Photo Credit: All photos by Garrett Rowland
Ted Moudis Associates designed the new Manhattan headquarters of securities and banking firm Mizuho Americas. The workplace, located in Rockefeller Center, supports an energetic, collaborative atmosphere and reflects the company’s culture and new hub in America, while thoughtfully paying homage to its Japanese roots.
The architects started the project in 2016, with a study of the 294,746-square-feet of office space over five floors, and how the employees function. “We were probably programming for a good four or five months, and a lot of that was based on departments. Previously, the teams were working in separate buildings throughout the city, and now they were all coming into one space,” said Rachel Robinson, studio design principal, Ted Moudis Associates.
It was important to make sure that Japanese and American influences were subtle, never overt. Interviews with executives from both countries revealed that they wanted their cultures respectfully represented. “We integrated the inspiration, from the profiles we created to the material selection,” explained Kelly Lawlor, senior designer, Ted Moudis Associates.
The rich materials chosen include wood, bronze, glass, and satin lacquer. Wood is prominent, bringing nature into the building, while complementing the fixtures and furniture throughout. “The wood and its different tones is really about the sophistication of the palette,” Lawlor added.
The signage is a blend of contemporary and traditional. The lettering and motifs are based on kanji, the logographic characters used in Japanese writing. A member of the branding team versed in the script provided guidance, so letters are not a literal interpretation, but echo the calligraphic lines. “Each sign was developed in-house. There’s just a little curve on the end of every element, and that was the kanji influence,” noted Robinson.
A nod to the company’s work, a glass wall of rotating binary code that translates to “One Mizuho” greets visitors upon their arrival via escalator to the second floor. The code is found on the other glass panels in the office, not only used as a decorative element but to meet the code which requires distraction markers on the glass in commercial buildings.
The second-floor lobby has a glass viewing box, through which the trading floor is visible. Giving guests the opportunity to see the activity in real-time was devised as a means of experiencing the energy of the trading while still adhering to critical security protocols. “If you’re visiting, you can see everything that’s happening without being on the trading floor, to maintain security and privacy,” Robinson said.
A striking bronze staircase with marble tread allows staff to progress seamlessly from the second to the third and fourth floors and stay connected in the large office. Set against a backdrop of wooden slats and moving lights that mimic the fluctuations of the stock market, it is also a focal point. “The light fixture helped with the flow between those three floors. It keeps movement in the space continual and the design active,” Robinson added.
A morning brief room transitions into a café area, which is a central locale in the office. The staff has meetings early in the morning, part of their daily ritual, so the architects envisioned a flexible space that could accommodate a range of work or leisure activities, depending on company needs. “The original idea was that the café was specifically for that morning meeting, so there’s an audio-visual wall there for presentations to colleagues. It’s really a true multipurpose space though, that can be configured for town halls or events. Everything in that room is moveable,” Lawlor noted.
Lawlor said the view of Radio City Music Hall is an added bonus that makes it the ideal location to have lunch, while fostering camaraderie. Coffee bars were purposely put on the other floors so that people would come to that main hub for lunch. “It was meant to be a destination, not just a spot. It’s for a new way of working, a place where everybody can come together,” she added.
Teamwork has become even more important to the company, and collaboration zones are incorporated at the corner of each floor to allow for breakout meetings. It is hoped that these areas will encourage the generation of creative ideas, which is not the first thing that comes to mind when imagining the role of a trader. The designers were intent on providing those key sectors, so that cooperation will eventually become an endeavor that takes place naturally in the workplace.
The traders are, surprisingly, big fans of snacking, with dry cereal as the nosh of choice to keep them fueled during the day, which the architects deftly used to their advantage. “We tried to keep those breakout areas near where they would get their coffee, because it was a great opportunity for them to have an alternative place to work for a bit if they didn’t want to sit at their desks. It was a shift for Mizuho, and fun for us to come up with a solution that encouraged a sense of community,” Lawlor said.
Yet, there are also spaces designated for quiet moments, including a mix of prayer and wellness rooms, essential interiors in a high-pressure environment where both physical and mental health need to be considered.
Mizuho staff moved in last February just as the pandemic hit, but the building is well-equipped for COVD-19 distancing guidelines, with wayfinding and touchless technology. “They had directional signage throughout the space, so people knew where to go and how to move. All of the fixtures had sensors already, so they were up to date. They didn’t have to change much at all,” Robinson explained.
While they wait to fully return to their new headquarters, the employees already have more than a workspace. It is a place that celebrates diversity, and that’s what makes it most successful. “It was about combining all of these elements to create a design for a high-tech, modern company in America, but still have that reverence for Japanese style and culture. It’s a very interesting marriage,” Lawlor said.