Contract Magazine - May 2017 - 24

PHOTOGRAPHY: MACKENZIE STROH

EDITORIAL

Discovering the Potential for Design
to Transform Long-Standing Companies
In workplace design today, we are often easily awed by the exuberant
interiors of tech companies, startups, and other businesses of
the new economy, such as co-working spaces. Contract has published
many of those interiors in recent years, and will in the future.
But we are also seeing dramatic shifts in the design of workplaces
for tried-and-true professions that have been the hallmark
of office interiors for decades. In this issue, we highlight interiors
for established, enduring professions-law, finance, publishing,
and insurance.
By nature, these companies and firms have been some
of the more conservative in their business practice and approach
and, in the past, that would have been traditionally reflected in the
design of their offices. With the exception of Morningstar (page 88),
which was founded in the 1980s, all other companies and firms
featured in this issue have histories that go back at least a century.
The steadfast approach has served them well, but to the credit of each
company in this issue, they realized that change was necessary
in their workplace environment and that taking a big leap in the design
of their office interiors would have an impact on their bottom line.
Each of these reconsidered workplaces offers an exciting
setting for the given firm or business, and that physical environment
is an asset as they compete for a new generation of talent. The interiors
underscore that the design of physical infrastructure matters.
Place matters. We can work remotely and become distracted with
information we see online, but being present, together, in a setting
that offers a sense of home-a place that employees enjoy being
in-helps to define a new era for an established company. The interiors
featured here are all more open and inviting than past offices from
the same firms or businesses, allowing for new conversations,
collaborations, and ideas to flow.
We are thrilled to publish a 12-page exclusive feature
on the MetLife New York headquarters (cover, and page 76), which
was spearheaded by Pamela Abalu, global head of design and
construction for the company (see interview with Abalu, page 36).
Her team collaborated with Rockwell Group and Woods Bagot to create
a new home for the insurance company's more than 1,500 employees.
Abalu was truly a visionary for this project, orchestrating numerous
elements to create an inspired, humane workplace that captures
the essence of new ways of working. She knew that a hospitable
interior was not only desirable, but essential. Thus, Rockwell Group,
known for its hospitality design expertise, was hired to design
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multiple spaces for employees to casually meet, enjoy a meal
or beverage, or simply relax. Extraordinary in terms of scope, level of
detail, and range of furnishings and finishes, the MetLife headquarters
is an absolute game changer for an insurance industry office.
As many readers know, I was a senior acquisitions editor
at the publisher John Wiley & Sons (also known as Wiley Publishing)
for years prior to becoming editor in chief of Contract. So I can attest,
firsthand, to the remarkable transformation of the Wiley headquarters
(page 114), designed by our 2017 Designer of the Year Suzette Subance
Ferrier of TPG Architecture. This was a gut renovation of the office that
the 210-year-old publisher has had for 15 years. Extra-tall, extra-beige
cubicles and private offices were removed. In the open, renovated
office for about 1,200 people, the company's chair of the board
is literally the only person with an enclosed office. Wiley has evolved
its business from primarily print books into a knowledge company
producing multiple digital products, and the new workplace reflects
the changing work styles. This is an impressive example of how
interior design can enhance a company's business as it becomes
more progressive while enabling its workforce to be more agile.
Law firm offices have been known for staid, seemingly conservative
interiors. But the three well-known practices shown in this issue-
Jones Day (page 96), Stoel Rives (page 102), and Coblentz Patch Duffy
& Bass (page 110)-all chose highly regarded design firms-Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill; ZGF Architects; and Gensler, respectively-to design
new, highly refined workplace interiors that radically reshape the
identity of the given practice for its law practitioners, which now include
not only Millennials but also Generation Z. Each of the featured interiors
in this issue was designed for savvy professionals in the present while
anticipating the future.
Enjoy this issue, and I will see you at NeoCon!
Sincerely,
John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, Hon. IIDA
Editor in Chief
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Contract Magazine - May 2017

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