Sanborn Head

The work culture of this environmental engineering firm was central to the design of their new office space.

Location

Bedford, NH

Project Size

25,000 SF

About this Project

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.