problems rather than delivering stock solutions. You will find us eager to meet your people, to understand your culture and to engage with you in a process of inquiry, discovery and invention..

Polly Dithmer + Roel Krabbendam
Co-Founders

Polly Dithmer

Ms. Dithmer is a Partner and Design Director at imagine Red, with 30 years experience in global & national corporate and institutional interior design. She grounds her work in the belief that passionate, collaborative design will empower her clients and inspire her teams. 

In addition to a degree in design, Ms. Dithmer holds a MA in Psychology. This background speaks to her interest in and commitment to building relationships with her clients. Her perspective and training facilitate deep inquiry into values and goals, insightful visioning, and the development of comprehensive problem definitions and strategies with her clients.

Ms. Dithmer is an accomplished artist as well as a design leader, often blending these roles in the development of her work. Her upbringing in Latin America and her international experience give her a broad cultural perspective. This lens offers a rich, diverse source of inspiration and informs her interest in color and texture to invest space with life.

Roel Krabbendam

Roel Krabbendam RA, NCARB, LEED AP, Partner, is an architect with 30 years of experience working all over the world. He designed the Tharpaling Norbu retreat in the Himalayan foothills of Bhutan, government projects in the Algerian Sahara, planning and educational projects in the Peruvian Amazon, villas in the Swiss Alps, urban solutions in the Netherlands, and projects all over the United States. His design for Hula Dog Farm in Kona, Hawai’i anchors the book The Hawai’ian House Now, and his research into education and re-invention of schools is published under the title school (Ludovicus, Boston, 2018, 280p), both books available on Amazon.

Born in the Netherlands and raised in the United States, Mr. Krabbendam is international in outlook and experience but committed to collaborating with local designers and experts on imagine RED projects far from home: it’s that conversation that inevitably yields the most profoundly meaningful projects.