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.
The Jewish Community Center of Newton asked MP to develop concepts that would make the building both more welcoming and more secure. Our design features a renovated entrance and reconfigured lobby that includes expanded gathering areas around a fireplace. The new seating opens toward new windows looking at a landscaped courtyard, and includes a small shop, donor recognition walls, and stepped amphitheater seating. A major programmatic addition is a demonstration/teaching kitchen adjacent to a small café area overlooking the swimming pool. An entirely new security sequence increases JCC’s ability to easily allow badge-carrying members through security while helping appropriately screen visitors, whether individuals or large groups.
This relocation is the result of United Way reimagining how to best utilize their downtown Boston location. With so many staff working off site at events or mostly at client locations, United Way decided to relocate to a smaller, more compact suite at 9 Channel Center in South Boston. United Way partnered with Margulies Perruzzi to design a workspace that would transition the organization from assigned seating to free address, while also making the new suite more efficient.
A large conference space was designed with a moveable wall to allow the space to be used for multiple functions. It can be used as meeting space, as a large workspace for assembling member material packages, or it can be opened for use as a larger space for all-hands meetings. Compact storage is also provided nearby to streamline material assembly.
Any existing construction was retained and reused to as great an extent possible to preserve capital. A single new workstation type is used throughout the office suite in order to enhance their use by anyone. Physical separations between workstation areas were not used in order to preserve flexibility and to enhance communication.
Huddle rooms are provided in quantities to reduce conversation in the free address areas, thereby reducing crosstalk. Open space with moveable furniture is also provided that can be used for meetings or for multiple activities where flexibility is important.
Photography by Elisif Photography.
For over a century, The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has helped drive economic growth throughout the region while building a vibrant business community of 1,500 organizations of varying size and industry by offering strategic networking opportunities, public policy advocacy, and leadership development.
The GBCC was evaluating new office space and hired Margulies Perruzzi to assist them in weighing options for staying or relocating. A primary driver for new office space was the ability to host events in their own space and to offer touchdown workspace to their business members. The GBCC’s move dovetailed with their broader effort to reshape their image through the rollout of a new brand identity and website. The GBCC ultimately chose to relocate to a higher floor within their current building. The new space offers them increased natural light and sweeping views of the city.
The new workplace design offers the GBCC several advantages over their previous space, both for members and staff. GBCC staff can easily reconfigure the public event space to suit their event needs. By collapsing a glass wall, a corner conference room can be subdivided from the space. When an event is not in session, staff and GBCC members can use the dining area or soft-seating collaboration space. Telephone closets adjacent to the event space allow attendees to discretely step away and attend to pressing business. The furniture can be arranged for classroom style lectures, theater-style seating, or emptied for networking events.
In the office area, the GBCC’s purpose statement is prominently visible and strategically placed at a height visible above the cubicle walls. In their new space, staffers enjoy modern workstations, informal collaboration space, and sit-to-stand desks.
The GBCC’s new brand image is prominently featured throughout the new space through the incorporation of new video displays, brand colors, as well as mission, purpose, and logo wall graphics.
The Boys and Girls Club of Boston provides youth with enriching opportunities to help reach their potential. Their new location at 200 High Street is comprised of three smaller, combined suites. Given their non-profit status, the BGCB retained Margulies Perruzzi to not only provide them with an impactful workspace but to also do it as economically as possible.
MP reused much of the existing construction while also deploying a vibrant color and finish palette as well as branding intended to connect visitors and staff to the mission of the organization. Meeting spaces were provided in sizes that best accommodate how the BGCB actually works. The new workspace provides an environment that is welcoming to both visitors and staff.
