"INTERIOR DESIGN: BEST IN DESIGN" FEATURE

“Organizational cultures are changing so rapidly that a 2011 office design can be rendered so obsolete by 2019. Case in point: A financial services company’s North American headquarters in New York. When Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects first worked on the firm’s six-story midtown office a decade ago, the design emphasized private offices and meeting rooms. Since then, open, collaborative layouts have become all the rage. Captain-of-industry lairs are out; sit-stand desks are in. So the firm had the architects back to redo two floors used by traders and investors. Led by Principal, Richard Kronick, and Senior Designer, now Associate, Philip Hall, the GKV team drastically reduced the number of private offices and added shared spaces like phone, huddle, and conference rooms. They removed allenclosures along the perimeter windows and installed rows of desks - giving more employees views of Central Park and the Hudson River. In the new floor plan, which accommodates an extra 126 workstations, concentric layers wrap around the building’s core, with private rooms at the center. This being 2019, it goes without saying that open pantries and colorful lounges areas came with the revamp.”