Title: Corning Optical Communications Headquarters
Location of Proejct: Charlotte, North Carolina
Project Completion Date: June 2020
Firm Name: Gensler

Short Description: While an industry leader, this confidential optical fiber company generally operates out of sight. Many of their most pivotal projects and developments escape the notice of both users and observers, playing behind-the-scenes roles in iconic inventions and major historic moments. When the time came for a new headquarters that could boost both employee recruitment and business development, the client knew the design of their space had to make the invisible visible and put the company's distinguished scientific approach on display.The design embraces maker culture and the arduously process of tinkering in a workplace that combines natural warmth with technological development.

Architect's Statement: Making the invisible visible: this is the foundational idea behind the new headquarters of this major optical fiber company. While an industry leader, this confidential optical fiber company generally operates out of sight. Many of their most pivotal projects and developments escape the notice of both users and observers, playing behind-the-scenes roles in iconic inventions and major historic moments. When the time came for a new headquarters facility that could boost both employee recruitment and business development, the client knew the design of their space had to make the invisible visible and put the company's distinguished scientific approach on display.

The design concept embraces maker culture and the arduously beautiful process of tinkering. The building is a living tour, with each floor branded around a division of the company. The design team intentionally exposed the ceiling and much of the architectural structure with an emphasis on keeping things raw, exposed, and transparent. A dramatic glass entry pavilion houses a maker space which puts the client's current work front and center. The floorplate itself responds to the life cycle of a project, as each floor features unprogrammed space where teams can set up informal scrums for as long as needed. A cafeteria at the lower level is crafted to function as far more than the eatery that its nomenclature prescribes; it is a space for collaboration and productive work as well as communal dining. Adding to the variety of this work ecosystem are a number of occupiable terraces that offer a connection to nature. The workplace combines natural warmth with the crisp sophistication associated with technological development - a rare but refreshing blend.

The office footprint is significantly lower than that of the previous space which was dominated by private offices, with only five percent of the new headquarters consisting of such spaces. Now, each employee has a sit-stand workstation, many of which are unassigned to enable freedom of movement and creative flexibility. A series of design solutions enabled the company to place inclusive gender-neutral restrooms alongside standard facilities in a shared portal.

The Workplace Performance Index Survey (WPI) formed the underlying data set informing the project. This company represents a unique convergence of scientific rigor and aspiration, so they based their new workplace strategy and design on the specific workstyles, needs, and norms that the employees themselves indicated in the WPI. Such data-driven design speaks to what puts this client on the frontier of technological advancement, and this curious, introspective, and outwardly transformational company now has the headquarters to match its inimitable ethos.