CLIENTNational Basketball Association

SERVICESBuilding Renovation, Interiors, Workplace Strategy

LOCATIONNew York, NY

SIZE180,000 sq ft, 8 floors

STATUSIn Progress

When the National Basketball Association (NBA) decided it was time to redesign and build their new headquarters, they turned to STUDIOS for help. Upon completing an extensive macro-programming and site search effort, it became clear that the best real estate strategy for the next 20 years would be a stay-in-place phased renovation scenario at their current location at 645 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. In three phases, STUDIOS would submit three separate design, filing, and bidding packages to best support the construction of their space while not creating a disruption to the day-to-day productivity of employees.

After determining the strategy to renovate in‑place, STUDIOS conducted an extensive micro-programming phase, engaging over 150 employees across 20 different departments in dozens of Goals & Visioning workshops in order to identify the special needs and requirements of various user groups.

The key takeaways from the programming phase were the need to achieve full density maximization of the floorplates, “Inspire Play”, and deliver a clean, light workspace.

Taking into account long-term projected growth, achieving maximum density within the workstation areas and balancing amenity spaces was critical to support users. Through a series of design decisions and architectural modifications to the building, STUDIOS was able to deliver a successful project that met the NBA’s goals. Enclosed columns were exposed to accommodate the length of six-foot long workstations, a thoughtful ceiling plan and removal of specific beams helped solve the issue of vertical clearance in many spaces, and programming amenities to the core allowed for open office volumes, all of which were key elements in reaching the targeted density numbers.

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With each floor at maximum density, STUDIOS began to think about how some of the larger amenity spaces could be designed in order to gain the most efficient use and avoid extended periods of vacancy. This resulted in a very flexible design approach to public spaces which could support multiple functions, such as the cafeteria doubling as a basketball court and the multipurpose room serving as a special events space for photo ops or E-Sports leagues.

The NBA’s strong desire to highlight the notion of “Inspiring Play” led to the design of an interconnecting stair that runs through the stack, stitching together the work floors to the community floors with the intention to encourage employees to get away from their desks and entice them to travel between floors. Supported by the prominently placed adjacent amenities, the interconnecting stair now known as the “Live Line”, gives a visual connection to the buzzing activity happening throughout the stack.

To fulfill the overwhelming request for a light, clean workplace, STUDIOS’ design maximized the available daylight and chose to use a great deal of white in the workspaces to create the feeling of a bigger, brighter environment.

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