WHETHER YOU’RE languishing in a plastic cubicle several floors below the executive suites or trying to navigate the tube slides and trampolines of a Silicon Valley startup, workplace options seem to range from soul-crushing to stroke-inducing. But in a boutique financial firm in Midtown Manhattan, Deborah Berke—dean of the Yale School of Architecture and founder of an eponymous architecture and design firm—created a combination of structure and comfort that transformed the view from the water cooler from flat to sparkling.
“On the spectrum between Google’s open office with foosball tables and Park Avenue law firms with senior partners in the corner offices, I think this space is exactly in the middle,” Ms. Berke said of the 10,000-square-foot workplace. The client wanted “a sense of transparency and community balanced with a respect for privacy and concentration, and a non-hierarchical, less corporate, more residential look that would still feel dignified.”
Communal spaces include a fully-stocked lounge and library that provide a variety of environments and experiences, including relaxation, a notion borrowed from the dot-com world, without being slouchy or juvenile.
Sweeping glass walls rather than solid partitions separate rooms. The glass that demarcates individual offices is covered with sheer curtains to provide privacy without alienating anyone—even in the partners’ offices, none of which are sited in corners. The design honors the team. “It says, ‘If you work here, we work together, aiming for the same goals, and your opinion matters,’” said Ms. Berke.