The asset management giant BlackRock has released images of the interior design for its 120,000-sf Innovation Hub in Atlanta, which BlackRock moved into two years ago. That design, a collaboration with Perkins&Will’s studios in Atlanta and New York, is the first project in North America to follow BlackRock’s global design guidelines, which the design firm authored. P&W’s Branded Environments team also provided BlackRock’s Global Signage and Brand guidelines for environmental applications.
The office is located in midtown’s 725 Ponce development along the Atlanta BeltLine and across from the Ponce City Market. Brent Capron, interior design director at P&W’s New York office, calls this space “a testament to [BlackRock’s] long-term commitment in the city and its workforce.” BlackRock revealed its plans to expand into Atlanta with a new Innovation Hub in October 2018. At the time, it had 15 employees in the state, and its plans called for hiring up to 1,000 workers by 2024, according to various news reports at the time. The Wall Street Journal reported then that BlackRock would use $25 million in public tax breaks in support of its Southern expansion.
DESIGN ENCOURAGES COLLABORATION
The two-floor Atlanta iHub will eventually expand to four floors to accommodate BlackRock’s intended recruitment. Three core themes—the porch, the festival, and the crossroads—drive iHub’s design concept:
• The end of each floor has its own dedicated “porch,” with individualized murals and design expressions. The porch is meant to be where employees from both floors can congregate, as well as host clients and guests;
• P&W has positioned iHub as a place that fosters idea exchanges. These “crossroads” also are meant to reflect (or at least suggest) Atlanta’s role as a transportation nexus that includes America’s busiest airport;
• Spaces that encourage impromptu meetings and collaborations also capture the “festival” design theme that echoes Atlanta’s culture and past. These areas are distinguished by flexible spaces, furniture, and lighting.
ART EXPRESSES A LOCAL POV
Perkins&Will and BlackRock’s art curator Susan Frei Nathan engaged local organizations and artists to introduce an urban perspective into iHub. Artwork, in particular murals, tell unique stories about the city’s history and culture. Local artist Peter Ferrari created a frame and outline with employees invited to paint a small section each, further reinforcing a sense of communal ownership over the new office.
Rugs with their own origin stories specific to Atlanta adorn the office’s reception areas. The design team explored ways to celebrate the city’s long history of quilters, engaging local guild, the Brown Sugar Stitchers, whose chosen quilt design was used as the pattern generation and manufactured locally for the throw rugs in reception. “It was crucial that outreach to local creators and artists be not only proactive but extremely thoughtful and representative of Atlanta's identity,” says Jeanette Kim, senior project designer at Perkins&Will’s New York studio.
iHub is targeting LEED Gold certification.
Related Stories
Seismic Design | Feb 27, 2023
Turkey earthquakes provide lessons for California
Two recent deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria offer lessons regarding construction practices and codes for California. Lax building standards were blamed for much of the devastation, including well over 35,000 dead and countless building collapses.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Feb 27, 2023
New 20,000-seat soccer stadium will anchor neighborhood development in Indianapolis
A new 20,000-seat soccer stadium for United Soccer League’s Indy Eleven will be the centerpiece of a major neighborhood development in Indianapolis. The development will transform the southwest quadrant of downtown Indianapolis by adding more than 600 apartments, 205,000 sf of office space, 197,000 sf for retail space and restaurants, parking garages, a hotel, and public plazas with green space.
Retail Centers | Feb 24, 2023
Santiago Calatrava unveils plans for a luxury retail and office complex in Düsseldorf, Germany
Renowned architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, along with the CENTRUM Group, has unveiled plans for Calatrava Boulevard, a luxury retail and office complex in Düsseldorf, Germany. Running parallel to Königsallee and connecting with the Steinstrasse station, Calatrava Boulevard will incorporate and connect to the boulevard’s existing buildings.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Feb 16, 2023
Insights from over 300 potential office-to-residential conversions
Research from Gensler finds that, surprisingly, the features that result in an unpleasant office often make for a superlative multifamily product.
High-rise Construction | Feb 15, 2023
Bjarke Ingels' 'leaning towers' concept wins Qianhai Prisma Towers design competition
A pair of sloped high-rises—a 300-meter residential tower and a 250-meter office tower—highlight the Qianhai Prisma Towers development in Qianhai, Shenzhen, China. BIG recently won the design competition for the project.
Office Buildings | Feb 12, 2023
Smyrna Ready Mix’s new office HQ mimics the patterns in the company’s onsite stone quarry
Designed by EOA Architects to showcase various concrete processes and applications, Smyrna Ready Mix's new office headquarters features vertical layering that mimics the patterns in the company’s stone quarry, located on the opposite end of the campus site. The building’s glass and concrete bands are meant to mirror the quarry’s natural contours and striations.
Office Buildings | Feb 9, 2023
Post-Covid Manhattan office market rebound gaining momentum
Office workers in Manhattan continue to return to their workplaces in sufficient numbers for many of their employers to maintain or expand their footprint in the city, according to a survey of more than 140 major Manhattan office employers conducted in January by The Partnership for New York City.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2023
GSA releases draft of federal low embodied carbon material standards
The General Services Administration recently released a document that outlines standards for low embodied carbon materials and products to be used on federal construction projects.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Reconstruction Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. building reconstruction and renovation sector
Gensler, Stantec, IPS, Alfa Tech, STO Building Group, and Turner Construction top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest reconstruction sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.