Sasaki
The client mandate to “Build with Light” begins at the front door
As the world’s largest developer and producer of lamps and lighting systems across many applications, OSRAM is a leading technology company in the Boston area. With the move of their Americas R&D Headquarters to 130,000 square feet in Wilmington, MA, the company brought together research and development, business units, sales, administration, and customer operations under a single roof for the first time, in an effort to break down barriers, foster greater communication and collaboration, and to clearly communicate the depth of their work and expertise in a LEED Gold environment.
In addition to solving challenges around natural light and communication in an atypical building, this effort had three primary goals: develop innovation synergies and processes by co-locating groups; realize significant real estate efficiencies by moving to new workplace standards; and develop a work environment that is consistent with OSRAM’s culture, serving as a tool for recruitment and helping to communicate the company story and mission to its customers and staff.
The new two story lobby connects client meeting space, labs, showrooms, and training facilities, illustrating the complete OSRAM story
Entering the main lobby is to enter a “ray” of light. The visitor is surrounded by dynamic shape, and color, including 250,000 LED’s in the ceiling.
Existing in their original space for decades, a department focused workplace had become ingrained in OSRAM’s culture with divisions spread across three different sites. The new headquarters brings OSRAM together, focusing on its synergies between people to create a highly dynamic and efficient work environment where everyone is part of the bigger picture. Central to this is the front door and lobby experience: a collection of labs, showrooms, and client focused meeting spaces all immediately visible from a two story lobby and pre-function space that link all stages of their innovative process and put it on display for all to see.
Collaborative space surrounds by OSRAM LED technology starts the “ray” and draws the eye from the front door
Use of glass and multi-story spaces connects engineering to sales to meeting space around the central lobby
Necessary enclosed program elements, such as engineering, were packed tightly against the central core, pushing individual work areas to the perimeter to maximize access to daylight
As well as being attractors to collaborative space, the “rays” sub-divide open work space, creating more human scaled neighborhoods
As the “rays” extend beyond the core, their openness and transparency becomes more pronounces until they reach the perimeter as open collaborative spaces
“Rays” are branded throughout the space as a means of wayfinding
In addition to work space, the “rays” contain the social spaces on each floor to strengthen their role as attractors
Necessary enclosed program elements, such as engineering, were packed tightly against the central core, pushing individual work areas to the perimeter to maximize access to daylight
As well as being attractors to collaborative space, the “rays” sub-divide open work space, creating more human scaled neighborhoods
As the “rays” extend beyond the core, their openness and transparency becomes more pronounces until they reach the perimeter as open collaborative spaces
“Rays” are branded throughout the space as a means of wayfinding
In addition to work space, the “rays” contain the social spaces on each floor to strengthen their role as attractors
The design of the entire space is emblematic of the OSRAM story and one of its core mottos, “OSRAM is Light.” Throughout the office, light is used to organize space and create an environment that dissolves barriers between business units and enhance connections. Necessary enclosed program elements are packed tightly against the central core, pushing individual work areas to the perimeter to maximize access to daylight. This dense center is metaphorically cracked open, allowing the energy and vibrancy to radiate out to the floors through rays of light. These rays subdivide the floors into distinct neighborhood zones, reducing the scale of the open office areas. In turn, the rays also serve as the gathering zones and collaboration points, featuring all of the conference rooms, open meeting areas, and pantries. These spaces became shared, rather than dedicated.
Conference rooms adjacent to the entry lobby
The design team used The Collaboration Survey to identify which departments in the organization worked together most closely. They could then locate critical connections near each other in the design.
The project incorporates as much OSRAM product into the design as feasible
A multi-story ray becomes the lobby and entry sequence, providing clear views and connections across all groups, with access to labs, showrooms, client meeting spaces, and administrative groups, signifying the new, fully unified company to staff and customers alike. Entering this space from the front door is to essentially walk into a ray of light, with the user surrounded by OSRAM LED technology in a bright, dynamic environment, moving beyond the traditional methods of storytelling such as monitors, super graphics, and display cases, and using light itself as a building material.
For more information contact Victor Vizgaitis.
Sasaki's Victor Vizgaitis contributed an article to the New England Real Estate Journal (NEREJ) offering insight into how suburban office design can be informed by another familiar suburban fixture: the college campus
