empire state building
creating a dynamic work environment
LinkedIn’s New York City office is located in the city’s center within the iconic Empire State Building, a historic host to the global brand’s almost eleven floors, making it ESB’s largest tenant. Our design strategy and programming commenced prior to the 2020 pandemic, and after extensive utilization studies recorded by M Moser’s Workplace Strategy team. Without knowing what was to come, we intuited a shift away from obsolete design standards toward a flexible model prioritizing choice, and celebrating connection, collaboration, and wellness.
Three years, 160,000 sq-ft. Dream Team: Architects M Moser and Design Republic; Brand/EGD by Acrylicize; Furniture by Inside Source, Lewis Stevenson; GCs L&K Partners and JEF; Project Management by Avison Young
“getting back into the office has been a game changer in feeling connected to the people and culture, especially with these stellar new workspaces.”
- LinkedIn employee on opening day
Lounge Collide sip
Amenities are not new to tech company cultures, but our team began to question how each program type served the social and functional needs of a hybrid workforce without compromising design. Some spaces combined the comforts of home with advanced technology and acoustic privacy, while others offered colorful pitstops along low to medium foot traffic corridors. In order to attract and corral the collective campus, we designed a secondary barista bar on our highest floor, a Venus flytrap of buzzing activity, named after ESB’s own designated zip code: Ten Eleven Eight.
design as storytelling
Reflecting company values and weaving in representations of the local culture and art is an approach to brand storytelling called “Uniquely LinkedIn”. While one can find the LinkedIn blue manifested in various graphics, bespoke installations, and logos, diverse color palettes alter the experience of each space. The third floor reception is a modern arrival with warm tones to welcome visitors, and a three-dimensional graphic backdrop embodies the city’s iconic signage and LinkedIn’s mission and values. Alternatively, in elevator banks on new floors, local artists were commissioned to create memorable and unique arrival experiences as an abstract form of wayfinding. Custom wall installations transform utilitarian corridors into company values features, and elegant wall graphics provide colorful backgrounds for VC meetings.
choose your own space
In the pre-COVID utilization study, we learned the top performing amenities across eight floors were the 3rd floor café and the 26th floor library. The café, Five Points, is the hub of activity from bi-weekly All Hands to lunch rush hour to constant team events; it is the most social and energetic space in the campus.
The 26th floor library was tucked away on the quietest floor (engineering), the perfect location for undisturbed focus. This data revealed a spectrum of needs programming could and should respond to, such as segregating heads down spaces from high collaboration and high volume forums. The truth we arrived at is understanding the glorified 1-to-1workstation was no longer the most valuable and coveted asset in workplace design.
Well, well, wellness
Achieving LEED Gold and 2 Star Fitwell on the most recent campus floors was driven by an emphasis on employees returning from a global pandemic to a safe work environment; one that considered not only their physical health, but their mental wellbeing and sense of belonging.
A three-room focus zone on floor 15 offers hybrid employees a place to be undisturbed (even hidden) from the meeting heavy culture, or from their own home environments. The 28th floor barista bar is equipped with powered furniture so users can utilize the amenity for productivity all day. A new and improved relocation of the Wellness Studio offers opportunity to build endorphins, stretch out, or take bonding exercise classes with teammates. And 360 degree views allow natural light to penetrate through neighborhoods and perimeter spaces for wellbeing.
