Hendrick has completed the expansion of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation offices located in Atlanta, adding a variety of spaces for the philanthropic organization dedicated to creating sustainable and inclusive communities. The foundation invests in education, parks, and youth development, particularly in Georgia and Montana. For the Hendrick team, it was more than another project—the foundation’s work has a lasting impact. “This was a real opportunity for us to partner with this organization focused on making things better for a lot of people, and to create an environment that supports what they do,” said Chris Heard, principal at Hendrick.
While some companies are reducing square footage, the non-profit actually needed more overall area to accommodate foundation staff and their activities. “There are several different divisions, and at the time we were brought in to assist with the expansion, the organization saw an opportunity to grow the foundation segment. And that required them to have more space in which to house the administrative team,” noted Hendrick principal Stephen Wells.
Foundation employees are in the office regularly for meetings, with a need for a variety of areas to support large and small group collaboration. For this staff, a hybrid schedule would actually be ineffective because personal interaction, rather than virtual exchanges, are vital to long-term success. “Their work requires that people meet face-to-face, and the employees are in the office the majority of the week. While many companies now have employees sharing offices or workstations when they come in sporadically, here they needed to ensure that there was substantive space,” Wells explained.
Wells also noted that the original building, styled as a French Renaissance manor house, had limitations which they decided to complement rather than eliminate and start from scratch. “It has a very high-pitched roofline, and the infrastructure that supports the floors is within this attic-type space,” Wells said. “There were definitely some challenges with that, and we wanted to work with what was there because relocation was cost prohibitive.”
The designers call the update transitional, a melding of elements for more versatility. All of the office fronts, for example, feature metal and glass. “We started to figure out how to achieve that balance by blending some of the stylistic components within the existing corporate environments, like the windows and doors, things that have a traditional flair that we could give a little bit of a modern take. It was a good lead in, and from an aesthetic standpoint it still connects to what predated the expansion,” Wells said.
The addition of an extensive social hub was essential for the highly collaborative groups, designed to strengthen the bonds among the foundation colleagues. “They had small break rooms that didn’t allow for groups beyond two or three people. They were lacking areas where they could commune within the workplace. And now there are these spaces where impromptu connections or intentional meetings can happen,” Wells noted.
For Heard, the design is reflective of not only the foundation’s culture, but it also highlights the changes we began to see in the work arena even before the pandemic. “The building was completed in the 90s, and since then we have seen the evolution of corporate environments, from the change in work styles to the advanced technology. The current design was developed in support of their mission, and their passion dictates wanting to be together and to exchange ideas. I think we will continue to foster relationships,” he said.
Furnishings and the materials contribute to a lightness reminiscent of residential settings, with touches of hospitality mixed in. “They wanted to have a softer vernacular, one that feels like you are at home and can work in a different, more relaxed posture,” Wells explained. “It was really about providing a comfortable, welcoming space.”
Wells also noted that they were able to reset on a significant scale without having to sacrifice any of the style, carefully reviewing layout and dimensions. “Some of the offices that they had were not sized correctly and the workstations were too large. We evaluated where we might have opportunities to go in and redistribute the real estate to create better efficiencies in the open office that existed, modernizing it with better furniture solutions and work environments.”
With a systematic approach, the designers found more space—and more possibilities. “Anything can happen; you can begin your day with a cup of coffee and a quick chat with a team member, and then a couple of hours later, you are working on your laptop in a strategy session, coming up with the next solution. I think creating this type of workspace coming out of the pandemic, that allows for this spontaneous exchange of ideas, is one of the great successes of this project,” Heard added.
