This Financial Office Emulates Working From Home
When you walk into the eighth floor suite of New York’s 119 Fifth Ave., you may not think you’ve entered the office of a financial firm. The anything-but-traditional office feels more like an apartment than a workspace.
“You come off the elevator, and right off the bat you’re in a large living room setting,” says Alexandra Cuber, director at New York-based architecture firm Fogarty Finger and the lead architect for the project. “The client wanted to feel like he was working from home—in an office, but not in a commercial, cold corporate environment. His vision was to create a town house experience rather than an office.”
The wealth management firm occupying the space chose to leave its previous home at 9 West 57th St. for something more down to earth, opting for this three-star, historic cast iron building in the Flatiron District.
To create a comfortable atmosphere that still offered the functionality of a workplace for the firm’s eight employees, Cuber’s team outfitted the 8,750-square-foot space with numerous inviting lounge and collaboration areas that flow as they would in a residential home. The large main library provides a place for employees to do their regular readings with comfortable furniture and a custom library table, which allows the foyer to also serve as an informal work and meeting space. Several other “living rooms” offer a variety of informal workspace options throughout the office.
A kitchen area and coffee niche serves as a spot for downtime or meetings. “[The founder] wanted people to have a place where they can have lunch or connect and collaborate in an informal way,” says Cuber. “There is a table in the pantry kitchen with built-in games, so you could sit and play with a coworker over lunch—I think it’s a neat moment where I felt like he tried to push the envelope.”
The original historic features of the building influenced both the warm aesthetic of the office and its layout, which affords an intentionally large space ratio per employee.
“The space already had great bones and a charm to it that attracted the client,” says Cuber. “The best features created some of the biggest challenges for us to tackle.”
Soaring 16-foot ceilings open up in the reception and lounge areas, while offices were placed where heights were lower. Wood-framed Parisian windows that open to Juliet balconies line the building’s façade—an element the designers wanted to celebrate. Lounges and workstations are situated along the perimeters so as to not block the windows, while offices and conference rooms are central. Two conference rooms, a large and small size, flow directly off the main library area.
The financial firm’s lease on the space included a subtenant, so the team had to design around 12 additional employees sharing the space.
“We laid out the whole space so that the subtenant didn’t have to go through the client’s office and it was easy to share,” says Cuber. “We created a corridor that was like a tunnel, and had a muralist create an immersive art experience. Every moment in this office creates an experience.”
Custom blackened steel and glass office fronts with pivot doors sit across from the open workstations and lounge spaces to open up the room and accentuate natural light. Two large vaulted skylights flood the main space with even more daylight, a feature that Cuber says “defines the room.”
The design team also restored and refinished the building’s original elevator frame. Furnishings were done by local interior designer Kevin Dumais, who chose modern pieces in earth tones to bring warmth to the office.
CoStar’s estimated rent for this building is $60-74 for a modified gross lease.
