Completed 2020
6,500 square feet
Commercial fit-out

Photography Credit: Chuck Choi

When Mexico-city based Orbia was planning their New England headquarters office, they looked to OEA to transform a bland 1980’s-era spec office space with a terrific view into an environment aligned with their corporate values and new visual identity. The program for the 6,400 sf leased office space included multiple-sized meeting and classrooms and work space for thirty five employees. 

A four foot tall continuous window runs the one hundred seventy five foot length of the space on one side, with a spectacular view east over the Cambridge reservoir. The design sought to capitalize on this window and view,  and to modulate the long space into a series of work environments of different scale and character. The existing carpeting was stripped, the structural slab polished, and the metal deck and ductwork exposed and sprayed with acoustic insulation to maximize the ceiling height in the low-ceilinged space.  

Two curvaceous lounge pods divide the long space into a reception area and two primary work zones - their shape a subtle reference to the Orbia brand mark. The slatted maple screens of the pods define informal meeting and lounge spaces, the slats creating varying degrees of transparency and enclosure for different modes of working. The slatted walls dip and bend, encouraging movement from one space to the next, and allowing glimpses from one space to another. 

Rather than clutter the space with multiple desks, individual work areas are organized into two long work tables with a pale gray matte linoleum surface. A one hundred foot long desk surface along the window - also in linoleum -provides additional work space and reflects light into the room. Eight meeting rooms of varying sizes and a fifteen person workshop line the interior perimeter of the space. These meeting spaces are organized around a twenty foot long central kitchen meeting table that becomes the hub of the office space. A classroom at the far end houses a seminar-style learning classroom for forty people.