Sanborn Head is an integrated engineering, science, and technical consulting firm serving private, public, and institutional clients in the development, energy, industrial, and solid waste markets.
Sanborn Head was seeking to consolidate their Concord, NH and Westford, MA offices into a central location to serve as their new headquarters. With programming and site selection starting during the COVID pandemic, the team understood it was important to create a new location that would bring Sanborn Head’s staff together. MP worked with a cross-functional team from Sanborn Head to determine what design aspects were important to attract staff back into the office after being remote for an extended period of time. Three key themes emerged: Culture, Collaboration, and Comfort.
Sanborn Head eventually secured a space in Bedford, NH to serve as their new central office. With their three guiding themes at the forefront of MP’s design, the concept of “tailored and organic, with a sense of humor” was established. Light materials were selected with pops of accent colors inspired by their branding colors. The space includes strategically placed fun environmental graphics representing Sanborn Head’s services. Plant walls bring life to the space and custom designed wood ceiling features define the lobby and employee hub. The selection of elements – lighting, flooring, acoustic paneling, and furniture – were motivated by the goal to create a sustainably designed and flexible workspace where employees have opportunities for focused work, serendipitous connections, and tech-enabled collaboration.
The space features an employee hub, open offices, private offices, huddle rooms, conference rooms, wellness room, learning center, copy/mail room, and reception.
Photography by Elisif Photography.
Audax Group is a leading capital partner to middle market companies. Margulies Perruzzi was brought onboard to provide design services for their office expansion at 101 Huntington Ave. This phased, occupied project included renovating 22,000 SF on the 22nd floor. An interconnecting stair was extended down to the 22nd floor to unite the new space with the rest of the existing office. The program includes a glass framed kitchenette and lounge, open area workstations, several perimeter offices, and a training room.
Photography by Elisif Photography.
MP provided design services for renovations and workplace strategy for Pegasystem’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA. The 4th floor expansion was part of a multi-phase construction project, allowing Pega to implement their new workplace strategy and create a technology-enriched executive briefing center, boardroom, and reception area. The design for the 4th floor fit-out addresses Pega’s desire to shift their workforce to an agile work environment to better support the way their employees work.
Multiple work points were deployed that support a variety of workstyles, including quiet, focused, and collaborative work. Wellness features were incorporated throughout the space, including vegetation, organic design elements, access to an outdoor patio, and sit/stand desking. Both digital and analog collaboration tools can be found throughout the workspace, improving their employee’s ability to collaborate from anywhere, as well as stay attuned with events throughout the Pega network of offices.
Sustainability
This project is certified LEED-Gold.
Avalon Bay’s move to the 20th floor of the Federal Reserve building was symbolic of the substantial success the company has had in the real estate investment market. Even with a high percentage of offices (versus workstations), leadership was committed to assuring that everyone had full visual access to both the harbor and downtown. This was achieved partly by creating a café immediately adjacent to the reception area, so that anyone entering or leaving the space could enjoy the window line. The adjacent training room has a moveable glass partition so full-company gatherings and hosted events can take advantage of the view.
One particularly striking design element is the treatment of the ceilings. To reinforce the size of the open spaces, ceiling clouds float below the exposed structure, creating a dramatic effect of height and a modern and elegant feel. Coupled with stunning artwork and graphics, sparkling light fixtures and subtle variances of color and texture, the result is a breathtakingly beautiful workplace for a company that values design.
Margulies Perruzzi completed renovations to create an Innovation & Conference Center for Boston Scientific Corporation, a global medical technology leader. The centralized training center creates a 20,000 SF area featuring state-of-the-art technology and interactive learning spaces to enable doctors and company employees to receive hands-on training and education about the company’s innovative devices.
MP converted existing office space into this multi-purpose training and conference center, including procedure rooms for simulated surgeries, large conference rooms with movable walls, an auditorium / theater, and amenity spaces. The center is designed to enhance the learning experience and create a stimulating atmosphere conducive to creativity and knowledge exchange. In addition to lead-lined walls due to the use of lasers, the procedure rooms have high-end audio visual equipment and cameras on pivot beams in each room so mock procedures can be filmed and broadcast for educational purposes.
The design of the space features the company’s branding. MP worked closely with a flooring vendor to create a custom designed carpet tile featuring strong blue and gray hues. Lighting was also a key component in the design. The light fixtures selected for certain spaces are low-profile and installed close to the ceiling, providing clear height in the rooms. This allowed MP to design unique layouts and designs to support the use of each space.
John Snow Inc. (JSI) provides research and consulting on healthcare to underserved people and communities around the world. MP redesigned their headquarters in Boston’s Seaport District to make better use of the space, converting the majority of large, private offices into flexible workstations. Additionally, MP identified the need for a welcoming common space and café.
The new design provides efficient space utilization and a flexible floor-plan that reflects how work is performed now and in the future. The reconfigured plan and new amenities add to the overall experience for staff and employees by providing the following:
Remaining offices have been relocated away from exterior windows to provide better access to daylight.
A new café is a significant upgrade that can now accommodate multiple uses.
A green, living wall is provided to promote a sense of well-being through biophilic design.
Updated mechanical and electrical systems provide greater comfort while also consuming far less energy.
Added a sound masking system to provide acoustical privacy in the much more open floor plan.
Photography by Elisif Photography.
As long-standing supporters of local non-profit, Boston Scores, MP was pleased to provide design services for a new headquarters for their youth programs and staff offices.
After searching and studying several different properties, the organization partnered with the Salesian Boys and Girls Club of East Boston to provide renovations to an existing to building to create a shared space. This new space will provide staff offices, as well as an area for youth programs and a coach training room. Additionally, the project includes placing several high-end soccer fields nearby, complete with restrooms, a playground, outdoor classroom, walking path, and parking.
The new home for the organization will enable Boston Scores to more than double the number of youth served while enhancing the quality of the programs provided.
Other improvements will include adding an elevator to the existing Boys and Girls Club building to provide inclusive access to all three floors. The parking lot will also be reconstructed to provide more environmentally friendly storm water management and increased activity spaces for the area youth.
Margulies Perruzzi was engaged to consolidate this client’s space from two floors to one, designing a more collaborative, team environment. The reconfiguration eliminated a communicating stair between floors 13 and 14 and created adequate space on floor 14 so that the client was able to sub-lease the lower floor. A large conference room opposite the main entrance was reconfigured into a new reception and waiting area.
The design team repurposed the infilled stair space, adjacent conference room, and two cubicle areas into an open collaboration space, a conference room, an all-hands meeting area, and large pantry. Striking red accent walls are an ode to the former large, curved glass stairway which provided access between the two floors. The renovation also created five meeting/huddle rooms, five offices, and two large conference rooms.
The elevator lobby was upgraded with textured panels, reflective ceilings, and linear LED lighting welcoming staff and guests to the new vibrant reception that celebrates views of Boston Harbor and seaport district. To update the office aesthetic, MP applied a new refreshed paint palette, new carpet, and wood tone LVT throughout. The renovation allowed for a contemporary and inspiring workspace for employees.
MP completed an office renovation for a confidential biotechnology research client in Cambridge. The project followed an extensive workplace strategy study to determine the best approach to a new hybrid work model. Workstations and offices that were previously permanently assigned to staff were remodeled to support a new, unassigned population, with a much higher presence of collaboration spaces. Administrative staff from multiple locations were joined together onto two floors, totaling 42,000 RSF, creating a unified office environment, as well as freeing up space in other locations for additional research opportunities.
AvenCell is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a broad pipeline of next-generation immunotherapy product candidates for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
MP provided design services for AvenCell’s new 30,000 SF lab/office space, relocating their facilities from Cambridge to Watertown. The lab spaces have a variety of flex labs, specialty labs specific to their science and tissue culture rooms. There is a major emphasis on allowing natural light to enter the space, which can be observed through the use of glass between the lab and office spaces. In addition to allowing light to filter into the space’s interiors, the glass provides a visual connection for employees.
The program for AvenCell’s new space included reception, café, open office, flex offices, huddle and conference rooms, boardroom, open lab, tissue culture rooms, lab support, and vivarium. In addition to Avencell’s space, MP provided design services for an additional 20,000 SF of sublease space.
