For McAfee, a global leader in online virus protection, a new executive briefing center (EBC) at their world headquarters is a visually rich interactive environment designed as an exhibition and demonstration space to greet and entertain visitors, corporate executives, and potential clients. The EBC includes a two-story lobby, conference rooms, specialized “war room,” phone booths, and demonstration area.
For the global company, corporate branding of their facilities plays a crucial role in communicating the firm’s identity to visitors. Throughout, the design team paid close attention to McAfee’s brand guidelines—corporate color palettes, branded graphic imagery, and finish material choices were instrumental in shaping the final design concept. As part of the process of integrating corporate branding with the interior architecture, designers presented finishes and materials that were in line with, but re-envisioned, existing branding collateral. These selections were included in the final design and were incorporated into McAfee’s brand palette for facilities worldwide.

Completely designed and permitted for construction on the ground floor of the McAfee’s old headquarters, a decision by high-level executives to relocate the entire headquarters to a new mid-rise corporate campus forced a last minute redesign. The EBC project morphed to fit the second floor of the new campus and was completed on a very fast schedule— only eight weeks for design, documentation, and permitting followed by 16 weeks of construction (later shortened to 14 weeks by executives determined to minimize downtime related to the relocation).