Meet 2023 Next Work Environment Competition honorable mentions in the Hybrid Work Environment category, Arcadis and their Appian submission.
We connected with Arcadis to see how their submission has evolved since entering the competition:
Arcadis: Design can offer spaces that foster interactions and encourage people to come in and use them, offering private, comfortable, and safe spaces for important conversations or open and engaging spaces for collaboration across the company. Appian’s new floor provides a variety of workspaces, including a clubhouse, terrace, and collaborative areas dispersed throughout the floor. The resulting office serves as an equalizer, incubator, culture center, and showroom for employees.
Check out the slideshow and summary of the submission below:
The design team built Appian’s McLean headquarters in 2019 to reflect a fresh, collaborative approach to office work while still reflecting its strength as an industry leader. As Appian continued to grow, they engaged the design team to create an expansion floor in the neighboring office tower. The newly designed headquarters offers various workspaces and collaborative areas equipped with glass markerboard walls, breakout booths with integrated AV, and project rooms with tiered seating. The space also includes a clubhouse, cafe, and terrace, outfitted with a colorful and sophisticated palette.
In keeping with employees’ desires in a post-pandemic office environment, the design strove to create an engaging and welcoming space through hospitality features, key brand elements, incorporation of nature, and flexible workspaces throughout. Elements of hospitality are displayed in the clubhouse, which features patterned flooring, panelized millwork, coffered ceilings, and custom curving banquette seating. The clubhouse and café open to a large outdoor terrace for work and social gatherings, creating a desired indoor/outdoor work environment. The café provides staff with snacks such as gourmet coffees and a frozen yogurt bar complete with dispensers full of cereal and other sweet toppings.
The corner of the clubhouse is anchored by a wooden “tree” with cascading layers of preserved moss. The tree’s canopy is made of acoustical and wood baffles with intermittent sparkle lights reminiscent of jars filled with fireflies, and the use of gobo lights gives the effect of dappled light through the tree branches. The clubhouse also has large picnic tables that offer “family style” dining and provide teams a place to meet and socialize. Another nod to nature is the “skylight” in the jewel box conference room off the reception area. The reception area has a custom faceted upholstered wall at the entry that serves as guest seating, conference breakout space, and a feature wall.
The new floor provides a variety of workspaces, including a clubhouse, terrace, and collaborative areas dispersed throughout the floor. These areas include glass markerboard “activity walls,” breakout booths with integrated AV, and project rooms with tiered bench seating.
Emphasis was also placed on ensuring the employees seated in this new space felt connected to and part of the company. To this end, the design team integrated elements from Appian’s newly revitalized brand throughout this expansion floor. Examples include the new logo as a life-size ‘a’ sculpture in the reception and its node pattern in the metal screen and metal flooring inset. To maintain a cohesive feeling, a similar color palette and finishes to the rest of the headquarters were used while creating a unique space with a hospitality look and feel. Employees from the other office tower are also welcome to utilize the expansion floor, further tying the headquarters spaces together.
Special thanks to our 2023 Innovative Brand Partners:
