This office interior renovation modernized existing space in a downtown Fort Worth building; relocating approximately 760 employees from across the metroplex into a stack of 8 floors. The project’s centralized location offers access to the surrounding downtown community and public transportation.
Design Goals were identified as:
- Invigorate stale office area and re-envision space that previously deemed unleasable
- Integrate sustainable design strategies throughout
- Promote employee wellness & communication with shared amenity spaces
- Develop new, open plan office and furniture typicals, to be adopted as corporate standards
- Decompartmentalize the organization using open plan design to increase collaboration, and communication
- Cultivate organizational pride and culture with an emphasis on company branding
In addition to the challenges of an existing building (such as low ceiling heights and aging building system), the pandemic stretched the team’s goal of designing for health and well-being. As views changed of what the office environment should be, the design strategy shifted allowing social distancing and limited touchpoints – all while maintaining employee connection as the main priority.
The design team sourced regionally manufactured materials with an emphasis on durability. Efforts were made to increase water and energy efficiency through low-flow fixtures and updated lighting. Respite gathering spaces and an on-site fitness area promote employee wellness. A corporate café with amenities such as micro-market, team building games and open tech bar for ongoing computer support created a central activity hub.
Open, internal landmark stairways connect employees by offering a direct route to gathering spaces and encourage chance, impromptu collisions which support interdepartmental interactions through their offset design. This direct route internally connects 6 of the 8 levels – nudging employees to move and interact with other floors. The company’s branding story and colors were used throughout the space to add bright accents, wayfinding, and patterns to emphasize the corporate identity.