LOWE WORLDWIDE, a London-based advertising agency, had a tough go of it for many years, going through a string of mergers, as well as layoffs, from which it was slow to recover. As recently as 2006, the agency’s finances were “in the basement,” according to Mark Wnek, the chairman of Lowe New York.
Then things began looking up. New management came in about four years ago and brought along a change in philosophy. Figures improved and new business came knocking.
Proof of the fresh start can be found in Lowe New York’s new open space on the western edge of SoHo. The space was designed by Charles Patten, an architect with Spacesmith who has been Lowe’s architect for 20 years, over many moves and mergers. It occupies 44,000 square feet on the second floor of 250 Hudson Street, in a former print shop.
Lowe New York had 75,000 square feet at its former offices in the Mobil Building on East 42nd Street, where it housed the same 225 employees it has now, according to Sal Taibi, the president of Lowe New York. The move downtown was completed in November; a part of the third floor is occupied by the international division.
Mr. Patten received suggestions from Mr. Wnek about using color — along with a request for an open work area that was the opposite of that of the former location, where everyone had an office or a cubicle. That style was “gigantic, Midtown conglomerate,” according to Mr. Wnek, and not the “small, nimble, highly creative ideas company” that Lowe wanted to become.
“There was a huge dissonance between what we knew we were becoming and what we wanted to become,” Mr. Wnek said. He wanted a set-up that would engender “the architecture of participation.”
“We wanted to stop our business practices from being so linear,” he said.
From a rectangular footprint that had the elevators at its core, Mr. Patten designed a space that puts visitors into the action the moment they enter the 45-foot-long reception area. Banquette seating with bright, striped cushions is used in a pit configuration that is created by the two-foot elevation of raised flooring that was added to accommodate wiring.
In front of the banquettes, metal stools in white, red, yellow and turquoise, and bright, tulip-shaped canvas wing chairs provide a foil to the concrete floor, white walls and wood particle board on the exterior walls of the conference room. Anyone walking onto the floor has an unobstructed view of staff members busy at their workstations, of open meeting areas and of other casual seating areas scattered throughout.
“We wanted people to walk off the elevator and feel the energy of the agency, which you didn’t get before,” Mr. Patten said.
The open feel is enhanced by the low bench-like configuration and low partitions of the workstation system, called Net ’n’ Nest, designed by Vitra, a company based in Switzerland. The desks are divided by low, upholstered partitions that provide privacy and absorb the sound of conversation. They can be easily removed or slid along the desks to accommodate as many workers as necessary within a space.
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“It’s great if you want to increase the number of employees in the same space,” said Jo Kaiser, a managing director at Vitra. The desk/workspace modules are also easy to move to a new location, he said.
The system allows Lowe to add freelancers when work requires them. At the same time, furniture can be arranged to meet requirements of different projects, Mr. Patten said.
Net ’n’ Nest provides each employee with a personal set of desk drawers that can move along with them. Called a “Follow Me,” it has wheels and a strap for easy portability.
Colored panels and doors on storage units are interchangeable, allowing employees to personalize their space or department. The only private office is reserved for Mr. Wnek. It is furnished with a ’60s-era pit-style sofa, with one wall covered in metal for magnets. It has a sliding barn-style door, and the exterior is made from the same wood particle board on the exterior of the conference room.
Privacy issues for the rest of the staff are addressed with a variety of solutions. Mr. Taibi, for example, works with an assistant in one of two structures called “huts,” wood-framed configurations resembling a Japanese temple and covered on two sides with a white textile that filters out the sun. The other hut is home to the agency’s strategic planning department.
A number of Vitra furniture set-ups designed for privacy are available to all the staff members, like a fanciful red alcove couch with high sides that create a box-like unit when two are placed opposite each other. Employees use these for impromptu meetings, private conversations and phone calls.
Lowe Worldwide is a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, whose 2008 profit more than doubled, to $265.2 million, from $131.3 million in the previous year. Revenue rose 6 percent, to $6.96 billion from $6.55 billion.
Founded in London in 1981 by Sir Frank Lowe, who left the agency and started a new one in 2006, Lowe currently has clients like Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Electrolux, Outback Steakhouse and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lowe executives also wanted an element of whimsy in the design scheme that goes beyond the funky pieces of high-backed furniture and colorful acoustical panels, or “clouds,” that hang from the ceiling. To that end, Mr. Patten, the architect, added a wall of blue plastic bristles with video monitors mounted on it, a foosball table and a line-up of gumball machines. It’s all anchored by a turquoise, flying-saucer-like couch.
Then things began looking up. New management came in about four years ago and brought along a change in philosophy. Figures improved and new business came knocking.
Proof of the fresh start can be found in Lowe New York’s new open space on the western edge of SoHo. The space was designed by Charles Patten, an architect with Spacesmith who has been Lowe’s architect for 20 years, over many moves and mergers. It occupies 44,000 square feet on the second floor of 250 Hudson Street, in a former print shop.
Lowe New York had 75,000 square feet at its former offices in the Mobil Building on East 42nd Street, where it housed the same 225 employees it has now, according to Sal Taibi, the president of Lowe New York. The move downtown was completed in November; a part of the third floor is occupied by the international division.
Mr. Patten received suggestions from Mr. Wnek about using color — along with a request for an open work area that was the opposite of that of the former location, where everyone had an office or a cubicle. That style was “gigantic, Midtown conglomerate,” according to Mr. Wnek, and not the “small, nimble, highly creative ideas company” that Lowe wanted to become.
“There was a huge dissonance between what we knew we were becoming and what we wanted to become,” Mr. Wnek said. He wanted a set-up that would engender “the architecture of participation.”
“We wanted to stop our business practices from being so linear,” he said.
From a rectangular footprint that had the elevators at its core, Mr. Patten designed a space that puts visitors into the action the moment they enter the 45-foot-long reception area. Banquette seating with bright, striped cushions is used in a pit configuration that is created by the two-foot elevation of raised flooring that was added to accommodate wiring.
In front of the banquettes, metal stools in white, red, yellow and turquoise, and bright, tulip-shaped canvas wing chairs provide a foil to the concrete floor, white walls and wood particle board on the exterior walls of the conference room. Anyone walking onto the floor has an unobstructed view of staff members busy at their workstations, of open meeting areas and of other casual seating areas scattered throughout.
“We wanted people to walk off the elevator and feel the energy of the agency, which you didn’t get before,” Mr. Patten said.
The open feel is enhanced by the low bench-like configuration and low partitions of the workstation system, called Net ’n’ Nest, designed by Vitra, a company based in Switzerland. The desks are divided by low, upholstered partitions that provide privacy and absorb the sound of conversation. They can be easily removed or slid along the desks to accommodate as many workers as necessary within a space.
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
Advertisement
Continue reading the main story
“It’s great if you want to increase the number of employees in the same space,” said Jo Kaiser, a managing director at Vitra. The desk/workspace modules are also easy to move to a new location, he said.
The system allows Lowe to add freelancers when work requires them. At the same time, furniture can be arranged to meet requirements of different projects, Mr. Patten said.
Net ’n’ Nest provides each employee with a personal set of desk drawers that can move along with them. Called a “Follow Me,” it has wheels and a strap for easy portability.
Colored panels and doors on storage units are interchangeable, allowing employees to personalize their space or department. The only private office is reserved for Mr. Wnek. It is furnished with a ’60s-era pit-style sofa, with one wall covered in metal for magnets. It has a sliding barn-style door, and the exterior is made from the same wood particle board on the exterior of the conference room.
Privacy issues for the rest of the staff are addressed with a variety of solutions. Mr. Taibi, for example, works with an assistant in one of two structures called “huts,” wood-framed configurations resembling a Japanese temple and covered on two sides with a white textile that filters out the sun. The other hut is home to the agency’s strategic planning department.
A number of Vitra furniture set-ups designed for privacy are available to all the staff members, like a fanciful red alcove couch with high sides that create a box-like unit when two are placed opposite each other. Employees use these for impromptu meetings, private conversations and phone calls.
Lowe Worldwide is a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies, whose 2008 profit more than doubled, to $265.2 million, from $131.3 million in the previous year. Revenue rose 6 percent, to $6.96 billion from $6.55 billion.
Founded in London in 1981 by Sir Frank Lowe, who left the agency and started a new one in 2006, Lowe currently has clients like Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Electrolux, Outback Steakhouse and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Lowe executives also wanted an element of whimsy in the design scheme that goes beyond the funky pieces of high-backed furniture and colorful acoustical panels, or “clouds,” that hang from the ceiling. To that end, Mr. Patten, the architect, added a wall of blue plastic bristles with video monitors mounted on it, a foosball table and a line-up of gumball machines. It’s all anchored by a turquoise, flying-saucer-like couch.