Tommy Bahama’s new 120,000-sf Seattle campus has a design focused on user experience and was inspired by the company’s ethos to “Make Life One Long Weekend.”
The open, casual setting has spaces that feature a natural material palette and rich textures such as woven fabric wall coverings and rough-honed stone. A “grand boardwalk” organizes the space and draws guests from the main lobby and reception to the showroom, mock store, and collaborative workspaces. Casual seating areas line the boardwalk and provide opportunities for informal gatherings.
Photo: Magda Biernat.
Workspaces have been designed with flexibility in mind so users can tailor the environment based on departmental and team requirements. The reception area and amenities are located on an intermediate level of the HQ’s four floors to ensure employee interaction and social engagement.
The company decided to lease the floors for the headquarters space in the base of the office tower as opposed to the upper floors in order to create and reinforce physical and visual connections to the community. Breakout and workspaces were designed around large four-story light monitors with access to the market hall at the base of the building to encourage gathering.
Photo: Spencer Lowell.
Each floor has its own coffee bar and a 1,000-sf café on the main level opens out to a 1,500-sf roof deck. The office’s customized workstations feature sit-to-stand desks, ergonomic monitor arms, and task lighting.
The building team includes SkB Architects (interior architecture and interior design), MKA (structural), Lima (lighting), GCH (landscape), Stantec (acoustical), Commercial Office Interiors (furniture procurement), University Mechanical (mechanical-plumbing design-build), Veca (electrical design-build), Skanska (contractor).
Photo: Magda Biernat.
Photo: Magda Biernat.
Related Stories
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Oct 18, 2013
Sustainability expert: Smart building technology can have quick payback
Smart building technology investments typically pay for themselves within one or two years by delivering energy savings and maintenance efficiencies.
| Oct 14, 2013
How to leverage workplaces to attract and retain top talent
Just about every conversation I have related to employee attraction and retention tends to turn into an HR sounding discussion about office protocols, incentives, and perks. But as a workplace strategist, I need to help my clients make more tangible links between their physical workplace and how it can be leveraged to attract and retain top talent. Here are some ideas.
| Oct 10, 2013
Carnegie Mellon study looks at impact of dashboards on energy consumption
A recent study by Carnegie Mellon took a look at the impact of providing feedback in an energy dashboard form to workers and studying how it impacted overall energy consumption.
| Oct 9, 2013
SOM gets second crack at iconic modernist structure in New York
More than 50 years after SOM completed the Manufacturers Hanover Trust building, the firm is asked to restore and modernize the space.
| Oct 7, 2013
Nation's first glass curtain wall exterior restored in San Francisco
The Hallidie Building's glass-and-steel skin is generally recognized as the forerunner of today’s curtain wall facilities.
| Oct 7, 2013
10 award-winning metal building projects
The FDNY Fireboat Firehouse in New York and the Cirrus Logic Building in Austin, Texas, are among nine projects named winners of the 2013 Chairman’s Award by the Metal Construction Association for outstanding design and construction.
| Oct 2, 2013
Corporate HQ in 10 months made possible with BIM coordination
An integrated Building Team uses BIM/VDC to convert a 1940s-era industrial building into a flashy new headquarters for Hillshire Brands in a matter of months.
| Oct 1, 2013
13 structural steel buildings that dazzle
The Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., are among projects named 2013 IDEAS2 winners by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
| Sep 24, 2013
8 grand green roofs (and walls)
A dramatic interior green wall at Drexel University and a massive, 4.4-acre vegetated roof at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in Kansas City are among the projects honored in the 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence.
