Contract - June 2014 - 100

Natural light washes a
lounge area (left and opposite,
bottom right) outfitted with
a comfortable sectional sofa.
Beyond the lounge is a pantry
area (right, top two) with a bar
and a screen that slides down
for viewing presentations.
Two glazed meeting rooms
with a print room in between
(opposite, bottom left)
allow light to pass through
to spaces beyond.

FiftyThree, Inc.
Architect +ADD
Client FiftyThree, Inc.
Where New York
What 6,600 square feet
on one floor
Cost/sf $275
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list, see page 116 or
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restaurants she had designed, such as Hecho en Dumbo, where her
hand is firm but subtle. "Rather than start with a standard office design,"
Petschnigg explains, "we liked the idea of a restaurant as inspiration."
The company is only the second office tenant at 60 Hudson
Street, a hulking 1931 art deco building that once housed
telecommunications switchgear. González Fierro didn't embrace
the machine-space rawness but tamed it, so that its best features-
15-foot-high ceilings, views, and ample daylight supplied by massive
windows-could come forward. She attached acoustical panels to
ceilings for sound absorption, and disciplined the layout of suspended
light fixtures, sprinkler pipes, and conduits to be unobtrusive.
About two thirds of the office is devoted to long, adjustableheight, walnut-tabletop workbenches designed by González Fierro and
fabricated by Brooklyn-based Mario Metal and Robert C. Phelps from
RCP Builders. A blackened-steel pedestal running down the center
supports the walnut work surfaces. Steel cubbies perch above the
desktops, offering a degree of visual privacy and concealing wiring
while leaving it accessible. The workbenches accommodate 24
employees, but the office is designed to grow to 36 people.
Spaces for gathering and focusing
The density of the space encourages collaboration and idea sharing,
which is essential when pulling together teams of diverse skills to bring

100

products of such refinement to market. The FiftyThree staff is
composed of about half designers and half engineers, so product
designers, software engineers, graphic designers, and people skilled
in manufacturing can choose from among several kinds of space to
support a variety of work styles.
The relatively dense bench space is broken up by a raised area,
which has built-in bookshelves in its base, used to encourage instant
gatherings. Because the headquarters staff in New York meets with a
Seattle office frequently via videoconference, the main meeting room
has glass walls and a glass ceiling, felt panels for acoustics, a big-screen
monitor, and dropped pendant fixtures to light a wide whiteboard. Staff
members have the option to draw curtains for privacy.
Outside the conference room, a casual lounge space faces a long,
marble-topped table that fronts a kitchen-essential when deadlines
provoke stress and long hours. Its clean lines speak the language of
unpretentious conviviality that González Fierro has refined in cafes.
"The new space has been transformative in so many ways for us,"
Petschnigg says. "We went from a sixth-floor walk-up that felt scrappy
and temporary to an inviting space that's built to last in a historic
building." Building on the success of Pencil and Paper, the company will
next roll out an "online service where we will bring ideas together and
focus on collaboration. This space grounds our ideals and makes them
physical and real." c
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Contract - June 2014

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