Why Hyatt Designed Its New Headquarters To Feel Like Its Hotels

Photo: Rafael Gamo]

When I get off the elevator, I’m not sure that I’m in the right place. I cannot tell if the receptionist is a receptionist, or just someone who’s decided to work at the marble end of a long, wooden communal table. I cannot tell if I should have brought marshmallows to roast s’mores at the fireplace. I cannot tell if this is actually Hyatt’s global headquarters, with 1,100 people working around the corner. Because at this moment, I feel like I’ve stepped into a high-end hotel. And of course, that’s entirely the point.

Chicago-based Hyatt has spent the last month moving into its new location in Chicago’s downtown Loop. Designed in a collaboration with global architecture firm Gensler, the new space isn’t just built to enhance the boilerplate corporate ideals of flexibility and cross-team collaboration. It’s actually modeled to give Hyatt employees a taste of the hotel experience Hyatt designs for its customers.

The office is modeled after Hyatt’s own seven “touch points” of the hotel experience: arrival, social spaces, drinking and dining, guest rooms (in this case, those rooms are “work suites” for teams of 12-20), activities and services, meetings and events, and departure.

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