Contract - May 2012 - (Page 106)

workplace Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Campus By Rosemarie Buchanan NBBJ designs a LEED Platinum campus with a community feel The striking combination of transparent boldness with subtlety is at the core of the design of the new Seattle campus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable entities. Overseen by trustees Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, the Foundation takes great effort to be transparent in its role, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology within the United States. The new campus—adjacent to the Seattle Center, Space Needle, and Frank Gehry–designed Experience Music Project— reflects the Foundation’s fit in both the global and urban contexts. Designed by NBBJ, its two boomerang-shaped buildings resemble pairs of outstretched arms, reaching out to and embracing the world. They’re, in fact, a metaphor for the Foundation’s goal to eradicate pernicious diseases throughout the world. While strong figuratively, these arms are slim, with overall floor plate widths of only 65 feet. That narrowness—combined with floor-to-ceiling glass with 10-foot panes—allows incredible daylight penetration in notoriously overcast Seattle. This transparency also allows employees working in separate wings or buildings to see one another across the campus’s courtyard, increasing camaraderie between staff, even if they work on different teams. open, flexible space for a changing infrastructure Flexibility is a core attribute of workplace design that isn’t just the backdrop to innovation, but one that actively courts it. Add to that the goal of using the building for at least a century, and flexibility is even more paramount. NBBJ devised a plan that adapts for team and priority shuffling at a moment’s notice, specifying 60 percent open space and 40 percent assigned desk space for employees. “Tremendous flexibility was so important here. The Foundation changed so much just in the seven years we were working with them,” says Anne Marie Cunningham, a principal at NBBJ. “We knew flexibility was the key to making this work for the long term.” To meet these demands, the team incorporated elements ranging from raised floors and demountable partitions to component-based furniture, and of course considered material durability. 106 contractdesign.com MaY 2012 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - May 2012

Contract - May 2012
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Coming Events
Exhibition: Coverings
Exhibition: Highlights from Salone Internazionale del Mobile
Product Focus: Enlivening the Flexible Office
Product Focus: A Collection to Define 21st Century Herman Miller
NeoCon® Preview
Hospitality’s Influence in Workplace Design
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Campus
Steelcase Office and Work Café
Shlemmer Algaze Associates
Red Bull Amsterdam
THQ
Grey Group Roof Deck
Knoll, East Greenville Headquarters
The Metrics of Distributed Work
Tools: Pinterested, by Design
Exhibition: Hallingdal 65
Designers Select: Office Furniture
Sources
Ad Index
Exhibition: Lasvit Liquidkristal by Ross Lovegrove

Contract - May 2012