Renderings of the new Quartz office
They will undoubtedly change, but here are the plans
Quartz is moving to a new office in New York. We’re documenting it here because many of our questions apply to other startups. Our introduction explains more about what we’re up to. Follow our publication for updates.
The design of our new office is coming together. We previously shared our architects’ inspirations and initial visions for the space. Now we can show you the renderings of Quartz’s future headquarters. These images were recently presented to the staff by Katherine Chia of Desai Chia Architecture.
First, a reminder of the layout. We’re leasing half of the fourth floor of 675 Avenue of the Americas. Staff enter from the elevator bank that’s toward the top of the floor plan. Desks consume the middle of the office. The yellow areas are what Kathy is calling the “Quartzy spaces,” where staff can work on their own, meet in groups, or something in between. The blue areas are private meeting rooms, phone booths, and other closed spaces.
Most of the Quartzy spaces are defined by a plywood frame weaving around them from one side of the office to the other. The frame doesn’t go all to the way to the ceiling, and it has cutouts for peeking into the spaces and the rest of the office. One side is painted black, the other left natural.
The reception area is intended to greet visitors and staff but avoid isolating the employees who sit there. (We’ve made some tweaks to this arrangement since this rendering was completed.) The Quartz logo, in our traditional white-on-black style, dominates the “entry moment,” as Kathy puts it. Portholes in the wooden frame allow us to see people arriving. We may also use Envoy or a similar system to ease the process of receiving guests. And a Nest cam pointed at the door can serve as a backup when no one is there.
Staff will likely go straight through the entryway and to their desks in back, but a number of other communal spaces in front are intended to break up the space and provide relaxing places to work. To the left of reception is the new home of the Quartz Café, for coffee, cocktails, and more.
The office will have two kitchen areas. This one is intended more for communal beverages and hanging out. We like good coffee, and as Kristin Oakley wrote, we’re planning to upgrade the standard brew in the new office while also bringing over the more advanced paraphernalia that some people like to use throughout the day. Chalkboard paint on the wall will make it easier to share instructions and other tidbits.
Our tradition of Friday cocktails, which Jenni Avins mentioned in her post on Quartz culture, will likely migrate to the Quartz Café. The space can also become the spot for one-on-one meetings that don’t need to be private, or to bring over your laptop for quiet work away from the desk area.
On the other side of reception, to your right when you arrive in the office, will be the library. The primary function of the space is to serve as a waiting area for guests, but it seems like a great opportunity to showcase the guilty pleasure of many employees at our digital media company: print.
Beyond the library is the workshop. This space is intended to provide a creative outlet for the makers and aspiring makers on staff, with Legos, whiteboards, and whatever people decide to build there. It might also be a good spot for the daily standup of the design and development team.
The last Quartzy space in the renderings is the town hall. Most of the time, it’s a place for eating lunch, hanging out, or working alone. But it can also be transformed into a meeting space for the entire staff (we call those town halls) or large segments of it (our weekly editorial meeting, for instance).
Wooden bleachers line three walls of the town hall. Decorating the walls are shelves that mimic the style of the existing molding, a nod to the building’s history as an early 20th century department store, Adams Dry Goods. The architects envision that staff could use the shelves to display items collected from travels abroad or when visiting headquarters from offices overseas.
There are a few other notable spots around the office, including a seating area running along the beautiful southern wall, but these are all the renderings we have right now. Plus, these plans are likely to change—some already have—as they run up against realities like budget, construction, and so on. We’re expecting to be working on the space even after we move in.
