Perkins&Will’s new Manhattan studio, located at Nomad Tower in Midtown, functions as an agile and intuitive space that is flexible enough to accommodate behavioral, cultural, and technological change in the workplace.
The 12,000-sf studio occupies the second floor of the building. The double-height space, originally intended for retail, includes oversized windows that help bring the activity of the outside city inside.
From the onset, the design team approached the studio with a mindset of experimentation and exploration. The studio’s flexibility allows the space to serve as a learning lab for experimenting with new work models and technologies in real-time. Unassigned workspaces are a key design feature that encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Seventy-foot pin-up boards and model-making and renderings displayed on digital screens celebrate and display the design process throughout the space.
The studio also incorporates things Perkins&Will has learned from experience with clients in the broadcast media industry. AV systems come with birds’ eye view cameras for real-time collaboration in meetings, drawing sessions, and cross-office broadcasting. Wiring was strategically placed for future reconfiguration of rooms, allowing for a variety of “plug-and-play” activities. Sensors in each room measure light, sound, temperature, and humidity while regulated clean airflow systems mitigate the spread of airborne pathogens.
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