Flexibility Informs Function at Berkadia’s Innovation Center
Architects typically shape spaces with walls, ceilings and other permanent structures. But when flexibility is the desired function, the form that follows must be elastic. So when architecture firm Meyer was hired to transform the shell of a former showroom into an innovation branch of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage while the office as we know it evolves, the team’s focus had to shift to furniture and fittings.
When Berkadia got in on the literal ground floor of 1900 Market St., a CoStar-designated four-star office building in Philadelphia’s central business district, its vision was to carve out a technology center distinct from its headquarters around the corner in Logan Square. The idea was to beckon innovative thought leaders and host events that galvanize creativity — without sacrificing space for impromptu “scrum” sessions.
Rather than scouting locations to help its client find the ideal setup for its operative demands, as it’s sometimes tasked to do, Meyer was brought on after a lease was signed at what Berkadia considered a perfect location. Berkadia found this space smack in the middle of its home city’s emerging “innovation corridor,” in a renowned building flanked by Comcast Technology Center, the Independence Blue Cross Center for Innovation (which Meyer also worked on), IBM, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, and a smattering of startups.
To fit-out the 14,500-square-foot shell, which had high ceilings but no exterior windows, Berkadia knew its design partner would also have to get creative to make the space warm and welcoming. With an exterior front glass wall that draws in light solely from the iconic building’s atrium, and by getting the most use out of the deeper area tucked back away from it, Meyers’ designers on the project said that working with the digs’ physical limitations was actually fun.
Building out the space was challenging, Meyer’s Principal and Corporate Practice Leader Debra Breslow told LoopNet. What helped, she continued, is that Berkadia is a “design-thinking” tenant at the forefront of emerging ideals for the built environment, who created this space, in part, to help the startups with whom it partners "redefine the commercial real estate” industry. “It’s like a dream,” as a designer, she said, “when the client wants to collaborate and brainstorm with us to help transform their vision into space.”
Despite the suite having no direct access to the outdoors, Breslow and team, which included Project Manager Jessica Nixon, made use of the natural light beaming in from the atrium to frontload the site’s open and airy collaboration spaces, meeting rooms, lunchrooms and reception area. They are all accessible from the courtyard patio at the entrance, which features greenery and even a koi pond.
Further back in the space, workers can do both scrum work, in which teams collaborate on agile project management functions, and also heads-down tech development tasks on their own. “When you're doing your focused computer work, you don't necessarily need to have that light," Breslow observed. "But when your body's feeling [depleted], you can kind of come back around and collaborate out in these open areas."
"There are certain rooms you can book in advance, but you don’t want to allow every last inch of conference room space to be reservable, because then you’re missing out on the spontaneous element that’s so important for innovation."
Jessica Nixon, Project Manager, Meyer
The real challenges came from having to take a space in shell condition and carve out a multifarious environment meant to cater to myriad functions in a time when workplace needs are rapidly changing, Nixon noted. “The space is big and open — we're talking 14-foot ceilings in some areas,” Breslow said, “but we didn't actually build any new walls; that was done in the original spec suite. Instead, we needed to use furniture to create a sense of scale, so we did that in a variety of ways. One is by using area rugs to define the individual collaborative spaces. Another thing we did was add some drapery to soften things a little bit and create different areas.”
The team refreshed the site’s existing conference rooms, shifting from the traditional table-and-chairs setup and instead gearing the rooms toward presentations, huddles and virtual meetings. Designers help enable the maximum functionality of those spaces by educating their clients, Nixon said. "A lot of it has to do with permissions," she said. "There are certain rooms you can book in advance, but you don’t want to allow every last inch of conference room space to be reservable, because then you’re missing out on the spontaneous element that’s so important for innovation.”
For the large, open areas, Meyer leaned on OFS’ Obeya system, pictured below, to produce delineation without having to build out structural walls and doors. OFS was still developing and rolling out office products meant to foster more space configurations and flexibility, and these “architectural boxes” came as “a terrific solution,” at a perfect time, Nixon said.
With Obeya, Breslow noted, you can create separate spaces from one big component, via a double-sided laminate wall — enclosed, yet porous — with useable, whiteboard functionality on the surface. “You're not touching your ceiling, you’re not touching your sprinklers, because it's completely open,” she said, “and you can add curtains” to further demarcate the arrangement as a meeting area or focused collaboration space. The structure itself is relatively lightweight and can be moved around, which is especially important if you’re not building walls, but rather continually adapting the “real estate” of the space you have to work with.
Most of the furniture in the space, in fact, is moveable. The front area, dotted with Haworth seating, benching and workstations on wheels, can be easily expanded or contracted to accommodate larger meetings simply by rearranging the furniture, Nixon explained.
As Meyer continued crafting the space, manufacturers were continually bringing other new, emerging products to the market, such as acoustic-focused furniture pods and two-person meeting booths, both part of OFS’ LeanTo line, which is designed to accommodate workers stepping aside for a video call, conversation or private work session. “These pod pieces are wrapped in felt, and it really does help muffle sound,” Breslow said.
The pandemic prompted an extra push for adaptability in the space, Breslow continued, but it didn’t fully precipitate it; demand for more flexibility had been a long-time coming for Berkadia. “Workers in the United Kingdom, for instance, aren’t as hung up on who has an office and who doesn’t, and with more mergers and integrations of different types of workforces and different groups of people, such as those from Generations Y and Z, who are used to learning in more open and collaborative environments, the type of real estate hierarchy that Americans are so adherent to is eroding more and more.”
Much of the thought that goes into developing and programming real estate decisions, especially for offices now, she continued, is being done among a more diverse set of decision-makers, and even more early on in the build-out process. “So many organizations, no matter what you say, have their own personalities, almost like a family. Because of the sensitivity, we’re often finding ourselves meeting with human resources departments, innovation teams, facilities heads and real estate folks from headquarters — all while making sure that leadership is on board.”
“Before, we’d hear, ‘we need six offices, five workstations and a couple of conference rooms,’ and go from there,” Nixon concluded. “Nowadays, we’re making sure that we engage with so many different folks to make sure that their vision is really aligned with what the tools and the objectives of the space are, to really bring that to life with tools and solutions the teams can really use.”
