When international immigration firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP relocated its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan in 2019, its main charge to design firm TPG Architecture was to create a forward-looking, innovative workspace for its 483 employees
Spanning three floors at 1400 Broadway, the design celebrates a collaborative culture and the firm’s diverse employee base. Associates sit within an open plan, while partners occupy glass-front, shared offices on the perimeter. Meeting spaces include a training room and multiple conference rooms. The workplace includes open and closed booths, which provide staff with flexibility and choice in their working and meeting environments. In the event of a party or conference, the adjacent boardroom can be easily integrated into the reception area by opening the movable glass partitions.
Fragomen’s logo colors are blue and green, but the firm’s design committee did not want those colors to be taken so literally throughout the space. With that said, the design team took a macro view on this and used the planet earth from space as an inspiration for the color and texture to use throughout the space, which coincides with the fact that Fragomen is an immigration law firm.
The 10th floor’s main reception area was designed with hospitality touches, including a coffee bar. Furthering the firm’s ethos, the complementary statement rug in reception has a compelling philanthropy story. It was made in collaboration with Alpha Workshops, a nonprofit that provides decorative arts education to at-risk adults in the LGBTQ, HIV+/AIDS and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) communities.
One of the biggest architectural impacts is the Nana Wall moveable partition system that allows the boardroom and reception lounge to become one cohesive gathering space. It can also separate areas that now will help social distancing when associates return to work.
