Solution Set: Forrest Solutions Group’s New Headquarters

Unveiling a larger headquarters in New York, the Forrest Solutions Group saw an opportunity to combine that corporate event with the launch of two revamped­ business units, FSS for staffing and recruiting and FSO for outsourcing. So the company’s owner, CEO, and official Chief Happiness Officer, Mitchell Weiner, turned to an experienced multitasker, the Spector Group’s Marc Spector, who had pulled off a similar feat for the iconic hotdog purveyor Nathan’s Famous. Asked for “a high-energy space to match Mitch’s type A personality,” Spector says, he came up with a scheme he calls “extreme elegance.”

White dominates the palette, punched up with the two brands’ colors, orange or blue. Laminated-glass partitions integrate­ logos and slogans or, left unadorned, front the private offices that ring workstations at the center of the floor plate, 20,000 square feet in a prewar building. Spector achieved further openness by exposing the ceiling, then enclosed all wiring in decorative beams and columns. Cutting-edge seating and slick porcelain floor tiles finish the look. “The space practically oozes Mitch. It’s an environment that really makes his employees want to come in to work,” Spector says. And they do-in droves. Since the move, the staff at headquarters has grown from 70 to 120.