Contract - May 2015 - 99

A whiteboard-lined hub (left)
has predominately white
finishes. Double-height spaces
(above) capitalize on views and
contribute to the loftlike feel
that the client requested.
A small cafe with a high table
(opposite, bottom) is adjacent
to a large multipurpose room.

O

ne of the world's leading advertising agencies, FCB had
initially sought the type of real estate for its Chicago
flagship office that one might expect for a creative firm:
an older warehouse space with great character. But when it
came down to the deciding factors of available square footage, location,
and cost, FCB ultimately selected five floors in an iconic skyscraper: the
100-story John Hancock Center by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
Still, FCB desired an interior aesthetic with some grit and emotive
qualities while honoring the building's crisp, modern legacy. That
challenge was handed to New York firm TPG Architecture, which
designed the interiors under the leadership of Studio Director and
Associate Principal Larry Berger. He describes the undertaking as one
to "give the industrial feel that the agency wanted yet still respect the
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill design of the building."
Berger came to the project with more than 15 years of experience
in designing environments for FCB and its related Interpublic Group of
media-based companies. FCB's previous Chicago office had been
spread among 12 floors of one building and three additional floors in
another building, with layouts based on the cellular, private offices that
had been traditional in advertising at the end of the last century.
In this new office, FCB wanted to visually communicate the
creative energy embodied in the firm's staff. CEO and President Michael
Fassnacht explains the goals that drove the project from the client's
perspective. "We wanted to focus on collaboration, which you can only
do in an open space. It's a physical expression that you want to
collaborate with other people," he says. Fassnacht also wanted to

eliminate the organizational hierarchy that's commoditized through
office size and location, saying, "We wanted to be as flat as possible."
A loftlike workspace environment
TPG's design for the 170,000-square-foot office begins in the lobby on
the twenty-first floor, where visitors arrive. The architects opened up the
south-facing reception area-with views of Chicago's Magnificent Mile
and the rest of downtown-into a double-height space with a staffed
coffee bar, which functions as a busy, regular destination for employees
and visitors alike. The boardroom is immediately adjacent, and a
communicating stair to the twenty-second floor leads to a screening
room and meeting rooms.
While the floor-to-ceiling height is 11 feet, the wide expanses of the
five floors allow them to feel lofty and unencumbered. Only FCB's chief
financial officer and head of human resources have private offices. Even
Fassnacht and Chief Creative Officer Todd Tilford sit in the open office
environment-although they do have private conference rooms just
steps from their facing desks. "If I'm not in a meeting, I sit outside,"
Fassnacht says, in reference to his open desk. "I often walk around the
office and can catch up with three or four colleagues within 15 minutes.
From a leadership perspective, I'm much closer to what's truly happening
within the organization."
The open-plan workspaces are punctuated by five distinct work
areas-denoted as "white spaces" or "black spaces" based on their color
palettes-that provide a full medley of amenities for a team to use during
strategy sessions. "These hubs have high-top seating areas where
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Contract - May 2015

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