Akerman @ Brickell City Centre
Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, moved its largest office to Three Brickell City Centre in Miami on the weekends of Feb. 13 and 19. Designed by Gensler and Akerman’s Visioning Team, the new office introduces a relatively new concept to the Miami legal market by incorporating intentional design elements that accommodate and reflect the existing and future needs of clients. The dynamic workspace is built upon the firm’s values and strategic priorities, and creates competitive advantage for the firm and its clients.
Vision & Key Themes
· Forward-thinking – employing the latest design best practices and integrating the latest technology
· Collaborative – contributing to the firm’s culture of collaborative innovation and ongoing R&D activities
· Flexible – supporting the ever-changing needs of clients with adaptable space
· Efficient – contributing to the performance and intensity of our professionals
“Akerman’s new space is designed to bridge the needs of today with the opportunities of tomorrow,” said Andrew Smulian, Akerman Chairman and CEO. “The changing law business has an insatiable need for new ideas, and we saw this project as an opportunity to reimagine not only where we work, but how we work. We turned concepts such as collaboration and transparency into convention, and created a working environment that is forward-thinking and efficient.”
Quick Facts
· Immediate Capacity for Growth: The new space is 110,508 sq. ft. and can accommodate more offices and more people. Occupying seven floors at Three Brickell City Centre, it provides Akerman an immediate capacity for headcount growth by as much as 10%. The increased capacity is the result of reimagining how Akerman lawyers and other professionals use their offices to work, collaborate, and ultimately deliver services to clients.
· Embracing Legal Workplaces of the Future: Akerman created uniformly-sized offices to maximize the efficiency of the office space and structure teams in a way that is even more nimble and responsive to changing client needs. This is a relatively new concept to the Miami legal market, but firms of size and distinction in other major cities are moving towards this innovative model.
· Direct Transit Connections: Three Brickell City Centre is the only office building in the Brickell area with a Metromover attached to its structure (Eighth Street Station) and Akerman will be the only law firm in the area with a Metromover station. This will be a major benefit to employees who commute to the office and who need to travel to various parts of the City during the day to visit the Courthouse and clients.
· Collaborative, Shared Space: Akerman developed shared, flexible space for different uses:
-Conference Center: Akerman built one of the largest private conference centers in Miami, with capacity to host meetings for up to 300 people, using the latest conferencing technology and retractable wall systems for maximum space configuration. The size of the conference center reflects the role of the firm in the market, with Akerman regularly hosting meetings for clients and community organizations throughout the year.
-Café: The Akerman Café is an integral part of the collaborative design by providing another comfortable space for diverse firm gatherings and face-to-face interactions. Located on the corner of the building’s top floor, the Café was designed to give all Akerman professionals a premium office view. This is a reflection of Akerman’s focus on the experience it provides to its people and its emphasis on shared space.
-Office Commons: Each floor has shared space for visiting professionals traveling from other Akerman offices or teams of lawyers working on a project or case. Akerman has hundreds of visits each year by lawyers and other professionals from around the country. Having them work in a solo office is a missed opportunity to make new connections and collaborate on important work. This is a potential game changer for the firm and its culture.
-War Rooms: Each floor will have War Rooms for private conversations and where teams can come together to collaborate.
– Coffee Bars: Each floor will have a public Coffee Bar for congregating and connecting over coffee.
· Climate Ribbon & Sustainability: The building is pre-certified LEED Gold and is one of 14 buildings across the United States where Akerman has offices that are LEED or Energy Star certified. Swire’s “Climate Ribbon” is an elevated trellis system that not only creates a comfortable microclimate for walkways and terraces, but also presents a holistic approach to water management and resource conservation.
“There is real value in having our law firm surrounded by the Climate Ribbon, one of the most stunning and innovative pieces of environmental architecture in North America. It reminds us what is possible when you dare to design new solutions to old problems,” said Smulian.
Akerman intends to use the Miami office as a model in other core markets. For example, Akerman announced last month that it is more than doubling its physical footprint in Chicago, after growing fivefold from eight to 45 lawyers in less than two years of the office opening. Many of the innovative aspects of the Miami office design will be incorporated into the Chicago space (Click here to view the Chicago press release). In New York, the second largest office in the firm, Akerman has grown to nearly 90 lawyers and other professionals, tripling headcount in just two and a half years and nearly doubling its office space, with three lease expansions since May 2013. The firm has already incorporated more collaboration spaces into the New York office and will continue to adapt the space as the firm grows.
About Akerman LLP
Akerman LLP is a leading transactions and trial law firm known for core strengths in middle market M&A, within the financial services and real estate industries, and for a diverse Latin America practice. With more than 600 lawyers and government affairs professionals and a network of 20 offices, it is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the United States by The American Lawyer (2015). Akerman also is ranked among the top 50 law firms for diversity in The American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard (2015).
