The design team was approached by a corporate real estate company to redesign their existing 15,000 s.f. headquarters in Boston, MA. Their existing office consisted of a traditional layout with perimeter offices and cubicles located away from the windows. They asked for the new design to completely turn this layout on its head, removing all but two offices and locating the cubicles close to the windows.

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The design team took an opportunity to, not only produce an open office plan, but to also insert a selection of breakout areas, ranging from small one-person phone rooms to large conference rooms, with some of the collaboration areas enclosed and some out in the open. This would provide the employees with a variety of spaces to meet while not disturbing others.

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The client also had access to a large art collection and wanted to showcase some of these pieces within the space. The design team took this into consideration when laying out the flow of the space to create focal points ready for art installation. Their art curator installed pieces that complemented and called attention to the various spaces.

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Besides a completely new office layout concept, the client wanted to see if there was a way to get away from the low 8′-0″ ceiling dictated by the building’s shallow floor to floor height. Due to the pipes and ceiling equipment, it was determined that the best approach would be to remove the ceiling entirely. This created two issues—noise and an exposed HVAC system. To deal with the noise, the team designed an acoustical baffle system that one could see through and, at the same time, would cut down on sound travelling throughout the office. To deal with the exposed HVAC system the design team had to work closely with the mechanical team to select the appropriate look for the ducts and the location of ducts and equipment.