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Pops of color complement the prevailing neutral palette of the space.

a 14-person boardroom, 26 work suites of varying sizes offering by the building’s muscular interior steel structure. “Woven
a total of 568 workstations, as well as common areas, circulation textiles with houndstooth and check patterns suggest fine,
spaces, eating areas, bathrooms, and other support spaces. The tailored garments and offer a sophisticated layer of softness and
large meeting rooms are on the facility’s lowest level (the 4th femininity, along with blonde wood, burnt orange, and subtle
floor), minimizing time in elevators for groups coming to the pops of red, reminiscent of lipstick,” the firm said. “Millwork
building for larger meetings. The work suites are situated along details draw inspiration from retail display cabinets and
the south and east perimeters of the 5th and 6th floors, where evoke Garfinckel’s reputation for service, while accent lighting
they benefit from daylight admitted by the regularly spaced grounds the user experience on a human scale.”
windows running along those two sides of the building. Two The design “is comprised of a collection of jeweled private
central atriums that run up through the building—a feature moments and curated vignettes” the architects continued.
of the building’s original department store design—bring “Throughout the space, there are elements of grandeur yet
additional light into the interior parts of each floor. intimate moments that focus on the human scale. Lighting
FOX’s design for the project repurposed and upgraded and datums [key design lines] create a layering of the space
an existing straight stair linking the 5th and 6th floors, and that emphasizes the [building’s] grand structure while
inserted a separate new U-shaped stair linking the 4th and 5th accent lighting highlights more intimate and private settings.
floors. The resulting arrangement—two stairs that are separated The warm palette combined with fine texture and intricate
by a short horizontal distance and are roughly at right angles workmanship contrast with the heavier architectural bones of
to one another—helps enliven circulation through the space. the space.”
The carefully designed new stair serves as a key element in When asked about her favorite elements of the design,
the facility’s overall scheme—a “jewel within the space,” as McEnroe cited the color palette and the new stair. “There’s a
McEnroe put it. level of sophistication that [the palette] brings to the space
Soft colors, lighter wood tones, and slim furniture and while still feeling light, bright, and inviting.” The new stair’s
fixtures create a design of airiness and delicate elegance that exposed structure, meanwhile, “contrasts with the surrounding
reads as a light intervention in an existing space characterized softer spaces,” while the rounded corners of its landing “break
32 A FASHIONABLE PLACE TO WORK