O'Brien & Gere, Corporate Headquarters

O’Brien & Gere (part of Ramboll) was operating in a spread out, over-sized suburban office building. Moving to downtown Syracuse’s new Washington Station offered consolidation in the contemporary 6-story building located in a dynamic urban center, an attraction for employee recruitment and retention.

The design provides a collaborative environment to accommodate the diversity and flexibility of a multi-generation workforce with various departments’ functional needs. This contemporary functional space includes:

• An open plan supporting flexibility, communication, collaboration, and teamwork;

• Natural light and views equally available to all occupants;

• Classic contemporary, simple, unadorned yet dynamic aesthetic;

• Low- or non-partitioned offices and workstations at the perimeter windows with a circular organized core of support functions;

• Open monumental stair added for additional corporate connectivity;

• Multiple open and closed meeting/conference rooms and areas scattered about for easy meeting/group work facilitation; and,

• Large open multi-use area for lunch/break or large capacity gatherings.

A key component was OBG's commitment to sustainability, as a business in green energy markets. Through similar strategies developed for the core building design, the project achieved the tenant’s sustainability goals.