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The Future Is Calling

Vonage looks ahead at a central New Jersey headquarters by HLW

C. C. Sullivan -- Interior Design, 5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Mention Vonage to the telecom-savvy, and you'll get an earful about bringing phone service through the Internet's fat pipes. To many others, however, Vonage simply means that color. The young tech company's brash tangerine graces an avalanche of ads and mailings, so one might understandably envision headquarters as a landscape saturated with Pantone number 021.

Quite the contrary. Vonage has ballooned from a 50-head start-up to 1,400 employees and 1.7 million customers in five years. But as the Wall Street Journal recently proclaimed, 35-year-old CEO Jeffrey Citron is now toning down. His new 350,000-square-foot headquarters—four white brick buildings set amid farm stands and McMansions in Holmdel Township, New Jersey—presents an unlikely oasis of high- tech civility, courtesy of HLW.

As with the lone corporate flag flying over the generous lawn, orange appears only in choice spots for a "strategic pop," HLW design director Kimberly Sacramone explains. "It's so vivacious, ideal for accents."

A few orange columns and a swath of orange-spotted carpet mark primary pathways, which unify each sprawling floor plate. "They create neighborhoods," Sacramone notes—not to mention high-traffic locations for flat-screen displays looping Vonage propaganda. The circulation routes are echoed overhead by faux-maple plank "boardwalks," a reference to the Jersey Shore.

Where the buildings intersect, double-height lobbies raise the eyes to cylindrical pendant fixtures. "The ceiling plane became the main organizing element," Sacramone says. "You could really sink your teeth into that." Curved canopies of white-painted perforated aluminum break up large office areas into pods, dampening noise and bouncing light from linear fluorescent fixtures.

Universal layouts require everyone to inhabit humble cubicles. Engineers and top executives share efficient double workstations with scooped maple desk surfaces, curved and eased at the edges. Net-backed task chairs are no-nonsense but comfy.

Vonage's lifeblood runs somewhat bluish-gray through the spaces dedicated to engineers, software developers, and tele-service callers. The latter inhabit the "care center," where workstations are angled for privacy. Service-reps-to-be experiment with role-playing in the 1960's-inspired training area known as Vonage University. Judging from the semicircular sectional sofas and the round ottomans, school colors must be blue and orange.

For every work idea, it seems, there's a corresponding break option. Most uplifting is the central courtyard, dotted with orange umbrellas. Indoors, the "quiet lounge" features chairs covered in silvery fabric—but no data service. "If you only have 15 minutes to get away, that's where you go," Sacramone says.

To keep good people happy in central New Jersey, Vonage invested in food service. A cafeteria and break rooms offer varied settings for meals. Over here, delicate halos of elliptical track lighting hover below an exposed ceiling; over there, white burnout drapery frames a more private dining zone. The menu is ample—yes, that's Starbucks coffee—and the pantries are well stocked. To work off the calories, there's a 10,000-square-foot fitness center with maple-fronted lockers. Restrooms sport white subway tile and sinks with hand sensors.

The key amenity, however, is an airy, lively vibe. Save for the cordoned-off data center and conference rooms behind partially frosted glass storefronts, installations exude a fresh 'openness. Meandering through, one discovers amiably recurring motifs, including a few gaggles of vivid orange lounge chairs.

Sacramone's strategy of serving color in moderation is most sophisticated in the executive briefing center, where VIPs are received. An oval central column, painted to the brilliant brand spec, still doesn't out-pop the pale marble and terrazzo, which dazzle under two skylights, especially in the pinkish cast of dusk.

The craftsmanship of the executive briefing center may be lacking in other spots—the head- quarters was designed and built in less than a year, after all, to accommodate Vonage's breakneck growth. Yet that's somehow consistent with company values. Focus attention where it matters: on treating guests and staff well, on matching gee-whiz gadgetry with attentiveness to customers.

Previous spread: The HLW-designed Vonage headquarters in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, has four double-height lobbies, one per building. The main entry features Wolfgang C.R. Mezger's sofa, upholstered in wool the color of the company logo.

Left, from top: The main entry's reception console combines Calacatta gold marble and maple. The terrazzo floor is flecked with seashells, brick, and stone. A canopy of stainless steel and aluminum marks the main entry. Right: In the training area, sectional seating surrounds vinyl-upholstered ottomans. Some walls are lined in whiteboard.

Left: In the cafeteria, chairs by Charles and Ray Eames are paired with tables topped in plastic laminate. MR16 track lighting runs beneath the ceiling's exposed steel fireproofing. Right, from top: A whiteboard-lined huddle space marks the end of a double rank of engineers' workstations. A canopy of perforated painted aluminum reflects fluorescent lighting and absorbs sound from call-center workstations, angled to improve privacy. Drum stools covered in vinyl and tea-height tables with plastic-laminate tops gather near a coffee bar.

Left, from top: Burnout drapery curtains a more private part of the cafeteria. In the executive briefing center, Harry Bertoia–style stools ring a marble bar counter. A maple canopy and a frosted-glass storefront frame a conference room in the briefing center. Right: To open up the area, HLW added two skylights. Eames chairs sport custom metallic leather.

MANAGING PARTNER: THEODORE HAMMER. PROJECT TEAM: HOON LEE; GERARD ROBERTSON; FRAN GOLDSTEIN; CRISTEN HOLLELY; DONNA SCUDDER; CHANG KWON; DAWN PAPPAS; TERI HEISTER; SCOTT HERRICK; VIVIAN CHAVEZ; VANESSA BETANCOURT. SOFAS (RECEPTION): DAVIS FURNITURE. SOFA FABRIC (RECEPTION, TRAINING), WALL COVERING (CAFETERIA): DESIGNTEX. CEILING TILE (RECEPTION, TRAINING, COFFEE BAR, CAFETERIA): ARMSTRONG. FLOORING (RECEPTION, BRIEFING): D. MAGNAN CO. PENDANT FIXTURES (RECEPTION), TRACK LIGHTING (CAFETERIA, BRIEFING), RECESSED CANOPY FIXTURES (BRIEFING): LIGHTOLIER. WALL COVERING (RECEPTION), TABLES (BRIEFING): KNOLL. CUSTOM CANOPY (EXTERIOR): BURGESS STEEL. SECTIONALS (TRAINING): BRAYTON INTERNATIONAL. OTTOMANS: BRUETON; MAHARAM (FABRIC). CARPET (TRAINING, CAFETERIA): MILLIKEN COMPANY. STOOLS (TRAINING, CAFETERIA, BRIEFING): GORDON INTERNATIONAL. CEILING FIXTURES (TRAINING), PENDANT FIXTURES (CALL CENTER): MARK LIGHTING. CUSTOM BEAD CURTAIN (CAFETERIA): BALL CHAIN MANUFACTURING. PENDANT FIXTURES: LEUCOS. TABLES (CAFETERIA, COFFEE BAR): BERCO. CHAIRS (CAFETERIA, BRIEFING): HERMAN MILLER. PENDANT FIXTURES (ENGINEERING): REGGIANI. TABLE (ENGINEERING), WORKSTATIONS (CALL CENTER): MAISPACE. CUSTOM CANOPIES (ENGINEERING, CALL CENTER, CAFETERIA, BRIEFING): CEILINGS PLUS. CARPET (ENGINEERING, CALL CENTER, COFFEE BAR): INTER- FACE. TASK CHAIR (CALL CENTER): EVOLVE FURNITURE GROUP. STOOLS (COFFEE BAR): DATESWEISER. CURTAIN FABRIC (CAFETERIA): KVADRAT THROUGH MAHARAM. MILLWORK: PATELLA WOODWORKING. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: LEHR CONSTRUCTION.