British Consulate

New York, NY
40,000 SF
Completed 2014

The U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office in New York has been our client since 1999. A major project for this client has been a master plan for 40,000 square feet of space for their Consulate at 845 Third Avenue in NYC. After preparing and presenting the master plan, we were asked to commence implementation by preparing 5,000 square feet of the space for use by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the office which assists UK based businesses in international markets and encourages companies to do business in the UK.

A major challenge in this phase of the work was to happily accommodate 50 workstations in 5,000 square feet of open space, thereby replacing perimeter cellular offices. To do this, we designed five spines of ten person work stations along the long axis of the space and left ample room in between the spines for circulating and congregating and we provided all fifty work stations with natural light.

Another challenge was to ameliorate the noise which would ordinarily have resulted from fifty desks in one space. We did this by way of the space’s only wall which we incorporated into a new assembly to both absorb ambient sound and control reverberation. The assembly includes 50% noise transparent metal mesh screens set on a five degree angle and noise absorbing material. We designed Union Jack graphics for the metal mesh screens which creates a dynamic and patriotic effect of a long series of fluttering flags. The custom designed carpet tile further contributes to noise control and adds to the signature expression of the space.

In addition to the design challenges, there were administrative obstacles. The fiscal year was near its end at which time all funds not used for the project would disappear and London required a time consuming competitive bid process for the construction. Further, UKTI’s work, upon which the success of the London Summer Olympics would depend, could not be interrupted. The way we resolved this tangle of problems, was to suggest to our client that they retain a construction manager for procurement and to competitively bid the project at the subcontractor level. That satisfied London’s requirement for a competitive bid and allowed procurement and use of funds before the fiscal sunset. To avoid interrupting the critical work of UKTI, we used our masterplan and the services of the construction manager to relocate UKTI to temporary work spaces. Our expertise in working with the NYC Department of Buildings, enabled us to obtain approvals and permits rapidly. The project was completed on schedule and within the $1,000,000 budget.

We worked directly with and were required to satisfy the needs of four entities of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office: the New York based Deputy Director of Corporate Strategies and Services, the New York based Facilities Manager, the London based Senior Project Manager, and the New York Deputy Consulate General.

After the UK Trade and Investment staff, who had vocally opposed giving up their cellular offices for open space seating, settled in to the new space, and word got out, all the other departments at the Consulate, still in their once fiercely guarded and cherished cellular offices, begged for the same. And, on subsequent site visits, we were greeted like royalty.

For another project at 845 Third Avenue we redesigned the Consulate General’s 2,000 square foot reception area. One piece of this project addressed the cumbersome space-consuming moveable wall system for the flexible conference rooms. We dismantled it and its associated bulky door closets and installed a sleek easy to operate acoustically isolating Nanawall system that reused the steel structure.

Collaborators: Loring Consulting Engineering, Rudin Managemant, LSL Construction, Cambridge Architectural, Commercial Furniture Interiors, + Nanawall Systems