When Tonkon
Torp, the second largest law firm in Portland, Oregon, was about to renew
its lease for the first time in 20 years, it took the opportunity to improve
its space to reflect how the
firm has evolved. They wanted the new work environment to help ease the dynamic among the four generations of the 21st century workplace and their different styles and communication preferences.MulvannyG2's solution was to create an interior architecture that encourages communication, innovation and collaboration. A circular stairwell connects all three
floors to visually and physically connect people. Eight new community spaces were added,
converting closed partner offices into open, collaboration areas each with
their own distinct look and name. Interspersed
among the three floors, these open unscheduled spaces include a multi-purpose
room, a fireplace lounge , a ‘barista-staffed’ coffee bar, wellness room and a
park with a ‘living green wall’ that exhibit the firm’s brand value of sustainability, which is also reflected
in this project’s design to Silver LEED standards.
These casual spaces are flexible venues
for private client meetings and are designed to leverage the serendipity that
often occurs when you happen to run into a colleague. They help attorneys develop relationships and
shared knowledge with one another – the first step in offering clients a more
sophisticated level of service.