Heineken USA Headquarters redesign emphasizes employee interaction

Heineken USA’s headquarters at 360 Hamilton Avenue in White Plains, N.Y. consolidates Heineken offices from two other locations into one, primary location.

Spector Group, the primary interior architect for the redesign focused on two main improvements with the redesign: the expansion of the company’s bar and social zones and the enhancement and densification of the existing 60,000-sf bi-level space. “Creating an open and collaborative environment was our primary goal for Heineken’s new office design,” says Scott Spector, AIA, a Principal of Spector Group, in a release.

Employees and guests enter the building and are immediately greeted with a palette of simple raw materials. These materials are offset by modern design elements located throughout the expansive bar, “insperience” hub, and reception area. Large interactive screens and the experiential bar design highlight Heineken’s innovative company culture.

As part of creating a new open work style, the dedicated office spaces were converted to meeting and team rooms. A centrally located café is meant to increase the sense of community among employees. Platforms at the base of the intercommunicating stairway, which was altered to make it more open, provide casual breakout spaces.

The completed headquarters redesign, according to Ron Siesser, Senior Director of Human Resources, Heineken, USA, reflects the company’s “commitment to being a social, communal, and, most important, fun portfolio of brands.”

Photo: Garrett Rowland

The Harvard studies on the unintended effects of open office defines it as space where 'one entire floor was open, transparent and boundaryless… [with] assigned seats,' and the other had 'similarly assigned seats in an open office design, with large rooms of desks and monitors and no dividers between people's desks.'