KPF’s “sleek but comfortable” midtown space is one of five workplaces featured in a story on the offices architects design for themselves.
For offices around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant work-from-home policies were a catalyst for re-thinking the design and role of the workplace. For KPF’s New York Headquarters, this meant an airy new workspace that facilitates collaboration but also allows many different ways of working. Located in Midtown Manhattan, across 42nd Street from Bryant Park, KPF’s headquarters previously occupied two non-sequential floors of an art an Art Deco skyscraper. The pandemic was an opportunity to acquire 25,000 square feet on the building’s 7th floor to complement existing space on floor 6, expanding the firm’s total footprint and allowing for direct communication.
This new 7th floor would become the firm’s front door and beating heart, thanks to a sensitive renovation led by Principals Marianne Kwok and Brian Girard that puts KPF’s legacy of design excellence on display while offering workers and guests a welcoming, light-filled experience. As Record recounts, “The firm’s global reach is evident as soon as visitors step off the elevator. Wall-mounted 3D-printed cityscapes show the locations of KPF offices internationally, while models of some of its most recognizable towers are displayed on pedestals, like sculpture.”
The article also notes key design decisions such as the sound-proofed video conference rooms, glass-walled meeting rooms, and café overlooking Bryant Park, and recalls how the design team worked with the building’s existing material palette to elevate the occupant experience. “Existing floors of terrazzo and concrete have been polished to a high sheen but still retain traces of removed partitions. At the core, a messy patchwork of concrete block and poured-in-place concrete was covered by cladding it in new textured-concrete panels.” With workstations divided into four neighborhoods of about 30 desks each and Principals’ offices tucked into free-standing cubes clad in wood and pin-board, KPF’s 7th floor is a hive of activity that celebrates the architectural process.
Read the full story here.