‘Belonging’ has become one of the most important measures of workplace quality and experience, shaped less by what organizations say and more by how employees feel physically moving through the space and interacting with their colleagues. As many business leaders look for more meaningful ways to engage employees and bolster in-office presence, the office itself is emerging as an important way to reinforce that sense of belonging through design that fosters community and celebrates identity.
For legacy organizations or those with offices in historic buildings, design has a unique opportunity to strengthen that connection by bringing the history into the day-to-day — working with the office’s original architectural elements, archival materials, and curated company artifact collections to both reflect its evolution and ground it in a sense of place. When approached intentionally, the integration of these elements into routine workflows and patterns of circulation turns them from decorative afterthoughts to strategic drivers of how culture is felt and expressed within the workplace.
Creating Belonging Through Artifacts and Architecture
Artifacts help tell a firm’s story; spatial design shapes how that story is experienced. In older buildings, where closed floor plans and limited shared space were once the norm, circulation is the primary driver of connection, shaping how employees naturally encounter both culture and one another throughout the day. Amenities such as lounges, cafés, or coffee bars are often situated to draw people out from their desks and create this rhythm of movement.
Rather than separating moments of discovery from these moments of interaction, the most effective designs layer them into a single spatial experience. Artwork lining the hallway to the pantry or lighting cleverly positioned to spotlight the building’s original moldings invite pause and conversation in otherwise transitory spaces, while revealing pieces of the company’s identity and values. This strategy translates each installation into an active storytelling tool, turning the act of simply arriving at work into a grounded experience.
In buildings with protected or load-bearing structures, opening up sightlines and connecting fragmented programs requires a more considered approach. Rather than working against the architecture, architects and designers can look for opportunities within it. A dark, enclosed office in the center of a deep floorplate can become a meditation or prayer room, a dark corridor an illuminated gallery, and an old copy room a private phone booth drenched in a new color. This creative treatment preserves the building’s character with spaces that feel purposeful rather than improvised, while communicating to employees that their unique needs have been considered. That sense of consideration fosters inclusivity, reinforcing belonging by ensuring employees see themselves reflected not only in the culture, but in the spaces that support it.
Case Study: Herrick, Feinstein, LLP
The redesign of Herrick Feinstein LLP’s headquarters at 2 Park Avenue in New York City demonstrates how a legacy workplace can be reimagined through the dual lens of heritage and human connection. A multidisciplinary law firm with roots dating back to 1928, the firm renewed its lease in a pre-war building that needed meaningful updates to reflect its evolving culture. Central to the project was the firm’s own art and artifact collection, architectural etchings, historic photographs, original cornices, and sculptural elements, curated into a “gallery walk” extending from reception to the café. Positioned along a primary circulation path, these pieces transform the simple act of moving through the office into an encounter with the firm’s history, communicating its legacy and values without a word of explanation.
Building on that foundation, the design reworked underutilized areas of the existing structure to support greater openness and collaboration. Rather than overhauling the building, the approach focused on adapting what was already there, introducing lounge areas and a coffee bar that create informal touchpoints between client-facing and internal zones, encouraging the kind of unplanned exchange that rigid office layouts typically suppress. By bringing spatial design and cultural narrative into alignment, the project transforms the workplace into a cohesive expression of who the firm is and has always been.
Designing for Legacy & Culture
In an era where culture is increasingly difficult to define and even harder to retain, the physical workplace has emerged as one of the most tangible tools available to organizations. Historic buildings, often seen as logistical challenges, are in fact rare assets, spaces that arrive with character, depth, and narrative already embedded in their walls. The firms that recognize this are the ones turning square footage into something far more valuable: a reason to belong.
Editor’s Note: Chelsea Rowe is creative director at TPG Architecture.