The project defined
Given its criticality in the global financial infrastructure, the brief for the new CLS headquarters in New York was particularly demanding. The facility would require extensive redundant systems such as a fiber optic network with dual points of entry and dual back-up generators. Technological infrastructure required also included a rooftop GPS aerial, and support for an in-house operations center that would be manned and running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
CLS selected M Moser Associates to deliver the project on the strength of several factors, one of which was the firm’s ability to undertake design, engineering, planning, IT and construction into a single integrated project delivery (IPD) process. Using equally integrated, cross-professional teams, M Moser’s holistic approach enables project activities to be tightly coordinated and optimised to the client’s goals, leading to potential savings in time and money without a corresponding loss of quality.
Design follows function
Concurrently, M Moser designer Rebecca Wu Norman was collaborating closely with CLS teams in New York and London to evolve the office’s interior. Her starting point was the client’s need to move away from their previous, cubicle-style workspaces to a more open, flowing environment that would encourage collaboration and improve flexibility.
Accordingly, most CLS staff work in airy, open-plan areas from simple, versatile bench-style workstations, with only vestigial partitions separating inward-facing rows. Enclosed spaces such as executive offices are located intermittently along the edges of the floor plate, their transparent fronts allowing natural light to flow through to the interior of the space. Formal meeting rooms were clustered around the reception zone, while additional areas for ad hoc conversations were designed into the office’s relatively large staff café.”
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