HOK Designs Boston Consulting Group’s Canadian Headquarters

Long before the pandemic, Boston Consulting Group had embraced hybrid work, giving employees the freedom to come to the office—which total more than 100 across the globe—meet with clients at their workplaces, or complete certain tasks from home. Whichever made the most sense for the business at hand. That said, collaboration is at the heart of how the management consultancy, often referred to as BCG, operates: Staffers form teams to tackle knotty problems clients are facing and puzzle through the issues to arrive at solutions. And this sort of teamwork, BCG felt, is best carried out face-to-face.

Back in 2017, when the company tapped HOK for its new Canadian headquarters on three floors—46, 47, and 48—of a tower rising in Toronto’s financial district, BCG sought an office that would be dazzling enough to draw employees to the workplace, that would provide a variety of bespoke settings so that teams could be as productive as possible while on-site. All of which is to say that when the pandemic hit in 2020—sending companies around the world scrambling to, first, figure out how to work remotely during lockdowns and, then, how to lure employees back to the office after they’d become accustomed to doing their jobs from home—BCG was way ahead of the game. Sure, there were tweaks to HOK’s concept for the 100,000- square-foot BCG project because of the pandemic—designers had to make sure work- stations were 6 feet apart, for example, and they loaded up meeting rooms with video- conferencing and audiovisual equipment for staffers participating remotely—but the changes amounted to fine-tuning a good plan that was already in place. And the result is this spectacular, ultra-sophisticated space that serves as a showplace for the company and a magnet for a workforce now numbering more than 400. “On the busiest days, we’re approaching pre-pandemic attendance levels,” Nina Abdelmessih, BCG’s chief of operations and external relations in Canada, says. “Everybody is coming in.”

HOK Designs a Hybrid Office for Boston Consulting Group

The plan’s success started with carving out an atrium near the window wall on the two lower floors—one advantage of coming to the project while the building was under construction was that this could be done before the floor plates were in place. Working with the developer, HOK specified an opening measuring a generous 20 by 80 feet, envisioning it as the “heart of the organization,” Caitlin Turner, HOK director of interiors in Canada and the project lead, notes. The atrium fills with light and opens up views of the city and Lake Ontario. Rooms situated off it are sided in glass so everyone shares in the sunshine.

A beckoning staircase steps up through the atrium to the top floor. It encourages employees to walk up and down—healthier for them than taking the elevators—and results in serendipitous encounters that add to the general esprit de corps. “There’s this buzz,” Turner enthuses. As for the seating areas in the base of the atrium, in the café, she adds: “At lunchtime, it’s like a high-school cafeteria.”

But serendipity also played a part: Turner tracked down a black-stained oak credenza she spotted on Instagram for use in a touch- down room, where it joins an oversize pendant fixture by Marcel Wanders and sinuous Italian armchairs. It’s just a sampling of the international, contemporary aesthetic permeating this buzzing workplace—one that is clearly not cookie-cutter but has helped become something of a model for other BCG offices in the throes of relocation and renovation.

Behind the Design of Boston Consulting Group’s Canadian Headquarters

HOK: PAUL GOGAN; BRITTANY TOD; KRISTINA KAMENAR; CALEB SOLOMONS; SALLY SHI; FARIBA SAJADI; ROWENA AUYEUNG; BETHANY FOSS; DANIEL MEEKER

RJC ENGINEERS: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

MITCHELL PARTNERSHIP: MECHANICAL ENGINEER

MULVEY & BANANI LIGHTING: LIGHTING DESIGNER

MCM: CUSTOM FURNITURE WORKSHOP

Opus Art Projects: Art Consultant

VISO: CUSTOM SCONCES (ATRIUM), CUSTOM CEILING FIXTURES (BOARDROOM)

geiger: WOOD CHAIRS (CAFÉ)

PENGELLY IRON WORKS: CUSTOM SCREENS

KEIL­HAUER: BENCH

EUREKA LIGHTING: RING PENDANT FIX­TURES

STEELACASE: BOOTHS

gervasoni: BRASS PEN­DANT FIXTURES

BILLIANI: GRAY CHAIRS

TRIBU: BROWN/WHITE CHAIRS

CEMENT TILE SHOP: FLOOR TILE

muuto: PENDANT FIXTURES (OFFICE AREA)

STUDIO OTHER: WORK­ STATIONS

knoll: CHAIRS (OFFICE AREA, LIBRARY)

SHAW INDUSTRIES GROUP: CARPET TILE (OFFICE AREA, NOOK)

herman miller: CHAIRS (DIGITAL ROOM)

HALCON FUR­NITURE: TABLES

flos: CEILING FIXTURES

Interface: CARPET TILE

nienkamper: TABLES (TOUCH­DOWN, COFFEE BAR)

GALLOTTI&RADICE: CHAIRS (TOUCH­DOWN)

POIAT: CREDENZA

AREA ENVIRONMENTS: WALLCOVERING

flos: PENDANT FIXTURE

CASALA: CHAIR (NOOK)

cappellini: CHAIRS (BOARDROOM)

PRISMATIQUE: CUSTOM TABLE

CREATIVE MATTERS: CUSTOM RUG

Davis Furniture: BENCH

filzfelt: PANELING (MEETING ROOM)

Haworth: DEMOUNTABLE WALLS

Allied Maker: PENDANT FIXTURES (COFFEE BAR)

ARRMET: CHAIRS

MOSAÏQUE SURFACE: WALL TILE

STONETILE: VINYL FLOOR TILE

BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.; SHERWIN­ WILLIAMS: PAINT

Through Adaptive Reuse, Studio Alexander Fehre Turns Two Buildings into a New Facility in Germany

German corporations employ the highest number of engineers in all the European Union, which means they are constantly scouring the globe for qualified staff. So, how do they lure such specialized employees away from the competition? Perhaps by suggesting that, contrary to dour memes, the work life of an engineer in the Federal Republic is, quite possibly, fun.

“There’s a cliche of the German engineer toiling tirelessly away in a little chamber,” designer Alexander Fehre admits. Which is exactly the kind of work environment that the Studio Alexander Fehre principal and his team sought to avoid creating for Bosch Engineering GmbH, a developer of electronics systems for automotive and other applications, headquartered on a 108-acre campus in the southern German town of Abstatt.

Executives at BEG, a subsidiary of multinational technology giant Robert Bosch, asked Fehre to turn two of its buildings into a facility for special engineering projects that run for a few weeks or more. What they got was 48,000 square feet of flexible work space that combines the know-how of an established corporation with the dynamic vitality of a start-up, while infusing the whole with a spirit-lifting sense of play.

The two glass-and-steel buildings, which are about 330 feet apart, are both two stories high. One, known by its number, 204, is a new structure by WMA Architekten; the other, 301, was designed by SFP Architekten in 2004. Having previously conceived headquarters for another Bosch subsidiary, Fehre was already attuned to the conglomerate’s corporate culture and thus able to give the separate interiors a satisfying physical and psychological unity.

Splashes of yellow, shimmering metallic surfaces, warm honey-hued wood, and an abundance of car motifs feature throughout, lending the workplace an upbeat yet focused energy appealing to BEG’s high-profile clients ,such as Pagani, an Italian maker of limited-edition supercars that cost $3 million and more.

The combined facility, which brims with flexible furnishings, dozens of meeting-room iterations (in 17 enclosed spaces), and hybrid lounges (in airy, light-filled open areas on all four floors), provides satisfying transitions between a range of spaces, from studious work zones to convivial gathering spots. “The goal was an open, international feeling that points to very different projects from very different clients in Europe, America, Asia, and beyond,” Fehre explains.

The 2,600-square-foot lobby of 301, where an existing ceiling and some glass partitions were removed but the terrazzo flooring retained, now doubles as a showroom for products developed by Bosch, with a mini race car and a small helicopter among the projects on exhibit. MDF display plinths in reflective teal PVC and oak veneer are surfaces for both meet-and-greet beverages and gleaming engine parts. The dynamic zigzag geometry of the existing stair gains new prominence after its concrete stringers received a coat of glimmering blue-green lacquer. “It’s called flip-flop paint and comes from the car-tuning industry,” Fehre notes. “The color changes depending on which angle you look at it.”

Of all the enclosed meeting and work spaces, perhaps the most intriguing—and fun—is the computer lab, a 500-square-foot room with walls paneled in perforated aluminum that is backlit with LEDs. As staffers create desktop simulations of how BEG products might affect vehicle performance, they are surrounded by a dazzlingly pixelated environment that feels like being inside a supercomputer of the future. Or inside an engineer’s dream playroom of today.

studio alexander fehre: per hohberg; johanna pander; josse freund; magdalena paprotna; inna strokous

Baierl + demmelhuber: custom furniture workshop

jab anstoetz: rugs (community hub, hall)

gervasoni: chairs (hall)

heinrich schmid: paint (301 stair)

delta light: pendant fixture (yellow alcove)

westag & getalit: island laminate (kitchenette)

Haworth: chairs (computer lab)

thyssenkrupp: paneling

ecoline: leds

blå station: modular seating system, barstools

kvadrat: upholstery fabric

strähle: partition system

Dupont: solid surfacing

schöpfer: custom foil

alfred kiess: custom plinths

Interface: carpet tile

This Lounge Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Haworth is Perfect for Summer

Gensler Takes a Transparent Approach to Designing its Raleigh, North Carolina Locale

2021 Best of Year winner for Firm’s Own Domestic Office

Transparency in both the workplace and design is the governing precept Gensler took for its Raleigh-Durham office. The 6,400-square-foot, two-story studio, peppered with accents, such as the statement stair’s balustrade, in the signature crimson, has a ground-floor presence linking it to the street and celebrating pride of place. Not only do employees see out, encouraging strolls through the city’s green spaces to promote wellness (in fact, the five squares around which Raleigh was shaped—Union, Burke, Caswell, Nash, Moore—are the names of the conference rooms) but passersby are also able to peer in and see the creative process at work.

From the sunny entry vestibule to upper-level workstations, no space is precious, nor entirely fixed; collaboration-style furniture from the likes of Haworth and Humanscale can be moved to suit changing needs. The library, formerly hidden in the basement when the workplace was across the street, is now a showpiece, strengthening ties with vendors. Another standout is a double-height black-and-white graphic indicating growth potential in the various cities in which Gensler has offices. Raleigh’s trajectory, standing out as the sole streak of red, is surpassed only by Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Gensler: Chad Parker; Rob Allen; Jill Goebel; Adam Ruelas; Lindsey Thompson; Clinton Tsoi; Howard Man

Workstead Crafts a Unique Workplace for PMC in Raleigh, North Carolina

Multidisciplinary design firm Workstead—led by Stefanie Brechbuehler, Robert Highsmith, and Ryan Mahoney—was tasked with creating a Raleigh headquarters for workplace consultants and Haworth dealer PMC that served as both a workplace and a showroom. “One of our challenges was to create a space with an identity yet neutral enough to showcase different types of furniture,” principal Ryan Mahoney explains. An open floor plan was nixed in favor of an interconnected series of rooms for levels of privacy and enhanced collaboration. They aimed to boost productivity while mixing in some residential comforts and hotel-like amenities. Workstead used some of their own products, including Lodge lighting, alongside furniture by BuzziSpace and Menu. Curtains also help transform the space. “The window treatments create warmth and diffuse light,” Mahoney adds. The result is both intimate and functional, with the space fulfilling different needs. 

Interior Design Hosts 8th Annual HiP Awards at theMART in Chicago

Kicking off NeoCon 2021, Interior Design editor in chief Cindy Allen welcomed the A&D community back together at this year’s HiP Awards ceremony in Chicago—a true homecoming following countless virtual meetings over the past year and a half. After enjoying a pre-show cocktail or two, an intimate crowd of roughly 150 designers and manufacturers gathered safely at theMART Sunday evening to honor friends and colleagues during the eighth annual ceremony.  

“We’re back!” Allen said grinning widely as she took the stage and thanked theMART, event sponsors, and all those in the industry who made the event possible. Then the accolades began, starting with Product winners and capping off the evening with the hippest of the hip People winners, from Rising Stars to three Lifetime of HiPness awards. A chorus of cheers and applause followed winner and honoree announcements throughout the hour-long event, making the energy in the room palpable even to those viewing the livestream from afar.

“During the pandemic, the power of design in our lives became crystal clear to the world, so the awards were that much more meaningful—and a whole bunch of fun—to honor the hippest product and people in our beloved industry!” shares Allen, adding a “Hip Hip Hooray to all.”

A very special thank you to our HiP Awards SELECT sponsors who made this event possible:

A very special thank you to our HiP Awards sponsors who made this event possible:

A very special thank you to our HiP Awards award sponsor:

These Pale-Toned Products Make for a Serene Office Environment

These seven products with pale tones are a welcome addition to any workplace.

1. Jill Malek’s Halcyon Hillside TPO nonwoven thermoplastic olefin and recycled glass wallcovering by Carnegie Fabrics.

2. Radii painted-steel caddies by Allsteel.

3. LW ottomans in urethane foam and cotton-poly fabric by Okamura.

4. Kith and Kin textiles in polyester with acrylic backing and nanotechnology stain resistance by Designtex.

5. Daytripper Gallery Hop, Pop-Up Shop, Free Day, and Expo Hall broadloom and tile carpet in nylon by Bentley Mills.

6. BuzziCee seating in acoustic foam by BuzziSpace.

7. Compose Echo workstation system in fabric, steel, wood, glass, and markerboard by Haworth.