Project Description
Globally recognized for its tailored financial software, Broadway Technology continues to grow and required a new Headquarters in New York. The design for the office now residing on 28 Liberty’s 50th floor is an adaptive and community-driven workspace with wellness as the cornerstone.
In the initial stages of our design, we conducted a series of interviews with every department, quickly learning how tight-knit and ingenious the employees are. Using this ingrained comradery as an asset, our strategy created a continuous loop of adaptive spaces. This loop made each department easily accessible to each other to nurture collaboration between teams regardless of what stage the project was in.
These adaptive spaces range from formal to informal and support a project along every step, from idea to implementation. Spaces are also split between rooms and open benching so that everyone has sweeping views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The inclusion of phone booths, expanding team rooms, and a Town Hall ensures that as teams grow, they will have space to work whether there is a single person on a conference call, a group brainstorm, or a global company-wide meeting.
The heart of the design grew from the idea of wellness, developing a creative and rewarding workspace beneficial to both the company and the community’s wellbeing. Growing from many inspirations, wellness was focused through the lens of Biophilia to provide a connection to nature that would otherwise be missing in a self-contained office. Elemental materials such as; a living green wall, textured concrete, and various woods throughout inspire and reinvigorate the office as a whole.
As soon as you step into the reception area you are greeted by all three of these aspects. On the left, a concrete Reception desk is nestled into the side of a conference room clad in Reclaimed wood, and on the opposite side is a sprawling green wall that wraps around the Boardroom that continues down the corridor. This jungle path, made of several hundred plants, leads you from the entrance right into the heart of the office while also providing fresh air for the whole floor. Along with a green wall and planters in every room, wood was also prominent in Broadway Technology’s aesthetic. The same reclaimed wood spreads from the Reception walls to the Boardroom ceiling and into the Kitchen Islands adding warmth to the office and grounding the occupants who would otherwise be disconnected in the 50th floor office. Also living in the Boardroom is a sixteen-foot long live-edge conference table that overlooks the Statue of Liberty and Governors Island.
By leaving the concrete floors, ceiling, and columns exposed we create an industrial and minimal backdrop that accentuates our design while also reflecting Broadway Technology’s down-to-earth and fun-loving culture. As an added benefit to baring the continuous structure is the sense of interconnectedness throughout the office and with the building as a whole.