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The Green Scene

Haworth soaks up the sun with a complete renovation of its corporate headquarters.

M.K. Timme -- Interior Design, 7/23/2006 12:00:00 AM

When Haworth recently lifted a stretch of roof from its corporate headquarters in lieu of a groundbreaking, it didn't just signify a building renovation. It also marked the the start of a corporate culture change.

The Haworth Center renovation is the centerpiece of a global project that includes its own culture in the program. President and CEO Franco Bianchi and Chairman of the Board Dick Haworth are leading a global effort to do for Haworth Corporation what Haworth does for its customers - help clients and designers create great spaces. And it's off to a good start. After unveiling new showrooms in Chicago, Washington DC, Santa Monica, London, Rome, Shanghai, and Puna, India, and more to come in 2007, the new Haworth Center will be the first in its industry space to complete the Global Reporting Initiative on Sustainability requirements.

"We believe that the way buildings and interiors are built and occupied is long overdue for some radical change. More sustainable, more beautiful, higher-performance workspaces are the wave of the future. The Haworth organization will be at the forefront of that change," said Dick Haworth.

Since the company's founding by G.W. Haworth in a garage in Holland over 50 years ago, the company has expanded its products and services to over 120 countries worldwide, and has become the #2 North American provider of workspace products to Europe, and the #1 provider to China.

Haworth Walking the Talk
Franco Bianchi noted, “Haworth Center will reflect our global capabilities,” and “will demonstrate the world’s best example of an adaptable workspace.” The brand message at the core of this mammoth makeover is simple: Haworth helps create great spaces that best adapt to change. The intent is to lead by example, using a combination of its own products from its five major areas of expertise: core and shell, floors and infrastructure, adaptable walls, systems furniture, and freestanding furniture.

Along the way Haworth hopes its transformation will foster its own culture change because it will become a living laboratory. The new spaces are designed to give everyone a brand experience when they visit, demonstrating the ways to use products, and to show how adaptable they are, and how great interiors can improve the bottom line for companies.

Attention to Detail Through Collaboration
At the outset of the project, the design team set its sights on reworking everything. Focus groups clarified key concepts and primary influencers driving the design. They collaborated from the get-go, using consultants from Battle McCarthy Consulting Engineers for ecological concerns, and Peter Linsay Schaudt for landscape architecture. Eva Maddox and Ralph Johnson headed up the architecture & interiors team from Perkins + Will and Eva Maddox Branded Environments.

While they processed the qualitative information from the focus groups and grappled with what it means to program the future, the team also collected qualitative data, including satellite-gathered information on temperature and wind patterns that would later inform lighting requirements and heating efficiencies.

While it will be a few years before clients can experience the completed project for themselves, they can look forward to features such as light in abundance, bounced off of bright walls and shimmering trees and glass; a 300-seat theater/conference center/broadcasting facility to facilitate global networking and social interaction; an Ideation Center where digital visualization and planning workshops can be held; and a 50,000 sq.ft. savannah-style green roof planted with various types of sedum, a hardy perennial groundcover.

In keeping with its sustainable theme, Haworth will recycle over 95 percent of its existing building materials collected during demolition and recovery.