7 Firms Design Their Own Office
For flexible digs, top-level firms seek out their own talents.
1. Firm: Blaze Makoid Architecture
Site: Bridgehampton, NY
Standout: Forward-thinking amenities like standing desks, cafe-style lounges, and a conference room adorned with wall-mounted 3-D models contrast with remnants of the building’s industrial past.
2. Firm: M Moser Associates
Site: Hong Kong
Standout: Nature and vitality abound, thanks to warm wood finishes, foliage-anchored ergonomic desks, physical activity stations, and uninterrupted views of outdoor greenery.
3. Firm: Ike Kligerman Barkley
Site: New York City
Standout: All interior elements were spray-painted white, sans the mid-century classics and walnut bookcases that furnish workspaces demarcated by sheetrock partitions.
4. Firms: Retail Design Collaborative; Studio One Eleven
Site: Long Beach, CA
Standout: With all but one private office eliminated and a mezzanine walkway wrapping its perimeter, the open-air design boasts ample breakout spaces and an art-filled events space for nonprofits.
5. Firm: Woods Bagot
Site: New York City
Standout: Manhattan’s density—and its frequent exchange of ideas—informs the studio, which evokes downtown edge through unfinished concrete floors and refined finishes.
6. Firm: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Site: Philadelphia
Standout: Needing more collaborative zones, the firm gut-renovated a former Snellenburg’s and exposed cast-in-place concrete columns, forging a loft-like aesthetic across 18,525 square feet.
7. Firm: COOKFOX Architects Studio
Site: New York City
Standout: Three outdoor gardening plots, where staff cultivate vegetables to be enjoyed in the sunlit kitchen, helped the studio become New York’s first WELL™ Certified Gold Space.
